Islamic e-wallet

Zawya, Alizz Islaic bank launches ewallet

Malaysia: Cryptocurrency

Mohd Noor Omar, Star Online, Resolving cryptocurrency conflicts, 16 Jan 2018 "Ikim will be conducting a roundtable discussion next month on the issue and will gather experts to present their views on cryptocurrency, with discussions on the syariah compatibility, compliance and governance."

Malaysia approaches fintech with Islamic twist

Computer Weekly, Malaysia approaches fintech with Islamic twist, 28 June 2016 "Malaysia is adapting to the financial technology (fintech) revolution by adjusting its financial regulatory guidelines with an Islamic angle."

Twitter Shares Approved For Islamic investment

Reuters/Huffington Post, Twitter Shares Approved For Islamic investment "Shares in Twitter Inc have been found eligible for investment by Islamic funds, according to IdealRatings, a company that screens stocks to determine whether they meet Muslim principles."

Zakat and technology

BERNAMA - Many Still Prefer To Pay Zakat At The Counter: "In a world full of inequalities, the solemn tradition of paying zakat, obligatory for every Muslim who can pay, now finds technology coming to the aid of the devout."

First Islamic Banking iPhone app in the UAE?

CPI Financial | News | First Islamic Banking iPhone app in the UAE?  " "Emirates Islamic Bank claims it has launched the first Islamic Banking iPhone application in UAE, enabling customers using iPhone to access online banking from their mobile. The App which is Arabic-enabled may be downloaded from Apple’s App Store." 

'Islamic Banking Hits the Web'

Internet Evolution - Marsha Weinstein - Islamic Banking Hits the Web, 16 Nov 2010 "A jaunt to now-Muslim-majority Bethlehem, in the Palestinian Authority, reveals a thriving city: renovated, bustling, affluent. When I remark on the profusion of late-model European SUVs, my Palestinian host shrugs: “Like in the West -- they live beyond their means.”"

Shari’ah-compliant online FX trading

CPI Financial, BLME launches Shari’ah-compliant online FX trading, 26 Oct 2010 "In a Shari’ah-compliant environment currency trading is used to support cross-border transactions rather than to realise a profit. Under Shari’ah all currency transactions must be backed by a commodity, which has historically made currency trading, as well as related transactions, complex and expensive. Through BLMEFX, the bank’s corporate and private clients have instant access to a large number of currencies as easily as if they were using a conventional system, thereby making the process much simpler and more cost effective."

Ramadan

Haveeru Online - BML enables alms via internet, 10 Aug 2010: "Islamic Ministry has partnered with Bank of Maldives (BML) to introduce alms giving via the internet ahead of the holy month of Ramazan expected to start Wednesday."

M-payments

Rachel Ehrenfeld, The Cutting Edge, The Recession and Terrorism Financing, 17 Aug 09 Opinion piece focusing on financial issues, with some general points on M-payments relevant to this blog

Phone banking

AFP, Phone banking service launched in Africa, Mideast, 15 Mar 09 "South African mobile phone operator MTN on Monday said it was launching a banking service on mobile phones in 21 African and Middle East countries where access to traditional banks is poor."

Financial Meltdown

Habib Trabelsi, Middle East Online, Saudis seek 'Sharia bail out' to financial crisis, Saudi clerics promote Islamic finance as healthy alternative to current troubled market economy, 6 Dec 08 "The shock wave from the financial catastrophe has not spared the imams of most mosques in Saudi Arabia. They used the crisis to spread in endless praise Islamic finance which is based on the ban of interest (riba), speculation, and sharing the risk and profit between contractors."

Jordan e-currency

Deutsche Press-Agentur/ monstersandcritics.com, Jordan's mufti issues fatwa against electronic currency trading "Jordan's top religious official on Saturday issued a fatwa (judgement) that bans electronic trading of currencies owing to the 'financial risks' involved in such a type of business.

"'Trading of currencies is a taboo and illegal from a religious viewpoint, given the financial risks involved in such transactions,' Grand Mufti Nouh Salman said."

