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December 09, 2008
Saudis Seek ‘Sharia bail out’ To Financial Crisis
Saudis seek ‘Sharia bail out’ to financial crisis
Saudi clerics promote Islamic finance as healthy alternative to current troubled market economy.
By Habib Trabelsi
PARIS
While ministers and major financiers of major rich countries try to stem the panic of the global financial turmoil, imams of mosques, economists and writers stress that, from Saudi Arabia, Islamic finance is the only remedy against the successive black days.
Imams-preachers: Islamic finance is the solution
The shock wave from the financial catastrophe has not spared the imams of most mosques in Saudi Arabia. They used the crisis to spread in endless praise Islamic finance which is based on the ban of interest (riba), speculation, and sharing the risk and profit between contractors.
These features of Islamic finance, highly reviewed in the wake of the financial tsunami, have been at the center of Friday’s prayer sermons (October 10), whose extracts were reproduced Saturday by local newspapers.
Several imams and khatibs (preachers) have shown, more or less skillfully, the benefits of applying the principles of Islamic finance, which according to them, could provide a healthy alternative to the current market economy.
Islamic finance will triumph ... "delight" set aside
"Communism will be eradicated in fifty years. Capitalism, too. Only Islamic finance will continue," said Dr. Said Al-Awiss, Imam and preacher of the Iskan mosque, in Dammam (east) in the daily Al-Watan.
He pointed out at having developed this idea in his sermon, which was devoted almost exclusively to the crisis, particularly the "riba".
Sheikh Abderrahman Al-Raqib, president of the courts in the southern province, told the newspaper that he had urged imams and Muslims "not to revel on the economic situation of Westerners caused by recent collapses (...) and to focus on praying that Muslims will not bear the outcomes."
Islamic finance is emulated in the West
The Saudi press has largely given way to economy writers and columnists and economists.
The General Manager and board member of Arab Finance House (Beit al-Tamwil al-Arabi), Nadim Fuad Matragi is eager that the crisis has spared Islamic banks, calling them "safe shelters for cash" because "they are inherently immune against such crises."
The Islamic economic analyst, Dr Ahmed Al-Islambouli, focuses on the root causes of the “failure of the capitalist financial system (...) which sins dude to its selfish vision that privileges interests of a particular category (of society), while Islamic finance is based on fairness."
Writer-journalist-economist Dr. Abdel Hafidh Mahboub, cites examples that "Islamic finance is the appropriate solution to the global economic crisis."
Mahboub gives as "evidence (...) the direction of Great Britain to become a hub for Islamic finance (...) and the recent trend of several Western countries to incorporate some principles of Islamic finance" in the current economy market.
Vincent Beaufils to the rescue
Shortly after the outbreak of the financial disaster on the Black Monday September 15 at Wall Street, which never ceases to spread, several newspapers - not only in Saudi Arabia - as well as Internet forums, have given themselves a perverse pleasure to lavish praise of Islamic finance.... wrote the French editorialist Vincent Beaufils.
He wrote an article published in the business magazine "Challenges" where he said that "if our bankers, avid of return on equity, had respected a little of Sharia, we would not be here."
The article, in which the editorialist called for the use of Islamic finance, translated in Arabic, has spread around the Arab world and sparked an avalanche of lauding comments on forums and other Arab blogs.
Al-Azhar University does not remain on the sidelines
The Saudi daily Al-Madina also announced that the prestigious Al-Azhar University in Cairo was preparing to organize a symposium on the global financial turmoil “from the Islamic point of view" to which "a great number of economic experts, academics and clerics” were invited.
Citing Dr. Abdelhalim Mohamed Omar, director of the organizing center, the newspaper said that "the conference aims to work towards the implementation of Islamic Shariah as the solution to break the international financial crisis."
Wild Thing's comment.......
The Saudis can take their money, their thinking and their cult of Islam and put it where the sun does not shine. They are the last thing our country needs.
Posted by Wild Thing at December 9, 2008 03:45 AM
Comments
I remember years ago, when I was still in jr high, we were learning about politics and I told my dad that someday, other countries would want to take a piece of us financially. I'm sure he thought I was nuts because he said that could never and would never happen with as strong as we were economically. Even before he died in 1999, we still were having that conversation and he finally said, "I think you were right."
And I do see it happening. China, the Middle East, Russia, Mexico, South America. They all want a piece of America. We are letting them buy up our corporations, we are sending our companies over there. No one wants to put up a fight unless it's on tv on a fake tv show. It's so much easier to take the Devil's money than turn their back on it. It's sad because the American Citizen has no say in what is happening.
Posted by: Lynn at December 9, 2008 04:29 AM
I think you are right Lynn. They call it globalization of the American economy. Too much of America is owned by foreign interests. We lose our sovereignty. The globalists call it "the New World Order".
Who in the 50's or 60's ever thought we would give away the Panama Canal? Who thought we would basically have open borders and allow millions to enter illegally and start a sub culture? Who thought we would have a major terrorist attack and war declared on us by a religion, then we would allow tens of thousands of it's adherents to immigrate into America.
Our leaders, politicians and businessmen, are giving America away while they accumulate billions of dollars.
The Saudis are our enemy. We should have started an increase in drilling for oil 20 years ago and rid ourselves of energy dependency on these evil coniving islamists. We can still do it, but this new president and his Democrat Congress on a La-La trip dreaming of renewable green energy.
Posted by: TomR at December 9, 2008 10:56 AM
Disgusting ragheads, even more disgusting are those on the take, Milorad "Rod" R. Blagojevich is on the take, maybe he can seat one of Saudi's finest in the vacated Obama Senate chair. If the Feds let him out on bail, that is.
We've let them but into our financial market, we allow them control our ports as a security measure, then we look at Europe and complain that they are being taken over. Sheesh!!! Wake up America.
Posted by: Jack at December 9, 2008 11:06 AM
Lynn, I agree you are right.
Posted by: Wild Thing at December 9, 2008 07:39 PM
Tom, AMEN, we are giving away most of America and also about the drilling thing. I am not liking this NOT drilling at all. Just because the prices of gas have gone down is no reason to stop the push to drill. And that is what has happened. It is silent out there on drilling now and that is sooooo wrong.
Posted by: Wild Thing at December 9, 2008 07:42 PM
Jack, ditto that! "Disgusting ragheads"
I agree too I wish America would wake up. ONe day they will be asking how did this happen. I will just say, where were you back when we wanted people to say no to all of this.
Posted by: Wild Thing at December 9, 2008 07:45 PM
