Interest-Free credit card available for Canadian Muslims

A new interest-free credit card, the first of its kind in North America, aims to reconcile Islamic canonical law and Western consumer culture. Until now, observant Muslims have been precluded from owning credit cards on which they pay interest, a violation of shariah law. The iFreedom Plus Master-Card, set to be available in the coming…

Share Button
Read More

Islamic banking enters the Austrian market

After several years of success in the UK and first attempts in continental Europe, Islamic banking is now about to enter the Austrian market. Islamic financing is said to be highly profitable: growth rates of 30 percent are predicted. So far, the roughly 400, 000 Austrian Muslims have no opportunity to invest their money in…

Share Button
Read More

    New resistance to Islamic finance in France

    PCF (French Communist Party) member André Gerin has addressed a letter to François Fillon against changing laws to allow “Shari’a compatible” Islamic banking in France, claiming that accommodation is not appropriate and that this new banking calls into question “democratic and republican values.” Le Monde reports that two laws which would have allowed for greater…

    Share Button
    Read More

      Debate sparked on Islamic finance in France

      Islamic finance is sparking a heated debate in France. “We must not allow principles of Shari`ah law, or the ethics of the Qur`an to be introduced into French law,” said Socialist MP Henri Emmanuelli. The parliament recently approved a number of adjustments to the banking laws to allow sukuk [Islamic bonds] to be issued for…

      Share Button
      Read More

      University Paris IX Launches Sharia-Compliant Islamic Finance Master’s Degree

      University Paris IX Dauphine will launch a sharia-complaint Islamic Finance program beginning in October 2009 – a topic deemed unknown and promising. Elyès Jouini, the director of Dauphine’s Institute of Finance (IFD) claims that “the demand from non-Islamic financial institutions who wants to train their collaborators in these methods for their Muslim clients is growing.”

      Share Button
      Read More