Shariah Finance

Allyson Rowen Taylor

Terrorism has many faces. The bombing of the SS Cole, The World Trade Center, and the murder of Leon Klinghoffer in the Mediterranean. This is terror we can see, smell, and fear. But there is a new kind of terror that is invading the West, and it is clean, invisible to the smell, and seems savory in the way it is being marketed. This new terror is Shariah Finance. This is a way of banking that is growing rapidly in the Gulf, Britain, France, and the United States,Hong Kong, and worldwide due to the bulging pockets of burgeoning wealth from the profits of petrodollars. Every time we fill our gas tanks, we are not only contributing to the pollution of our air, we are funding terror in an insidious way that will effect us long after we go "green".The London Nasdaq, stock exchanges, Loehmanns, Barneys, Travelodge, Madame Tussauds, Citibank, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, and Caribou Coffee are just a few well known names that now belong to the Kingdom of Dubai, Studies have put the total value of Islamic equity funds in the Gulf Region at about thirty (30) billion dollars. This is from a study by Khaled al -Masri, a partner is asset management at the Dubai based Rasmala Investments.

Products like "Interest Free Loans" are being offered at banks nationwide, and they are attracting not only the Muslim investor, but others who think that this is a service that circumvents having to pay the bank interest. However, it is just another way of structuring a loan that was not inspired by the Koran, but developed by the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1920's. Due to marketing, and companies like Goldman Sachs, Lehmann Brothers, Och-Ziff and others, the tantalizing smell of money trumps the security of the United States and our freedoms. The issue is not the way the loans are structured, it is that they are structured to follow the tenants of Shariah Law. Many of the laws of Shariah are benign, however when one reads into the laws, issues such as stoning, beheadings, amputations, and honor killings are also part of the Shariah. In addition, there is a requirement in the laws to "cleanse" the "haram" (filth) from the "infidels: (non Muslims) by donating a portion of the interest made to Zakat (charity). We have no records as to what these charities are. Could they support Hezbollah? Iran? HAMAS?, or other groups that are determined to undermine western democracy. There is no due diligence, nor transparency in these bonds and loans, so it is a mystery as to what is being done with profits made via the "Infidels". Has the SEC looked into these loans and bonds to see if due diligence is being done?

The basic principal of Islamic funds bans them from investing in companies associated with tobacco, alcohol, pornography, tabloids, pork or gambling These are all considered taboo by religious Muslims. In addition, countries like Israel, and products developed in Israel can also be forbidden. Drug companies are not immune from laws of Sharia, and investments in companies that do stem cell research, or birth control will also be banned. Any products that are deemed "Haram" will be subject to the issues of Shariah. We must not just look at the moral issues of alcohol or gambling, but how this type of finance can have an impact on the development of life saving drugs as the investments of Shariah firms move into areas that do research. Truckers that carry pork can be affected, the suppliers of the paper that supplies the tabloids can be affected, thereby causing loss of jobs, and financial ruin, and then offering the Gulf companies bargain priced property, businessness,and a foothold into American and Western society. This is the danger, this is the goal.

Investments in the Islamic Finance Industry worldwide are now worth about $700 BILLION dollars. Moody's Investor Services estimated this in a report put out in February 2008. The countries that are the largest contributors to Shariah Finance are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar,Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and Dubai. These countries have seen this type of growth due to the rise of oil prices that we are now paying for. Every increase in the price of gas at the pump is a step closer to a life under Shariah law. A report by the investment firm of Morgan Stanley in February , 2008 put the outstanding Sukuk (bonds) market worth more than $90 billion dollars, and a projection that by 2010 it will be worth over 200 Billion dollars. While this is good news for the investors, the risk of Shariah law and the changes to the way we live our lives will be changed with this new system of finance.

The main problem is that the lure of riches, bigger homes in the Hamptons, private islands and Gulfsteam jets has the banks, investment houses and hedgefunders panting with desire while the future of our democracy, our children's future lives will be impacted by this insidious form of financial terrorism.

For more information of this, please visit the blog http://shariahfinancewatch.wordpress.com