Advocates of Sharia finance claim that “embracing Islamic finance presents an opportunity for Canada”
APRIL 17, 2020 9:00 AM BY CHRISTINE DOUGLASS-WILLIAMS
Islamic finance is being promoted yet again in Canada. According to the Gulf Times, Sharia finance is rapidly expanding, along with an increasing Sharia-adherent population in the country. Jihad Watch recently reported that Sharia-compliant financial assets are expected to reach $3.8 trillion by 2023, outperforming conventional banks. This is bad news, as Sharia financing is not simply a service of profit-and-loss sharing and declining balance-sharing for mortgages for devout Muslims. The article described trends in Sharia finance HERE, including warnings, stated in brief in that article by Frank Gaffney, founder of the Center for Security Policy, who said that it is “green-lighting a seditious system that supports jihad.” He further stated:
If you understand what Shariah is, you understand that it is a pretty awful system. Not something that you’d want insinuated in your society and becoming a major feature of your economic system…..Shariah (Islamic law as dictated by the Koran) governs all aspects of life, from the personal practice of the faith to how you relate to your family to how you relate to your business partners, to your community … all the way up to how the world is run, and it is all one seamless program. You can’t say ‘I’ll take the personal pietistic practice … and skip the beheading and the flogging and the stoning and the global theocracy.
Gaffney subsequently interviewed me on the topic of Sharia financing and how it is trending, with a focus on terrorism funding and the funneling of billions by Islamic banks to al-Qaeda, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, and other jihad groups. It was also noted that Islamic finance owes much of its foundation to unsavory jihadis, notably Sayyid Abul Ala Maudaudi, a Pakistani Muslim scholar and Islamic jurist who was founder of the Jamaat-e-Islami in Pakistan, and Hassan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The interview can be heard HERE:
Now, in an opinion column in Canada’s Globe and Mail, Walid Hejazi and Mohamad Sawwaf have written the article “Embracing Islamic finance presents an opportunity for Canada.” As was noted in the previous Jihad Watch column about this topic:
Since 2007 in Canada, Sharia finance has been promoted (also in the Globe and Mail) by politically active and prominent lawyer Walied Soliman, who was named the 2019 Global Citizen Laureate by the United Nations Association in Canada. Soliman’s support for Sharia financing has “ caused sparks to fly in the Conservative leadership race.”
“Embracing Islamic finance presents an opportunity for Canada,” by Walid Hejazi and Mohamad Sawwaf, Globe and Mail, April 15, 2020:
Dr. Walid Hejazi is an Associate Professor of Economics at the Rotman School of Management and Mohamad Sawwaf is a Doctoral Candidate in Islamic Finance and the Co-Founder & CEO of Manzil, an Islamic Financial Institution Headquartered in Toronto
Canada is one of the most diverse countries in the world, a feature that is seen as a significant strength. Religious and cultural tolerance is a Canadian hallmark of which we are all proud. Canadians are free to practice their religion, their holidays and pursue their cultural practices.
For some individuals, this also means being able to obtain financial services that conform to their ethical, religious or cultural beliefs. Again, Canada has traditionally been open to such innovations. The one caveat, of course, being that such services conform to Canada’s globally recognized financial regulatory framework, with its focus on stability, sustainability and consumer and investor protection.
A potential opportunity for financial services was identified in a report issued by the Toronto Financial Services Alliance and Thomson Reuters. Toronto, with its financial services strengths and growing multicultural population, could position itself as North America’s hub for Islamic finance.
So what is Islamic finance? Simply put, it means structuring financial services and products in a different way. Islamic finance products and services are built on sharing the risk equitably among the parties to the transaction, are backed by hard assets, do not employ the charging of interest and do not invest in industries categorized as “sinful” such as alcohol, gambling, pornography or weapons. That’s it.
Islamic finance is one of the world’s most rapidly growing areas of international finance. The industry’s total worth – across its three main sectors (banking, capital markets, and Islamic Insurance) – exceeded US$2-trillion in 2018 and continues to have above-average growth, according to key industry stakeholder organizations. Its focus on stability and shared risk among partners actually makes it very consistent with Canada’s financial tradition. Many people would be surprised to hear that many of the companies listed on the TSX and S&P are by default already compliant with Islamic finance principles.
Academic studies have shown that Islamic financial institutions fared better than their conventional counterparts during previous economic downturns. This can be attributed in part to less levered balance sheet and backing by hard assets. At a time when some Western banks required bailouts, many Islamic banks continued to grow.
Expanding access to Islamic mortgages for Muslims and non-Muslims alike is one area of potential opportunity, giving consumers more options for structuring their financial payments to purchase a new home…. |
