felixthecat
November 13th, 2008, 05:48 PM
U.S. Interest in Shariah Finance Opens Dangerous Doors, Critics Say
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Fox News
Shariah-compliant banking, sometimes called Islamic banking, is growing in popularity in the Western and Islamic worlds. But critics say American interest in the system at a time of economic crisis is opening the door to increased Islamic influence in the American banking system. Worse yet, some fear the banks may be helping to finance international terrorism.:doh
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In the U.S., the Dow Jones Islamic Index tracks Shariah-compliant companies and funds, and funds have sprung up like the Amana Mutual Funds Trust and the Azzad Asset Management.
American investment funds, like those offered by TD Ameritrade and Charles Schwab, can invest in Shariah-compliant companies, and those companies can offer investments in American companies. Top holdings in the Azzad Ethical Midcap Fund, for example, include Western Digital Corp., Southwest Electric Co. and Apple Computer, Inc.
But allowing Shariah-compliant finance in the U.S. is green-lighting a seditious system that supports jihad, said Frank Gaffney, founder and president of the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C.
...
Estimates put the Islamic banking industry in the hundreds of billions of dollars. And while it's a small portion of the global finance industry, the Islamic sector is growing by more than 30 percent in 2007.
...
Rachel Ehrenfeld, director of the American Center for Democracy, said that whether they're sound investments or not, conforming to Shariah shouldn't be American policy.
"We should not allow Islamic banking to continue and definitely not to flourish in this country," Ehrenfeld said.
"Muslims in the United States who want to conduct their business according to Islamic banks can do it with mortgages ... but to allow Islamic banking as a rule to operate it's our money and we shouldn't be abiding by Islamic laws. Period. I dont want to have any kind of association with any laws that dictate wife-beating in Saudi Arabia," she said.
Ehrenfeld said that the practice of "zakat" giving alms to the poor while innocent on the surface can in fact be used to promote terrorism and the spread of radical Islam.
She said that that the money the Shariah banks give to charities goes to build madrassas and mosques and spread radical Islam and anti-American sentiment.
(I can easily see greedy people with no scruples investing in Islamic banking because traditional options are not as attractive right now. MONEY is certainly a priority for way too many people regardless of the consequences ... )
"They also send money to Hamas. They also send money to Al Qaeda," she said. "This is a huge Pandora's box. We don't know what the hell is going on with their charities ... even if nobody will say openly that they're giving money to terrorism."
(I think there are many people out there that don't care as long as the return is good in a tough market They might even hate America as much as terrorists do. The business sector is already predicted to shrink by 20% in 2009.)
...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,451416,00.html
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Fox News
Shariah-compliant banking, sometimes called Islamic banking, is growing in popularity in the Western and Islamic worlds. But critics say American interest in the system at a time of economic crisis is opening the door to increased Islamic influence in the American banking system. Worse yet, some fear the banks may be helping to finance international terrorism.:doh
...
In the U.S., the Dow Jones Islamic Index tracks Shariah-compliant companies and funds, and funds have sprung up like the Amana Mutual Funds Trust and the Azzad Asset Management.
American investment funds, like those offered by TD Ameritrade and Charles Schwab, can invest in Shariah-compliant companies, and those companies can offer investments in American companies. Top holdings in the Azzad Ethical Midcap Fund, for example, include Western Digital Corp., Southwest Electric Co. and Apple Computer, Inc.
But allowing Shariah-compliant finance in the U.S. is green-lighting a seditious system that supports jihad, said Frank Gaffney, founder and president of the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C.
...
Estimates put the Islamic banking industry in the hundreds of billions of dollars. And while it's a small portion of the global finance industry, the Islamic sector is growing by more than 30 percent in 2007.
...
Rachel Ehrenfeld, director of the American Center for Democracy, said that whether they're sound investments or not, conforming to Shariah shouldn't be American policy.
"We should not allow Islamic banking to continue and definitely not to flourish in this country," Ehrenfeld said.
"Muslims in the United States who want to conduct their business according to Islamic banks can do it with mortgages ... but to allow Islamic banking as a rule to operate it's our money and we shouldn't be abiding by Islamic laws. Period. I dont want to have any kind of association with any laws that dictate wife-beating in Saudi Arabia," she said.
Ehrenfeld said that the practice of "zakat" giving alms to the poor while innocent on the surface can in fact be used to promote terrorism and the spread of radical Islam.
She said that that the money the Shariah banks give to charities goes to build madrassas and mosques and spread radical Islam and anti-American sentiment.
(I can easily see greedy people with no scruples investing in Islamic banking because traditional options are not as attractive right now. MONEY is certainly a priority for way too many people regardless of the consequences ... )
"They also send money to Hamas. They also send money to Al Qaeda," she said. "This is a huge Pandora's box. We don't know what the hell is going on with their charities ... even if nobody will say openly that they're giving money to terrorism."
(I think there are many people out there that don't care as long as the return is good in a tough market They might even hate America as much as terrorists do. The business sector is already predicted to shrink by 20% in 2009.)
...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,451416,00.html