Saudi Shoura Council rejects call for international pact to respect all religions

31. March 2008 by admin.

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/08/03/19/10198648.html

03/20/2008 07:07 PM | By Mariam Al Hakeem, CorrespondentRiyadh: A resolution calling for the enactment of an international pact to forbid religions from being defamed or insulted as well as their symbols, leaders and prophets has been voted out by the Saudi Shoura (Consultative Council).A total of 77 members opposed the recommendation while 33 voted in favour. Those who opposed it argued that such a pact would force people to recognise religions, which advocate idol worship, and that “would be unacceptable.”The rejected resolution stated that “the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall work in coordination with Arab and Islamic groups and others at the United Nations to draft an international pact for respecting religions, their symbols and leaders, and prohibit insulting them in any way.”“This recommendation is creating ‘much ado’,” said Dr Khaleel Al Khaleel, a member of the Shoura.Opposing the move he said that the concept of religions and their symbols varied from country to country and culture to culture. According to Dr Khaleel, this recommendation would create a dangerous precedent that may produce a negative impact on Muslims rather than followers of other religions.“Some consider Buddhism, Qadianism and Baha’ism as religions. Can we make it obligatory for Muslims to respect these faiths and avoid criticising them?” he asked.Talal Bakri, one of the staunch critics of the move, said “if we approve the resolution it will be make it obligatory to recognise some religions and will facilitate establishing places of worship for them in Muslim countries.”Mohammad Al Quwaihes, who presented the resolution, told reporters that he had not expected that his move would be defeated in such a way as the overwhelming majority of members were in favour of introducing the resolution for deliberations.“The provocation to move the resolution was the continuous onslaught on Islam in general and the Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him) in particular, say for example, the blasphemous cartoons and films being published in Denmark, the Netherlands,

America and the like,” he said.

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US banks ‘missing a trick’ with Muslim Customers

31. March 2008 by admin.

By CNN’s Mairi MackayLONDON, England (CNN) — When it comes to Sharia-compliant banking, few Western countries can compete with

Britain. One of the world’s prime financial centers, the City of

London is also the key Western hub for Islamic banking.

With 23 banks, nine fund managers and a number of international law firms offering Islamic finance in the City, by 2006 British Sharia-compliant assets were thought to be in the region of $22 billion.The global industry has trebled in the past decade and is now worth around $531 billion.

Britain is also in the vanguard when it comes to Sharia-compliant retail banking, catering for its population of approximately three million Muslims.In 2004, the Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB) opened its doors for the first time, becoming the

UK’s first and only standalone Islamic high street bank.A number of

Britain’s “big five” high street banks are getting in on the act. Lloyds TSB and HSBC offer Islamic banking, including mortgages, current accounts and trust funds for children.In the retail market,

Britain is the only European country that offers government-authorized Islamic banking products.In the United States, only regional banks like University Bank,

Michigan offer Sharia-compliant products.Authorities and regulators in France — despite having a Muslim population twice the size of

Britain’s at six million — have been slow to realize the potential of this sector.“In

France, Islamic finance is at an embryonic stage. They are where we were three or four years ago,” Sultan Choudhury, the IBB’s director of sales told the Financial Times.British mosques dating back 150 years attest to the long connection between the

United Kingdom and Muslims, but it is the British government’s staunch support of the sector — backing words with legislative changes — that has responded to the needs of Muslims in the financial world.Junaid Bhatti, who was involved with the setup of the IBB, told CNN: “Government is a firm supporter of the industry down to amending legislation to create a level playing field for Islamic banking.”The British sector is currently experiencing phenomenal growth of around 20 percent per year compared with global growth of around 15 percent. Industry insiders feel there is still scope for continued growth.Aktar Ahmed of Lloyds TSB Islamic finance told CNN: “Islamic finance is still in its infancy at the moment. We’re seeing a fantastic rate of growth both globally and here in the

UK.”Lloyds TSB now offers Sharia-compliant banking at all of its 2,000

UK branches. Services include an Islamic current account, mortgage and child trust fund.Islamic mortgages have proved particularly successful in

Britain, with the market growing from barely a trickle in 2003 to a value of $1.7 billion in 2007.But Islamic banking in the

United States is suffering from an image problem. Many Americans are felt to be hostile to the concept after the 9/11 attacks, equating it with “terrorist finance.”“There seems to be this misperception out there that the

U.S. is perhaps Islamophobic,” said Abdi Shayesteh, an attorney at law firm King and Spalding, which has had a practice dedicated to Islamic banking and finance since the 1980s.“The

U.S. regulators have been supportive and they’ve accommodated Islamic banking and finance since the mid 80s,” Shayesteh told CNN.With a best-guess figure of six million Muslims in the

United States of whom around 60 percent are devout (and therefore likely to use Islamic banking services), Shayesteh considers domestic Sharia-compliant banking an untapped market.“We have at least 3.6 million [potential customers] at the very base level market opportunity for banks from abroad and here to tap into,” he explained.Even so, with constitutional limits on promoting any one religion over another, which keeps legislators quiet about the opportunities, and no sign that any major American banks will be rolling out Islamic products, the market remains unexploited for now.

Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/BUSINESS/03/28/sharia.banking

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MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT

29. March 2008 by admin.

An email has been sent to our Chino Valley chapter members notifying them of our next meeting scheduled for April 3rd, along with a status update. If you have not received our email, please contact me through volunteer@actforamerica91709.org to be added to our chapter list.

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New US Terrorist Cell Map

26. March 2008 by admin.

We have added a weblink which will take you to the website that supports ongoing updates to this map under the same title, US Terrorist Cell Map.

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Muslims Running for Public Office

25. March 2008 by admin.

Please visit the new link called Election: CAIR Muslims 2008. CAIR has provided us with a list of Muslims running for public office. As we know, all Muslims are required to support their fellow Muslims and are required to vote for a Muslim over a non-Muslim. We need to be informed of who these candidates are, and inform others!

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New Education Links, An Insiders Look

21. March 2008 by admin.

Dear Readers,

In our process of understanding how Islam came to be taught in our public school textbooks, I have begun to trace down it’s origins, it’s sources of influence, it’s organizational support, it’s authors, publishers, etc…. As I acquire source information, I will post it on our site so we can all gain an insider’s look at how we arrived where we are at today, where our leaders plan to take us tomorrow and how WE can take action to intercept and turn this religious indoctrination around. My hope is that we will not only take a stand against religious indoctrination and dangerous deceptions from being taught to our youth, but we will also put a stop to the “Dumbed Down” textbooks that exist in California and our country.

 Please see our new CA Board of EDU link and our new Freedom Forum link which will equip us with an insider’s look.

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NEW Global Terrorism Map

19. March 2008 by admin.

This NEW Global Terrorism Map from World Net Daily is updated every 310 seconds! It shows a streaming report of the 30 newest terrorist events. It uses symbols to communicate on the map the type of terrorism that is being reported and they are clickable which takes you to all the back up detail of the report. This is an excellent tool that we should share with everyone we know! Special thanks to our Michigan Chapter Leader that passed this on to me.

Please click on the link called Global Terrorism Map to the right.

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