Islamic Finance and Economics

Robust Growth for Global Islamic Finance Assets Forecast to $3.69tn By 2024

December 15, 2020

Global Islamic finance assets continue to experience strong annual growth rates, with total assets forecast to reach $3.69 trillion by 2024 on the strength of the international sharia-based banking sector.
Hezbollah Chief Heads to Iran for Protection

December 07, 2020

In a move that reveals Shiite Islamist ties, Hezbollah's Secretary-General will seek protection in Iran after a wave of recent targeted assassinations and drone strikes against Iranian and Hezbollah nuclear scientists and militant leaders.
AEI: Turkey Uses Demographic Engineering to Spread Islamism from Eastern Med to Caucasus

December 02, 2020

Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute writes that, in a demographic engineering project that erases religious and ethnic minorities and replaces them with Islamists. NATO-member Turkey is using economic and political incentives, as well as military policy, to settle Islamist militants and their families in Kurdish, Christian, Yezidi areas from northern Syria and southeastern Turkey to Azerbaijan’s Nagorno Karabakh.
Saudi-Turkey Thaw Driven by US Elections & Economic Interests, Won't Affect Islamist Rivalry

December 01, 2020

Signs of a diplomatic thaw between Islamist regimes Saudi Arabia and Turkey are tied to economic interests and concerns about a possible prioritization of human rights by the incoming US administration.
US Court Moves forward Turkish Bank Indictments

November 11, 2020

The US Southern District of New York (SDNY) will move forward on indictments against two major Turkish banks for financing Hamas terrorist attacks revealing NATO-member Turkey's support for illicit financing of jihadist activities worldwide.
UN Report Highlights Financial Efficiency of Al Shabaab in Funding Islamist Terror Operations

October 19, 2020

A new report by the UN Sanctions Panel on Somalia, which monitors compliance with international sanctions on the East African country, details the "super efficiency" of the Islamist terror group al Shabaab in its money laundering, funding of small- and medium-sized businesses, and intimidation-extraction rackets, all of which generate major cash returns used to fund the jihadist group's onngoing operations in Somalia.
US Court Ruling on Turkish Bank Indicted for Sanctions Busting on Iran Highlights Islamist Regime Cooperation

October 14, 2020

A Manhattan federal judge on October 1 refused to dismiss an indictment accusing Halkbank, a public lender majority-owned by the Turkish government, of helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions highlighting the links between counter-terrorism and financial crime.
Indonesia's Islamic Clerics Gaining More Power with Expansion to Financial Sector & Consumer FinTech

September 15, 2020

Indonesia's political and social Islamization is now spreading to the financial sector (fintech) under the expanding purview of the Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI), which supports the "shariatization" of the country's economy.
US Justice Department Makes Record Seizure of Cryptocurrencies Tied to Islamist Terror Financing

August 18, 2020

The US Department of Justice announced a record seizure of cryptocurrency funds tied to financing an array of Islamist groups, including Islamic State, al Qaeda, and Hamas.
Algeria Turns to Islamic Finance to Meet Challenges of COVID-19 & Collapsing Oil Prices

August 18, 2020

Sharia-compliant financial products and banking products are forecast to gain a larger sector of Algeria’s economy, as the country’s political-economic leadership looks to stave off the effects of collapsing oil prices and the expanding COVID-19 pandemic on Africa’s largest country.