From FT: Saudi Arabia’s top cleric has used his annual sermon to Muslim pilgrims assembling for hajj to urge Muslim countries to renounce capitalism and form an Islamic economic bloc that adopts interest-free finance.

Grand Mufti Abdelaziz Al al-Sheikh told worshippers assembling on the plain of Mount Arafat that global economies now caught in crisis were suffering the result of using interest as a bedrock of their financial systems. Under Islamic law, or sharia, paying or receiving interest is forbidden….. Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: The world’s roughly 1.5 billion Muslims need a way to bank and invest according to Islamic Sharia law, which bars receiving or paying interest on loans or deposits.

A massive market infrastructure is being built to facilitate clients that include wildly rich Persian Gulf oil tycoons….. Full Article: Source

From Ribh.wordpress.com: Islamic finance principles may be a thousand years old but they have attracted the attention of the West only recently. Now business schools are offering specialist masters programmes on the subject.

While the world’s financial systems are shaken to their foundations, global stock markets tumble and thousands of bankers are made redundant, one area of finance goes from strength to strength….. Full Article: Source

From Gulf Daily News: Islamic banking pioneer Dar Al Maal Al Islami Trust (DMI) has increased its capital by $100 million. The capital raising, through a closed rights issue, was approved by an extraordinary general meeting of DMI’s equity participation certificates (EPC) holders, said.

DMI thanked subsidiaries and associates, Ithmaar Bank, Islamic Investment Company of the Gulf (Bahamas), Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt and the holders of EPCs for their confidence despite the global financial crisis and the subsequent economic challenges….. Full Article: Source

From Brunei Online: Brunei Darussalam is well on its way to realise its goal of becoming a leading international Islamic Finance Hub following the introduction of the Islamic Banking Order 2008 and Takaful Order 2008.

The Sunday Bulletin has learnt that with the introduction of the new Islamic Banking Order, all Islamic banks in the Sultanate are required to have a Syariah Advisory Body comprising at least three Muslim religious scholars….. Full Article: Source

From Reuters: The World Bank said on Saturday that Israel’s tightened blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip had created cash shortages that could lead to the collapse of banks in the impoverished Palestinian territory.

Also sounding an alarm, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the spiralling Gazan crisis risked driving Palestinians in need of funds into the arms of those “with easier access to cash from other sources” brought in through tunnels under the border with Egypt….. Full Article: Source

From Menafn: As a turbulent 2008 comes to a close, financial institutions the world over are reviewing the past year and looking ahead to 2009. National Bonds Corporation can look back on an excellent year, in which it saw steady growth and minimal impact of the worldwide financial crisis.

With most of its returns accomplished in the first half of 2008, National Bonds was perfectly positioned to weather the storms of the second half of the year….. Full Article: Source

From Gulf News: Islamic banking can no longer claim immunity from the global financial crisis now that it is hitting the industry’s main source of funding and property values in the Gulf Arab region.

The industry escaped the immediate fallout from the crisis as its ban on interest and its lack of structured products prevented it from investing in the assets that turned toxic for conventional banks….. Full Article: Source

From Smith Files: For the third month in a row, AIG is in the news regarding its promotion of Sharia-compliant finance (SCF) products, which promote the Islamic supremacist, segregationist ideology of Sharia.

For a company struggling with its financial survival, it remains astounding that AIG would want to incite its American taxpayer owners by promoting products that are based on an Islamic supremacist political ideology. In October 2008, I wrote how the U.S. …. Full Article: Source

From Korea Times: The global crisis will have only a limited impact on the UAE economy, thanks to the huge wealth accumulated during the record surge in oil prices, according to a new banking report.

The country will continue to record fiscal surplus in 2008 and 2009 as it has the lowest break-even oil price in the GCC of $23 (Dh84.48) per barrel against the IMF’s baseline petroleum price projection of $68 per barrel for 2009, says the report….. Full Article: Source

From Brazzilmag.com: Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Securities, Commodities and Futures Exchange (BM&FBovespa) promotes, in São Paulo, the seminar “financial and capital markets in the Islamic world: opportunities and challenges”.

According to the event organizer, José Alexandre Vasco, Investor Protection and Guidance supervisor at the SEC, the objectives are to inform the Brazilian market of the characteristics of the Islamic financial system and debate the possibilities of adopting operations of this nature in Brazil. ….. Full Article: Source

From Gulf-daily-news.com: Jordan Islamic Bank has achieved a 67 per cent growth in its net profit for the first nine months of this year.

The financial results of the bank, a subsidiary banking unit of Albaraka Banking Group, for the period show that it achieved a net profit before tax amounting to 44.34 million Jordanian dinars compared to 26.58m dinars for the same period of last year, an increase of 67pc. ….. Full Article: Source