Islamic Scholars Play Role in High Finance

[Joanne98]

Islamic Scholars Play Role in High Finance
http://www.law.com/jsp/dc/PubArticleDC.jsp?id=1177331771244&hub=TopStories
Does your sukuk comply with shariah? Muslims try to reconcile modern commerce with the teachings of the Prophet.

By Alexia Garamfalvi
Legal Times
April 30, 2007


For those with a passing knowledge of the strictures of Islamic law, in particular its prohibition on the charging of interest, the term “Islamic financing” might seem to contain an inherent contradiction.

But far from being disfavored, deal work in the Islamic world is booming. Ten years ago, best estimates put the amount of global financing done under Islamic law at about $70 billion. This year, it’s ballooned more than tenfold to an estimated $750 billion. That’s enough to propel the Islamic finance industry out of its niche market status and into the mainstream of international banking.

It also means the industry is facing growing pains, with an acute shortage of lawyers and Islamic scholars who can advise companies and financial institutions on how to structure their investments and deals so as to comply with Islamic law.

A recent game of musical chairs among lawyers with Islamic finance expertise at U.S. and U.K. firms in Dubai shows that firms are scrambling to get in on the action and are looking to ramp up their Islamic finance capabilities.
http://www.law.com/jsp/dc/PubArticleDC.jsp?id=1177331771244&hub=TopStories

[Igel]

1. Thus clearly demonstrating that it's not just

Jews and Christians that produce Pharisees, literal or metaphorical.

[bemildred]

2. Sounds like one heck of a racket to me. nt