Shari'ah Compliant Finance: Toward Economic Jihad

This monograph discusses the relevant components of the Islamic financial sector, otherwise known as Shariah Compliant Finance, in order to gain a better understanding of an industry quickly spreading around the globe and the greater implications for the systems reliance on Shariah law. The analysis divided the Shariah financial system into its three main components the underlying components of the financial system and associated definitions the financial systems foundations on Shariah law and finally the legal justification for the system as a method of economic jihad. This is important because United States financial institutions are involved in Shariah financing. Some of the largest financial organizations in the US offer Shariah compliant investment vehicles including Citigroup, American International Group AIG, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. None of these corporations offer any information about Shariah law to investors other than a statement of conformance to ethical principles. Nowhere in the advertising literature do these companies discuss the other material facts of Shariah compliance as required by the 1933 and 1934 Securities Acts defining disclosure requirements. The triadic argument plainly demonstrates that Shariah Compliant Financing is economic jihad, a methodology effectively establishing a foothold of acceptance for Shariah law under the guise of an ethical banking structure. Once Shariah law gains acceptance in this seemingly benign realm, those supporting the settlement of the West may push for Shariah law acceptance in other facets of the legal system.