Finance and tech

Asharq Alawsat, Islamic Banking Requires an Information Center, 5 June 08 "In a country like Saudi Arabia where Islamic banking transactions constitute 64% of its total banking transactions, no data or information regarding this industry is issued by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), which is authorized to supervise the banking and insurance sector." This is an interesting piece by Lahem al Nasser on finance and technology issues relating to KSA.

indianmuslims.info, Muslim commerce is ages old, 13 Dec 07, "It has become ever so fashionable to talk about Islam and commerce of late. Yet a cursory look at the references to Islam and economics, business, banking, finance and made-for Muslims products and services on offer on the internet would point to the fact that Muslim commerce is booming, and what's more, has been doing so for the past two decades with scarcely anyone noticing." Op-ed by Farish A. Noor

livemint.com,Muslims to get online trading portal on Diwali, 6 Nov 07 "Why did a brokerage firm, which caters to a Muslim client base, choose the Hindu festival of lights for its formal launch?" Find out in this article.

Prosecutions:

Daily Mail, Muslim student who 'threatened to become suicide bomber' guilty on terror charges, 17 Sept 07, "A jury at the High Court in Glasgow took more than eight hours to convict him of possessing and distributing a range of terrorist material via websites and providing instructional material about guns and explosives over the internet."


Online banking:

The Star Online, Maybank offers three new Islamic banking products, 13 Sept 07, "Net Current Account-i, believed to be the first Islamic Internet-based current account in Malaysia, was based on the concept of mudharabah (profit sharing), he said at the launch of the products here."

Tech:

The Star Online, Malaysia's broadband plans earn praise, 17 Sept 07"An expert in national networking policies has praised the Government for taking steps to encourage broadband adoption in the country, particularly those announced recently in the 2008 budget."

AME Info, Mena's WiMAX on track, 17 Sept 07 "Bahrain's Mena Telecom is on track to begin rolling out its WiMAX network before the end of 2007."

Diverse reactions to media:

christiannewswire/earnedmedia.org, Bill Keller World's Largest Internet Evangelist Calls Osama Bin Laden to Repent and Turn his Life Over to Jesus Christ, 16 Sept 07, "Bill Keller who is seen by thousands daily on Florida's WTTA TV 38 has blanketed the internet with a video message that speaks directly to Osama Bin Laden and all of Islam. The message has been submitted to over 50 U.S. video hosting sites, 100 international sites and 30 Islamic sites in a saturation plan to reach Osama."

Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs,, Growing Islamist Extremism in Moderate, Non-Arab Countries Must Be Confronted, Bangladeshi Activist Urges, 16 Sept 07 "Former Bangladeshi political prisoner Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is a man with a mission - to spread the message that four out of five Muslims do not live in the Middle East and that the United States must pay close attention to the rising tide of Islamist extremism in moderate Muslim countries if it is to prevent the radicalization of their populations."

aQ:

AFP, Qaeda urges Islamic terror in West in third 9/11 video, 17 Sept 07 "The new video also includes clips from old voice recordings of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his Egyptian deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, as well as a short video clip of Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid, also known as Sheikh Said, the group's commander in Afghanistan."

euronews.net, Bounty placed on Swedish cartoonist's head, 16 Sept 07 "An audio message on the Internet offers a 72,000 euro reward for Lars Vilks' murder. His sketch depicts the head of the Prophet on the body of a dog. Dogs are considered dirty in Islam.

"Half that sum is promised for killing the paper's editor Ulf Johannson who staunchly defends the picture's publication."

H-u-T:

Sunday Times, Why I joined the British jihad - and why I rejected it, 16 Sept 07 (another) former Hizb ut-Tahrir member speaks out

More Muslim marriage site updates (see yesterday), this time relating to a Yahoo! Malaysia site: The Star Online, Look for a spouse in cyberspace, 1 May 07 " ... Dr Mohd Asri bin Zainal Abidin, the mufti of Perlis, commended the site, saying it would be useful to Muslims looking for a life partner.

"Actor Radhi Khalid, 43, told In.Tech that he finds the site a good place for making introductions.

""I guess this is only natural because we have gone global (thanks to the Internet and information technology)," he said. "Let's just hope it doesn't turn into an online singles' bar.

