Islamic Mortgages Blend Faith and Capitalism

A new type of mortgage is gaining popularity in the United Kingdom and the United States. It is a way to combine capitalism with the ethics of religion: Islamic mortgages.

According to Bloomberg news, the global Islamic finance industry is worth a staggering $1.3 trillion, and is continuing to grow, with annual growth rates of 15 percent. A part of that industry is based upon real estate and mortgages. Islamic mortgages have funded a wide variety of purchases, including residential mortgages as offered by the UK’s first lease-based mortgage provider: United National Bank of Pakistan. But these financing tools have also funded larger purchases, like the construction of the Shard of Glass in London.

Rules and Regulations

Islamic mortgages are fundamentally different than traditional mortgages due to religious restrictions of Islam. Under the principles of Shariah (Islamic Law), a payment or interest is prohibited. Conventional mortgages cannot be used by practicing Muslims, but many home prices are too high for a typical customer to buy outright. This is where Islamic home loans assist buyers. For these loans, the bank can purchase a property and sell it back to a mortgage owner in three different ways:

1. A bank can sell the property at a higher price to the mortgagee in an installment plan, or rent it to the homeowners and have the mortgagee pay a contribution towards the equity of the home each month until it is paid off.
2. Owners can choose a “lease to purchase” option because the homeowner rents the property while paying down principal and gaining equity on the property.
3. Mortgagees can create a Limited Liability Company (LLC) where the finance company and the homeowner both own shares of the property.

Due to religious laws, there are restrictions for Islamic-funded real-estate. Islamic financiers focus on businesses that are involved in ethical businesses, according to Richard Thomas, CEO of Gatehouse Bank, a Shariah-compliant bank in the UK. The financing does not go toward businesses such as pubs, casinos, or businesses with questionable moral codes. Currently there are globally-located, Islamic-financed projects with Rolls-Royce, British Telecom, and Procter & Gamble.


Read on:
http://loans.org/mortgage/articles/islamic-funds-blend-faith-and-capitalism

Escorted by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, a considerable Israeli security detail and coterie of Muslim and Catholic clerics, Pope Francis ascended the Temple Mount Monday morning – perhaps the most symbolic and contested territory in the Muslim and Jewish divide.


Under a clear blue sky, Francis removed his shoes prior to entering al-Aksa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, where Muslims believe Prophet Mohammad ascended to heaven. It is also Judaism’s holiest site, where the First Temple and Second Temple were destroyed.


May we respect and love one another as brothers and sisters,” the pope reportedly said during the discussion. “May we learn to understand the suffering of others. May no one abuse the name of God through violence.”


Read on:
http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Francis-beseeches-Grand-Mufti-to-disavow-Temple-Mount-strife-354444

Is Russia reviving its empire?

(interesting this article comes from Al Jazerra news)


A great many experts, observers and pundits are missing the point in their analyses of events in and around Ukraine by making two flawed assumptions. One, that the personal traits and characters of Russian President Vladimir Putin, or US President Barack Obama, or both, are the main causes of the momentous developments in and around Ukraine; and two, that Putin is executing a master plan.


The reality is something else. International relations are intricate. Decisions made by heads of states are guided by a complex web of domestic and international factors and circumstances. Of course, the person at the top and his or her worldview, leadership qualities and style are key factors in the final determination, but explaining transformative events on the basis of one man's behaviour and actions is overly simplistic and inevitably will miss the point.


What the pundits perceive to be Putin's "ambitions, arrogance and petulance", and Obama's "weakness, indifference and disengagement" are not manifestations of capricious behaviour. Rather, they are ideologically driven labels for behaviour based on convictions, beliefs and values developed through their personal experiences, domestic sentiments and their nation's past and recent history.


Putin is shrewd, smart and calculating. He may or may not be anti-Western, but he certainly is not sentimental towards the West. He doesn't like to be told to play by the rules that the West itself selectively ignores, circumvents and violates.


Read on:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/05/russia-reviving-empire-201452061922194842.html

Is America Starting To Target Thought Crime?

Last week, Michelle Obama made headlines when she exhorted graduating high schoolers in a commencement address to monitor their families for politically incorrect thoughts and behaviors.

To one journalist, this was more than an off-hand comment made by the first lady. In the opinion of Cheryl Chumley, a reporter for The Washington Times and the author of “Police State USA,” Michelle Obama’s remark reflects a growing trend in America to target and attack individuals for committing “thought crime.”

“Michelle Obama’s push for kids around the nation to monitor their family members for perceived racist comments is just another way the government seeks to inject itself into an area it doesn’t really belong — the American home,” Chumley told The Daily Caller Monday.

“Having the first lady wag her finger at us and send America’s youth on some sort of quest to scour the homes and backyards of our nation’s families for any mention of a racist joke, slur or slight is nanny-governance run amok — something that belongs in a George Orwell novel, not the White House, Chumley said.”

Chumley sees a troubling growth of America’s most powerful political figures now singling out private individuals for their beliefs, and using government agencies and public denunciations to intimidate opponents into silence.

Read on:


http://news.yahoo.com/america-starting-target-thought-crime-015023317.html

Putin cuts Western ties in shift to the East

Russian President Vladimir Putin's movement eastwards can no longer be in any doubt.
Attending the St Petersburg Economic Forum, the annual meeting Putin set up in his hometown to rival Davos, last week, was almost more about who wasn't there than who was.


Read on:


http://www.cnbc.com/id/101704562?__source=yahoo%7Cfinance%7Cheadline%7Cheadline%7Cstory&par=yahoo&doc=101704562%7CPutin%20cuts%20Western%20ties%20i

The Size Of The Derivatives Bubble Hanging Over The Global Economy Hits A Record High

The global derivatives bubble is now 20 percent bigger than it was just before the last great financial crisis struck in 2008.  It is a financial bubble far larger than anything the world has ever seen, and when it finally bursts it is going to be a complete and utter nightmare for the financial system of the planet.  According to the Bank for International Settlements, the total notional value of derivatives contracts around the world has ballooned to an astounding 710 trillion dollars ($710,000,000,000,000).

Other estimates put the grand total well over a quadrillion dollars.  If that sounds like a lot of money, that is because it is.  For example, U.S. GDP is projected to be in the neighborhood of around 17 trillion dollars for 2014.  So 710 trillion dollars is an amount of money that is almost incomprehensible.  Instead of actually doing something about the insanely reckless behavior of the big banks, our leaders have allowed the derivatives bubble and these banks to get larger than ever.
 In fact, as I have written about previously, the big Wall Street banks are collectively 37 percent larger than they were just prior to the last recession.  "Too big to fail" is a far more massive problem than it was the last time around, and at some point this derivatives bubble is going to burst and start taking those banks down.  When that day arrives, we are going to be facing a crisis that is going to make 2008 look like a Sunday picnic.


Read more:


http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/the-size-of-the-derivatives-bubble-hanging-over-the-global-economy-hits-a-record-high