World
Politics
· Boris Johnson’s attempt to call election is thwarted by MPs
British MPs have thwarted a motion to hold an early general election next month, after it was submitted by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 3rd September night. Members of the House of Commons voted by 298 votes to 56 for...
What can be the benchmark rates for Islamic banks and Islamic financial Market
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has recently issued guidelines for the Modaraba-based Islamic refinance scheme for the working capital financing of small and low-end medium enterprises. The subsidized rate will be six per cent as opposed...
World
Politics
· Queen Elizabeth has suspended British parliament on recommendation of British PM Boris Johnson first time after many hundred years.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 28th August proposed suspending the UK parliament for at least a month to curtail efforts by MPs to prevent a no-deal Brexit on October 31st, as Downing Street...
Money Market, Former Member of Access to Justice Fund Supreme Court of Pakistan
Winston Churchill, the UK Prime Minister during Second World War, once went to a mental hospital for a visit. On entry, a man sitting in a room asked him who he is. Churchill said he is the...
Defining Riba is as simple as Islam is itself
The question is that why we have not been able to define riba the basic pillar of Islamic finance. The answer is that it is only due to business interest of a class who has made their presence necessary as a...
World
Politics
· One minute it was an Afghan wedding. The next, a funeral for 63
One minute, it was a wedding – nearly 1,000 guests packed under one roof, a thin partition segregating them by gender. Men shimmied to a live band, women spun to a DJ. Their invitation cards read:...
The industry has been grown to about $2 trillion in size for attracting banking users whose religious objections have kept them away from conventional banking services drawing non-Muslim bankers into the field, and (according to other supporters) introducing a more stable, less risky form of finance.
However, the industry has also been...
World
Politics
· Jailed Saudi women’s activist ‘refuses’ to absolve authorities of torture
A prominent Saudi women’s rights activist has rejected an offer that would see her freed in return for agreeing to sign and record a statement saying she had not been tortured while in custody. Instead, Loujain al-Hathloul (30) has...
Dynamics of Takaful (Islamic Insurance) Business
Though Takaful business is expanding but very little has been done for its awareness. This article has been written as a part to create awareness on the subject
The concept of insurance started with marine insurance in 12th century.It was formally formulated in 17th century...
World
Politics
· Kashmir in lockdown after India scraps its autonomy
India’s northern disputed Jammu and Kashmir region remains cut off from the rest of the country, two days after the federal government scrapped its special constitutional status after nearly seven decades. Tens of thousands of heavily armed paramilitary personnel patrolled Kashmir’s summer capital Srinagar...
Concerns regarding Islamic Finance and Economics
The global spread of political Islam - or, Islamism - is a complex, nuanced, and fluid phenomenon with critical implications for the durability of international human rights architectures premised on universal norms; for state sovereignty; and for peace, order, and the rule of law. There is...
World
Politics
· Saudi women to be able to travel without guardian’s permission, reports say
Women in Saudi Arabia will no longer need the permission of a male guardian to travel, according to local news reports. The policy, if confirmed, would mark a key step in dismantling controls that have made women second-class citizens...
Muhammad Arif
The Eighth Islamic Finance Expo & Conference (IFEC-2019)
The Eighth Islamic Finance Expo & Conference (IFEC-2019 was held on 25th of July 2019 at Marriott Hotel, Karachi, under the theme...
World
Politics
·Boris Johnson to put ‘maximum energy’ into role as new British PM
Boris Johnson with his Indian origin ex wife
Boris Johnson promised fellow Conservatives on 23rd July that he would put his “maximum energy” into his new role as prime minister of the United Kingdom, calling on the governing party...
Muhammad Arif:
Islamic Mutual Fund Industry
Overall the mutual funds sector in Pakistan remained in flux with volatile investment trends from different segments of investors in 2018, showing a decline of over Rs. 12.5 billion in asset values managed by various companies.
In contrast to the decline in asset values in 2018,...
World
Politics
· Iran seizes UK oil tanker in escalation of ongoing crisis.
Iran has seized a UK flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz in a sharp escalation of the crisis between the Islamic republic and the west. Amid reports that a second tanker had also been apprehended, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard...
Muhammad Arif
Growth of a Country and Islamic Banking
Since the modern birth of Islamic banking in the 1970s in Egypt, it has expanded rapidly across the globe. As illustrated by Imam and Kpodar (2013), such expansion has taken place, in particular—though not exclusively—in countries with larger Muslim populations. From an...
World
Politics
More than 20 reportedly killed in Papua New Guinea violence
More than 20 people including pregnant women and children have been killed in recent tribal violence in Papua New Guinea, according to media reports. The death toll and dates of the violence in the remote highland province of Hela varied...
Muhammad Arif
Islamic Banking in Various jurisdictions
The rapid pace of growth of Muslim population worldwide presents a lucrative window of opportunity for Islamic Banking. However, banks need to examine the key location-specific factors while offering Islamic Banking products and develop targeted offerings based on the unique needs of a region.
Sharia...
World
Politics
· Extrajudicial killings detailed as thousands march in Venezuela
UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet presented a damning report on atrocities carried out by the Venezuelan government, as thousands marched through Caracas on Independence Day demanding an end to President Nicolás Maduro’s rule. Ms Bachelet told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on 5th July that...
