Shariah Finance, one of the primary vectors through which the Great Jihad is currently injecting Islam into Western culture.

A recent CNSN news report claims that “Islamists are infiltrating U.S. financial markets and influencing the flow of credit and capital.”

“The Centre for Security Policy (CPS), President Frank Gaffney, (a former Reagan administration assistant secretary of defence), has launched a national campaign to counter what he calls "an insidious threat" -- shari'a-compliant finance.

Financial institutions and businesses engaged in shari'a-compliant financing are exposing themselves to civil and criminal liability. That type of investment poses a serious risk not only for U.S. financial institutions but also for ordinary investors and the national security of the United States.

The finance method involves investments or transactions that have been structured to conform with the 7th century code of Islamic law, known as shari'a.

Shari'a-compliant financing "legitimises and institutionalises" repressive Islamic law that conflicts with Western values. Shari'a code is best known for beheadings, floggings,” (stoning) “and amputations for petty crimes.

"Shari'a-compliant finance, also known as 'Islamic finance' or 'Islamic banking,' is a vehicle for effecting in America and in other Western capital markets, what its proponents have called 'financial jihad' -- going after the lifeblood of our capitalist system and economy.

"Shari'a is a totalitarian program for bringing about a global caliphate (Islamic kingdom), for ruling the world, for governing religious conduct, personal practices and family relations,".

Shari'a-compliant instruments are now being offered for everything from zero-coupon bonds to hedge funds to mutual funds to life insurance.
To offer these products or investments as shari'a-compliant, financial companies must submit to "shari'a advisers"-- almost all of whom are Islamist ideologues.

Many of the advisers are dedicated to the destruction of the United States, Gaffney said. It puts (Islamist ideologues) in a position whereby they can steer very substantial capital and credit flows to activities they favor - and away from activities they don't favor," The boards frequently are made up of shari'a "advisers" who are either Islamists or have ties to Islamist organizations such as Hamas or Hizballah.

"As a result, you may wind up hiring people like a fellow named Sheikh Usmani, who has published works explicitly calling for violent jihad against America,"

Usmani reportedly has links to Harvard University, and Gaffney is calling on Harvard's board of trustees to disclose its ties to shari'a-compliant funds this weekend (April 17-19), during the university's eighth annual forum on Islamic finance.

Harvard itself, Gaffney said, is "bending over backwards" to accommodate shari'a law to attract Islamic investment.” (I wonder if the recent 20 million inoculation from the Saudi’s had anything to do with that)

America, Gaffney warned, must either proactively address the issue of shari'a law now, or face it later when it has ensnared the financial markets.

"Later we will find ourselves dead or enslaved," he concluded. "And we enable them, and we empower them and we underwrite them at our extreme peril."
Full story - CNSN News Report
(Further reading) Front-page Magazine Interview with Alex Alexiev vice president for research at the Center for Security Policy.

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According to the UK Government, “They are leading the way”
The UK Trade and Investment department proudly claims that “ Over 20 banks in London supply financial and investment products on Islamic principles, more than in the rest of Western Europe put together. The modern form of Islamic banking is estimated to be worth US$250bn in managed funds.”

UK Bank ”Barclays’ is being investigated by the US government over possible breaches of rules banning banks from doing business with states on a terrorist blacklist.

ABN Amro was fined $80m (£40m) in civil penalties in 2005 for transactions through its New York offices which the US government said failed to meet the necessary controls on money laundering.

Royal Bank of Scotland said in its annual results that ABN Amro is the subject of an ongoing criminal probe by the Dept of Justice over the same issue. Negotiations over a possible $500m settlement are ongoing.

HSBC noted in its results that it has a "small representative office in Tehran".

Meanwhile HSBC launches its sharia compliant deposit

And HSBC is now opening up 25 Shariah compliant branches in accordance with Muslim religious laws.

The Islamic Finance world forum was held in Canada last year. (would you like your name on that list if you were in the 1940's)?

On the same website they are advertising another conference to be held this year in July ASSET ALLOCATION SUMMIT New Zealand.

Notice the slogan for this conference “The institutional Hunt for Alpha”
(wtf? (a) = assets?.) Coincidentally, Sharia Finance Watch has listed ALPHA Natural Resources on the top of their list of Sharia compliant banks.

The same advertisers appear on both conference pages but the links don't work. One would have thought that the advertisers best interests would be well maintained, unless of course there are no advertisers because they are not proud of being associated with the conference or because they don't need revenue from advertisers because payment has been made from another source.

