AIG uses US taxpayer bailout money to create America's first Shariah Finance Inst.
(snip)"Bailing Out Shariah Law
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Tuesday, December 30, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Islamofascism: In bailing out AIG, Uncle Sam may have taken on more than he bargained for, including a constitutional fight over the promotion of religion.
Earlier this month, as the New York-based insurance giant benefited from $153 billion in tax-supported bailout funds, it launched a business unit offering Shariah-compliant insurance products in the U.S.
For the first time, homeowners' insurance policies "compliant with key Islamic finance tenets" will be marketed to Muslims in America.
"We are pleased to offer socially responsible solutions to this segment of the domestic market," the near-bankrupt AIG announced in a press release, explaining that the Islamic market represents "an important and emerging growth opportunity for AIG."
But there's little that is "socially responsible" about Shariah law, which regulates the "takaful" insurance AIG is selling, along with other Islamic finance.
Shariah law authorizes horrific human-rights abuses, including the kind of violence and oppression against women, homosexuals, apostates and non-Muslims seen in Saudi Arabia and earlier under the Taliban in Afghanistan.
To fully comply with Shariah code, AIG has hired a "Shariah Supervisory Board" composed of "Shariah scholars." Who are these so-called scholars?
One, according to its press release, is Muhammad Imran Usmani, who happens to be the son of Sheik Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani, who supports violent jihad against Westerners. The elder Usmani is so radical that Dow Jones & Co. recently removed him from the board of its Islamic market index.
At a minimum, AIG has to do better due diligence if it's going to use taxpayer money for such a controversial enterprise. But what's the responsibility of the U.S. government here?
The Thomas More Law Center, a public-interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Mich., argues the U.S. is promoting a religious legal code at odds with democratic values and capitalism. And that makes the bailout unconstitutional. So it's suing Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and the Federal Reserve to stop all bailout funds from going to AIG.
According to the suit, use of taxpayer funds to acquire ownership of a business that intentionally promotes, endorses, supports and funds Shariah-based Islamic religious practices violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
"The U.S. government, through its ownership of AIG, is not only violating the Constitution," the suits claims, "but also promoting and financing the destruction of America using American tax dollars."
While that sounds over-the-top, a sizeable share of the profit and any interest earned by AIG's Islamic subsidiary must be "purified" by investing in Islamic charities. Such transfers will be controlled by Usmani and other Shariah advisers.
Since 9/11, dozens of major Muslim charities around the world, including several based in the U.S., have been tied to terrorism and shut down. So AIG — along with American taxpayers — could unwittingly finance terrorism against the U.S. and its allies.
The potential for terror money laundering deeply concerns two Republican leaders on the Hill, who on the heels of the Thomas More lawsuit fired off a letter to AIG CEO Ed Liddy warning him that the FBI could come knocking.
"We hope you can verify what hands your money passes through, because we would hate to see the FBI visit you one day, look into your books and tell you that money from AIG found its way into terrorist hands," wrote Reps. Frank Wolf, congressional Human Rights Caucus co-chairman, and Sue Myrick, co-chairwoman of the congressional Anti-Terrorism Caucus.
What's odd is that the Treasury Department is the agency charged with cracking down on terror financing, yet it's encouraging firms like AIG to go into Islamic finance. In fact, Treasury co-sponsored a seminar in November titled "Islamic Financing 101" to promote Shariah financing to corporate America.
The seminar was jointly sponsored by Harvard University, which is heavily supported by Saudi petrodollars.
So it's not just AIG that's actively helping Shariah gain a foothold in America. It's also Washington."(snip)
Re: AIG uses US taxpayer bailout money to create America's first Shariah Finance Inst
This country gets more bizarre every year.
Re: AIG uses US taxpayer bailout money to create America's first Shariah Finance Inst
^^^ Deo, the minute that I caught this little taxpayer funded 'tidbit' I immediately thought of you !
While 'plodding through' more of this Shariah compliant finance stuff, I also discovered that CitiBank has recently introduced a LARGE amount of Shariah compliant financial instruments for corporate / institutional / sovereign wealth investors. The AIG Shariah compliant insurance offering was merely the first in the USA to offer a Shariah compliant financial product for individuals. However, it would appear that a host of other Shariah compliant individual financial products will soon be made available in the USA as well (thanks in large part to CitiBank).
