Institutions

Here is a long list of web sites that would help you with information, products and services in Islamic Banking, Finance, Investment, and Insurance.

• Islamic-Banks-Mortgages.com This is a UK based site with lots of useful information on Islamic banking, finance and mortgage.
• Islamice Finance A comprehensive site from Germany with a lot of information on web sites, institutions, regulations, and much more. Highly recommended!
• Islamic Development Bank - IDB This is a bank formed by the Organization of Islamic Conference - OIC, and does financing for development projects, but on the level of countries and governments, not for individuals or companies.
• Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI) A member of the Islamic Development Bank Group focusing on Research and Training in Islamic Finance and other areas.
• Al Barakah based in Saudi Arabia, and operates several worldwide subsidiaries.
• The Muslim Student Association has a list of Islamic Financial Institutions covering mainly North America (USA and Canada).
• The National Commercial Bank in Saudi Arabia has some Islamic Financial Products. The site also offers some useful explanations on Commercial Islamic Terms (such as Ijara, Istisnaa, Murabaha, Musharakah, ...etc.
• Islamic-Finance.com Web Site. This site has a list of several Islamic Institutions. It also has a concise, and fairly complete, overview of types of Contracts (Transactions) in Islam.
• Islamic Banking Software Project has a demo of online banking software.
• Takaful USA Provides Takaful based Sharia compliant insurance.
• Amana Takaful Based in Sri Lanka provides Takaful based Sharia compliant insurance.
• Cupola Based in Switzerland, they advertise an Islamic Investment on their web site. They seem to be geared more towards high networth individuals, since they list among their services:
  • Islamic portfolio planning
  • Saudi and GCC private investment analysis
• MSI Financial Loans, Mortgage and more...
• An-Nur Cooperative Corporation Ltd. An interest free, Riba-free investment cooperative in Toronto, Canada. They intend to provide RESP and RRSP in the future. Suite #209, 100 Mclevin Ave. Scarborough, Toronto, Canada, M1B-5K1. Phone: 416-754-4135, Fax: 416-754-0838
• No Riba Homes Loans, Mortgage and more...
• American Finance House, also known as LARIBA.
• Lariba.ca offers RRSPs, house financing and loans.
• AMIN - American Muslim Investors Network
• Ansar Finance Based in Manchester, U.K. provides loans, mortgage, and investment.
• Islamic Investment Banking Unit - IIBU Based in the United Kingdom. Their Sharia Advisory Board is composed of two well-respected and famous scholars, namely: Muhammed Taqi Usmani and Nizam M.S. Yaquby, both are on the Dow Jones Islamic Index Sharia Advisory Board. Their products are classified into two main areas:

  Products for U.K. Residents:

The internet has, and will continue to, revolutionize many aspects of oursociety, business and life. One area that the internet has excelled in is financial information and services.

Think about it for a while:

• Information on stocks, quotes, corporate news, mutual funds, graphs, and more are now freely available, and in amazingly high quality on thousands of web sites!! Muslims can (and do) make use of the above information, but it is not customized to the needs of, nor targeted to, Muslims.
• Tens of brokers have opened shop on the web to a global audience (E*Trade, Datek, ...etc.), and many Muslims use them to buy and sell stocks. However, many give interest on cash balances.
• Hundreds of institutions have internet banking (many of them offer their products for worldwide customers such as Security First Network Bank, NetBank, ...etc.), and many Muslims use them. However the question of interest and alternative modes of financing is not addressed.
• Hundreds of lenders offer house loans (mortgage) to the public, including Muslims, but none offer products and services that cater for their needs.

I guess I could give more examples for other areas, such as insurance,business financing, venture capital, leasing, and more, but you getthe general picture.

Now, it is time for credible Muslim financiers to get their act togetherand offer equivalent products and services to the 1.2 billion Muslimsworldwide using the internet as the global distribution channel.