List of NZ participants signed up for the "Hunt for Alpha"

Asset Allocation Summit New Zealand attracts institutional investors from the region including Victorian Funds Management Corporation, CalPERS, New Zealand Super Fund, Government Super Fund & National Provident Fund, Accident Compensation Corporation, Government Super Fund, Statewide Superannuation Trust, The Community Trust of Southland, Otago Trust, Whanganui Community Foundation, NZ Steel Pension Fund, Dairy Industry Superannuation Scheme, New Zealand Anglican Church Pension Board

What is this?
Sharia Compliant Investing: Concepts and opportunities – 13 Oct 2006.
Council for Socially Responsible Investment – KPMG Centre Auckland.
Ministry of Economic Development - Manata Ohanga

CSRI Website

April 2008 Press Release Socially responsible investment is imperative “Conference is aimed at opening up debate so that business and government translates generally held beliefs into ethical investment practice”

Michael Cullins’ speech on the Council for Socially Responsible Investment.
I wonder if this has anything in common with the Australian Corporate Responsibility Index

The product of a business-led initiative, and developed by UK charity Business in the Community OR…..

Australian Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility (I came across this website when I was researching the charities that ANZ was promoting and other companies contributing to the same charities) – “The cause ALWAYS looks after the cause.”

Does social responsibility have anything to do with ”Common Purpose”

”Common Purpose”
"The most enlightening, informative and challenging programme. The standard both of presenters and participants was first rate. The opportunity to explore a whole range of strategic influences in such an imaginative way was invaluable." - Stuart Middleton, head of Group Management, ***HBOS plc***

Helen Clark's government (imho) rightfully put the chocks under the sale of Auckland Airport to Dubai Ports World but then a few days after signing the Free Trade Agreement with China, they allow the rug to be pulled from under the pylons of NZ infrastructure.

The purchaser of Wellington's electricity network by Hong Kong based Cheung Kong Holdings erects a line for islamic funds, by investing >US$34 million into Al Islami Far Eastern Real Estate Fund Ltd.

Meanwhile Cheung Kong Holdings are very “interested in buying up more New Zealand infrastructure assets.”

Naturally Zakat must be paid and as highlighted in the news report above, “It puts (Islamist ideologues) in a position whereby they can steer very substantial capital and credit flows to activities they favor - and away from activities they don't favor,"

In other words Zakat money to charity or university funding for a cause to help the cause.

Like this for example: Moderate?? Islamic Practice
Project Title: A Way to God for Sufis, Christians, Buddhists, and Muslims in Indonesia: Susila Budhi Dharma as Funding Sources: DEST and the Cheung Kong Foundation

Islamic jurisprudence
This research is supported by an Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Award and an ARC Federation Fellowship doctoral scholarship.

Although this is not new news, Cheung Kong were investing in sharia compliant real estate back in 2006

Communism and Shariah at work
Hong Kong’s “Securities & Futures Commission has signed an Islamic finance pact with the Dubai Financial Services Authority. The Memorandum of Understanding calls for mutual cooperation on capacity building and human capital development in Islamic finance.”

China and Dubai trade jumps to $19.4 BILLION DOLLARS - China & Dubai Trade jumps to 19.4 billion dollars

The Gates of Vienna blog sums up superbly.

“In wartime, it’s inevitable that some people will do business with the enemy — if companies stand to make a lot of money from an activity, then the activity will tend to take place. It’s up to the government to police business activity and punish businesses that profit from dealing with the enemy, because there is little incentive for businesses to police themselves.

However, the situation gets murky when the war is undeclared and the enemy is unnamed.

Banks that offer Islamic financial instruments aren’t trading with the enemy, because the enemy is “terrorism”, and they’re not doing business with “terrorism”, after all. They’re just cutting deals with various Middle Eastern countries who are “our staunch allies in the war on terror”.

The fact that a few wealthy sheikhs with terrorist connections happen to sit on the boards of some of the Shariah Finance institutions — why, that’s no big deal, is it? Business is business.

One can even make the case that the CEO of a corporation has both a moral and a fiduciary obligation to engage in Islamic-compliant transactions. The duty of a corporate officer is to maximize profit for his shareholders, and if there’s one thing for certain, it’s that Shariah Finance stands to make a lot of money for the institutions that engage in it.

The blame for our failure to address this problem can be laid at the feet of our government, particularly the Treasury Department, which has so far declined to act on a deadly serious threat to our national security that has crept into the country through our financial institutions.

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More info about Common Purpose and Must Watch video

Some references in this post are taken from Sharia Finance Watch