http://www.sabana-reit.com/ Anyone heard of SSREIT before? The Sovereign Investor seems to think they are a win right now: http://thesovereigninvestor.com/2013/11/27/learn-bobby-tays-2-7-trillion-sigma-secret-2/ There are however, concerns of vacancy rates: http://www.fool.sg/2013/10/18/sabana-shariah-reit-sees-distributions-grow/
Shariah finance.... hmmmm DO you really want to support an investment vehicle that is based on a system that has a 'non-believer' tax? I understand we're all looking for profit on our investment captal. But the subversive nature of Shariah Finance and Shariah law in general - should be vehimently opposed. Not played around with. 'The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil'
Well I'm not so knowledgeable on this but had a look on google and found this: http://www.sharesinv.com/articles/2013/10/30/sabana-reits-investment/
Sharia is a set of rules alien to what we're used to. Under sharia, evidence given in court by a woman is worth half that of a man. Furthermore evidence given by a nonbeliever is also worth half that of a believing man. So say Julie has a contract dispute over a sharia finance vehicle and needs to settle it in court. Can anyone guarantee that in our brave new multicultural world her evidence is not going to be worth 1/4 that of the other party? And why not? Sharia is demanded as a factor in fmaily law cases in The West now, and the same is being demanded in some juristictions in criminal matters. Civil cases rule on precedent like any other. Something to consider.
Of course I know what it is. I wouldn't at all describe it as "subversive" or "based on a non-beliver tax" and I doubt you'd find anyone with a reasonable understanding of it describing it that way either. And to be perfectly frank, I'd much prefer to buy a house using a murabaha sale contract where it is absolutely clear how much I have to pay in total, when I have to pay it and that I don't own the house until I've paid every last cent that both parties agreed to up front. If Western finance had a bit more of that sort of honesty and integrity, our financial system might not be as f***ed up as it is.
I do believe also that any Shariah Finance product has a manditory 2.5% tithe tax which is used to fund Islamic religious opperations such as mosques, the kalifs and amoung other things global jihad.... But you guys are already so omniscient, i didnt have to tell anyone that... we all knew already right? Here is a video of a researcher on islam and islamic brotherhood etc etc [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66GBDmmy12M[/youtube] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_cVuLpD_rs[/youtube] Here is a presentation from australia - note the differences - this guy is not aware of the fact that the benefits of shariah are to be given to Islam, non-muslims dont get the 'good' side of shariah - they get put under servitude. Similar to how socialism leads through eventually to communism (or proper marxism) - to create (effectively) slaves of the ruling class
I used a Shariah compliant car finance when I was living in the GCC and never had to pay that 2.5% tax you talking about, you are confusing with the individual tax called zakat that all muslim people have to pay once a year and this money isn't use to fund anything other than going to a certain category of people like the ones living in absolute poverty or those who have overwhelming debts for example So please do your own research before making such allegations
Well, your beliefs might be better informed by Googling what the zakat funds may be used for (and you'll probably find that there are more than a few mentions of things like providing assistance for people living in poverty or for helping to free slaves), but you'd also have to bear in mind that the value is calculated on capital rather than income and that the nisab establishes a "tithe-free-threshold" by excluding the value of your house and other, basic stuff you need to live your life. But hey, some of our (secular) tax dollars end up being given to religious charities of questionable social value, so we're hardly in a position to criticize.
Look, I've got half a dozen good books on Islamic finance sitting on my bookshelf I can find links to if you want to learn about it and understand how it works. If you want to keep typing things like "sharia is evil" into the YouTube search box and posting whatever results come up here, then you can keep doing that too, but it won't really give you a better insight into the subject.
Well, I think it is a pity that you spent all your energy arguing about the morality of what other people do with their own bodies but then bale on a discussion about an economic model that considers the Western banking system to be immoral and fundamentally flawed and actually offers a functional and successful alternative.
I learnt you cant reason with people who have already made up their mind. So im not going to make that mistake again...
it seems that in todays world ignorant are minority and educated are just bout everyone. Mention any topic, and people know what media has decided is newsworthy about that topic. I'm not claiming to know much about Islamic finance but what i do know is that even whats being advertised as islamic banking is probably not it. According to islamic banking money can be only gold and silver and in extreme circumstances you can use salt/wheat/dates. Paper money is not recognised money and is therefore not allowed. It has a similar stance christianity had outlawing usury as its wealth earned without any effort. Now how do they finace without charging interest. They try to get around it by calling it fees which end up coming to a similar amount. Kind of like your interest for a month is $1000 + principal, here your fees would be $1000 + principal. The part about 2.5 % is like Big AD. said zakaat which is money to be spent on the poor. Its funny that people have quotes from the Bible, a Holy book and put down other religions.