(snip)"A Muslim's Guide to Investing and Personal Finance describes the newest, as well as more established, Shariah-acceptable investment products and specialized financial transactions that have been developed to help Muslims navigate the financial realities of the modern world, including investing for retirement, buying a home, paying for college, and maintaining a savings account, as well as insuring personal assets.
"The purpose of the Guide is to acquaint Muslims and non-Muslims alike with the essentials of investing and personal finance from a uniquely Islamic perspective that is wholly consistent with the letter and spirit of Islamic law," says Shaykh Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo, an internationally recognized scholar of Islamic Transactional Law and Chief Shariah Officer of Shariah Capital. "At the same time, the Guide does so in a thoughtful and user-friendly format that approaches the subject from a practical and individual perspective.'
The Guide distinguishes between financial products that are considered halal, or acceptable, such as Islamic equity funds, Sukuk (fixed income), and Takaful (insurance) and those that are considered haram, or unacceptable, because they violate the Shariah principles of riba, or paying of interest, or involve investing in companies with haram business activities, such as the manufacturing or marketing alcohol, gambling, pork products and pornography. It also explains how Shariah applies to individual finances, such as basic investing, home purchases, retirement savings, and the use of savings accounts and the "Islamic windows" that financial services are opening to offer Shariah-compliant financial products."(snip)
it would certainly appear that certain Islamic financial interests are taking advantage of the recent financial distress of major Wall St. financial institutions, i.e. their desparate need for injections of 'new' capital, to force significant 'behind the scenes' changes ... with Shariah compliant financial offerings obviously being one of the larger changes. Of course it remains to be seen where this sort of change will eventually lead.
As you have pointed out via tongue in cheek in previous threads, if enough 'Lehman Brothers' (i.e. iconic Jewish Bankers) are allowed to fail outright, and if enough 'CitiBank's' wind up owing their continued existance to huge Islamic investors (i.e. Oil Sheiks now have seats on CitiBank's board of directors), the day may indeed come where Sharia compliant lending rules pervade much of America's remaining retail finance ...
Also, the British and French are well 'ahead' of the USA in regard to providing a 'Shariah friendly' financial climate ... probably because they have larger muslim populations and deeper financial problems than America does (so far).
One reason that exotic dancers should be more than a bit disturbed by the 'behind the scenes' rise in Shariah compliant finance is that, under that system, they would likely be totally 'cut off' from access to such financial products on the basis of being considered 'haram'.
Re: AIG uses US taxpayer bailout money to create America's first Shariah Finance Inst
Sharia laws of finance are very conservative and sound. A lot of it is just common sense. It is okay to bank with Muslim ethics, even if you aren't Muslim. Just like it is okay to eat kosher food even if you aren't Jewish.
I wonder if you can eat a Kosher meal at a Sharia bank while reading a bible?;D
Re: AIG uses US taxpayer bailout money to create America's first Shariah Finance Inst
Quote:
wonder if you can eat a Kosher meal at a Sharia bank while reading a bible
^^^ Kosher meal yes, bible no LOL !!!
Quote:
It is okay to bank with Muslim ethics, even if you aren't Muslim
true, PROVIDED that the Shariah compliant financial institution will ALLOW you to bank with them ! Remember that, as a 'stripper', you are involved in a 'haram' line of business ... thus your money is not Shariah compliant !
Re: AIG uses US taxpayer bailout money to create America's first Shariah Finance Inst
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Melonie
true, PROVIDED that the Shariah compliant financial institution will ALLOW you to bank with them ! Remember that, as a 'stripper', you are involved in a 'haram' line of business ... thus your money is not Shariah compliant !
Well, I guess it will have to be a Credit Union instead of a for-profit bank in order to exclude non-muslim savers.
Re: AIG uses US taxpayer bailout money to create America's first Shariah Finance Inst
^^^ that depends on how much US banking laws / FED policy can be 'tweaked' in favor of Shariah finance. But the point wasn't about excluding non-muslims. The point was about excluding any businesses or individuals whose money is earned via non-Shariah compliant types of businesses i.e. in 'strip clubs' that engage in alcohol sales, female nudity etc.
Re: AIG uses US taxpayer bailout money to create America's first Shariah Finance Inst
What, exactly is the Shariah-compliant features you are talking about? So far you have just used the word to degrade the entire concept. How about provisions that are non-discriminatory with homosexuality or Native Americans or Christian Fundamentalists or some other cause that may bug/scare some people? What the heck are they?