"It will work if people are honest and don't claim they are younger than they really are or that they have three cars in the garage when they don't.""

aljazeera.net, Al-Qaeda denies death of Iraq chief, 1 May 07 "The internet statement by the Islamic State in Iraq "assures the Islamic nation about the safety of Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, may God save him, and that he is still fighting the enemies"."

LA Times/buffalonews.com, U.S. military now carrying struggle for Iraq to the Internet, 2 May 07 "Moving into a realm long dominated by Islamic militants, the military has launched a YouTube channel offering what it calls a boots-on-the-ground perspective. The move recognizes that the Internet is becoming a key battleground for public opinion at a time when domestic support for the war is dwindling."

Patriot-News, Islamists hack youth opera's site, 2 May 07, " ... visitors to www.cpyo.com found instead a manifesto from a Turkish Islamic extremist group called MDX that had hacked, or broken into and changed, the Web site. The message was in Turkish, and it left CPYO director Addie Applebaum wondering why the group was targeted." MDX probably generated more publicity through this article than the original hack (well, I found it, and I'm not a reader of the Patriot News!).

livemint.com, Islamic bond fatwas surge on million-dollar scholars, 2 May 07 "Just as Wall Street turned to Nobel Prize winner Myron Scholes in the 1980s to help make derivatives the fastest growing financial market, banks can’t find enough scholars steeped in the teachings of Muhammad to accommodate the demand for new bonds that conform to Shariah law. Without men like Yaquby to bless the borrowings, none of the $70 billion of Islamic debt outstanding can be traded and companies would have been unable to sell any of the $17 billion new offerings last year, according to data compiled by Standard & Poor’s and Bloomberg." Tech edge on this fascinating story too.

EITB, Ethiopia blocks opposition Web sites - internet watchdog, 2 May 07, "An Internet watchdog on Tuesday accused Ethiopia of blocking scores of anti-government Web sites and millions of Weblogs in one of sub-Saharan Africa's biggest cases of cyber-censorship.

"Web monitor, the OpenNet Initiative, said the Horn of Africa country was stopping citizens from viewing opposition-linked Web sites, and blogs hosted by Blogger, an online journal community owned by Internet search engine Google Inc."

thekansascitychannel.com, Airport Debunks Islamic Footwashing Myth, 30 Apr 07 a myth with internet currency.

honestreporting.com, Harvard Report Examines Media Coverage of Lebanon War, 2 May 07 The original report is here: The Israeli-Hezbollah War of 2006: The Media As A Weapon in Asymmetrical Conflict, Marvin Kalb, Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, Harvard University, February 2007 I haven't read this report yet, so am not in a position to comment. Here's the background to honestreporting.com

Ali Eteraz, In Pakistan Mosques Announce That People Being Killed By Deadly Cell Phone Virus "Mobile service providers across the country were on Friday inundated by calls from subscribers worried by a prank message that they could die of a deadly virus being transmitted via their phones.

"The rumour was so effective that some mosques in Karachi made announcements that people were being killed by a mobile virus and they should be aware of God’s wrath." [not to be confused with The Register, Mobile phone threat to honeybees, 16 Apr 07]

Daily Express Malaysia, National Fatwa Council forbids share trading in the Internet, 13 April, 2007 "The National Fatwa Council Thursday ruled that any form of share investment through the Internet which promises a steady profit is forbidden as it has the elements of riba (interest) and gharar (doubt)."

UPI, Pakistan acts against jihadi Web sites, 13 Apr 07 "Pakistan's closure of the Web site of an extremist mosque in its capital shows how the Internet has become a front in the U.S.-led war on terror.

"And this week, a Russian state security official put the number of such Web sites "actively used" by terror groups at more than 5,000."

Kuwait Times, Jihad call via Internet, 15 Apr 07 "The Call for Jihad, which was released by 'Al-Qaeda shells' media department, called upon the youth from GCC countries to join it and get ready for a war in the area. This call as seen by a political activist, is warmly welcomed and accepted by many people, such acceptance was not available five years ago."

LA Times/baltimoresun.com, Islam on the Internet gains popularity in Iran, 15 April 2007 "From here, via a server in Santa Clara, Calif., emanates www.al- shia.com, the most widely read source of Shiite proselytizing in the world. Also here is the worldwide communications hub for Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq's leading Shiite cleric, www.sis tani.org, and for Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, www.leader.ir." Profile of Aalulbayt Global Information Center

AFP, Al Qaeda group claims Iraq parliament attack, 13 Apr 07 "An alliance of Sunni groups headed by Al Qaeda in Iraq said in an Internet statement on Friday that it carried out a deadly suicide bomb attack inside the Iraqi parliament building. “After studying the area... a hero from the Islamic state of Iraq wearing an explosive belt infiltrated the apostates of the parliament. Allah used his hand to destroy the group of infidels,” the self-styled Islamic Nation of Iraq said in the Internet statement."

iafrica.com, Web romance joins different worlds, 16 Apr 07, "Mohammed Ali Tipu, from Pakistan's conservative tribal northwest, met his American wife 21 years his senior over the internet. Now it is only cyberspace that is keeping their love alive.

"The pair are sustaining their marriage via emails after Tipu's bride Ann Slayton had to leave his remote home town and return to North Carolina to be with her ailing mother."

EuroNews, Morocco battles Islamic fundamentalism at home, 12 Apr 07

allafrica.com, Tunisia: Yasmine Hammamet Hosts an International ICT Conference On E-Handicap, 13 Apr 07 "The event which is jointly organized by the Tunisian association for the development of digital technology and the research unit in information and communication technologies is placed under the patronage of Tunisia's First Lady Mrs Leila Ben Ali."

Brunei Times, Using technology to keep in touch with the faith, 4 Apr 07 "Even as Brunei is accelerating its e-government drive by equipping religious schools with computer labs and tablet PCs which cost the country $5.4 million, many people are already turning to modern technology in search for religious knowledge and guidance."

AKI/Dawn, Pakistan: Military, Islamic Clergy And Industralists Run The Country, Says CIA, 4 Apr 07, "The agency, however, reports a “dramatic” improvement in the telecom infrastructure, noting that mobile cellular subscribership has skyrocketed, approaching 50 million in late 2006, up from only about 300,000 in 2000.

"Pakistan had 72,765 internet hosts in 2006 providing service to more than 10.5 million across the country."

moneyextra.com, High street account for Muslim businesses, 4 Apr 07, "Lloyds TSB has announced the launch of a high street Islamic business account. The account, which complies with Islamic law (Shariah), is available across the bank's 2,000 branches, and will be open to the UK's estimated 100,000 Muslim firms." Includes internet banking.

womensenews.org, Lesbian Palestinians Break Social Taboos, 3 Apr 07, "Members of the group meet once a month or so to socialize, discuss issues of mutual interest and plan events and programs. The group, which includes women from the West Bank and Gaza, has nearly 30 active members and about 50 women who participate in the e-mail list, Morcos said.

"The organization will soon launch a virtual forum on its Web site for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex individuals of Arab origin around the world.

"The vast majority of Aswat members keep their lesbian identities secret in a society their Web site says "has no mercy for sexual diversity."

Refers to Aswat: Palestinian Gay Women, whose site is available in Arabic and English.

AKI, Somalia: Mogadishu Suicide Bomber Appears On Web, 3 Apr 07, "Islamist militants in Somalia have begun aping Jihadists in Iraq and elsewhere by posting videos of their 'exploits' on the Internet. Last week footage purportedly showing a suicide bomb attack by a young Somali man identified as Adam Salad Adam appeared on the web site hegan.net. In the video Adam reads what is described as his 'testament' followed by the voice of a narrator who informs the viewer that Adam blew himself up in a car bomb attack in the Somali capital on 26 March. Images of Adam driving off in a car and what looks like the car exploding in the distance are shown accompanied by Jihadist chants in Arabic."

UPI, Outside View: The future of al-Qaida, 2 Apr 07 "Al-Qaida does its homework. According to one report, "A recent post on a password-protected Internet forum affiliated with al-Qaida asserted that attacks on Saudi oil pipelines would have a greater effect on the United States than a chemical weapons attack by creating 'a big economic disaster for the American public.'""