Monday, September 21, 2009

Nicolas Sarkozy Brings Sharia Finance to France

An interesting post this morning from Tiberge at the Brussels Journal:

Some English-language Arabic news sources have covered this story. It is certainly not new — discussions about Islamic finance have been making headlines in the world of economics for a long time, but the French are inching closer to a definitive measure that will allow Islamic law to enter into the French legal framework. All this is happening with the support of President Sarkozy’s UMP.

The French Senate passed the bill on June 9. It was then that they introduced the amendment on Islamic “sukuk” that was to become the source of the Socialist opposition in the Chamber of Deputies three days ago, when the final vote was taken. Without that amendment it is likely that the Socialist deputies would have voted for the bill.

Here is a report from Le Point, dated September 17, that was probably the source for the English-language articles. It should be noted that this story has been largely ignored by the French MSM. It appears primarily at Le Point, but I could not find anything in Le Figaro (although that may have changed by now) […]

Read the whole article at the Brussels Journal for more details on how sharia-compliant finance has made its way into the heart of the Fifth Republic via the legalization of Islamic bonds, or sukuk.

Ever since 1789 the principle of laïcité, or the secularization of society, has been a paramount feature of French politics. Nicolas Sarkozy and his governing coalition have had to engage in some ingenious evasive maneuvers to portray Islamic finance as a secular institution.
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It’s interesting to observe that the Socialists are the main opponents of this project, despite the “unholy alliance” of the Left with the Islamists throughout most of Europe. Also notable is the fact that the Vatican has approved of the introduction of sharia-compliant instruments into Europe’s financial system.

Our betrayal by our leaders has been a complex one, and no single faction within the existing political establishment is free of complicity in the pre-emptive surrender to Islam.

It would also be worthwhile to emphasize the role of zakat — charitable giving as mandated by sharia — in Islamic finance. Zakat is part and parcel of sharia-compliant finance, and the huge amounts of money generated by zakat are one of the principle funding sources for Islamic terrorism all over the world.

The French parliament — and other legislative bodies across the Western world — would do well to remember this fact when considering the introduction of Islamic finance into the existing legal system.


Hat tip: TV.

7 comments:

Tom said...

In my opinion, this is a way for the French government to keep on with their current nanny-state system.

I am wondering what would be the collaterals/fees required by those sukuk when applied to government bonds : parcels of lands ? portions of taxes ? people ?

Fjordman said...

I hate Nicolas Sarkozy. Pompous, hypocritical traitor. If our political system again and again produces "leaders" such as Sarkozy, Obama, Blair and Brown then maybe it isn't working.

I know British poster DP111 talks about what he calls the first "global civil war." But it won't be global. East Asians will be doing just fine. What we are fast-approaching now is the first pan-Western civil war, which will affect virtually every single white majority Western nation to some extent. It's caused by mass immigration of alien peoples who do not belong in our lands. Society is now breaking apart at an accelerating pace, and the people at the top only accelerate their appeasement as a response.

My best bet is Britain as the first country to reach a full-scale civil war, with Denmark close behind. Maybe the Netherlands, too, if it isn't too destroyed by now. France is difficult to predict. Some say it is already finished, but I don't know about that.

laine said...

Sarkozy is what passes for "conservative" in France and Europe in general i.e. left of center instead of far left of center.

His marriage to a much younger silver spoon socialist flake didn't help matters. It's a Schwarzenegger Maria Shriver situation, marriage breakfast table conversion to nanny statism: "Think of all those poor people, and big strong you is in a position to help them!".

Sarkozy is also very French in the sense of narcissistic and greedy. The French still hallucinate that they can become a world power again (instead of a boutique hotel for tourists and purveyor of fine foods and wines) by hooking up with the Arabic world and its money.

The deal Sarkozy's predecessors made was that they would let the dregs of the Arabic world immigrate and support them for basically nothing in return. The Arabs are still laughing about that one. Now the deal is to enable sharia finance (basically the provider of terrorist financing) to skim off some of the profits for France. Sarkozy may as well offer to become the Mafia's banker (but they don't need him).

Remember the French trying to save Saddam Hussein and their lucrative contracts as well as Oil for Food fraud with the Iraqi people- shredder? The French will do anything for money and a shred of power.

ɱØяñιηg$ʇðя ©™ said...

When Gandalf rides to councel with Saruman who at that point is the head of their order, Saruman suddenly tries to convince Gandalf to join forces with Sauron. Gandalf the responds by asking him what made him abandon reason for madness. Sarkozy is our equivalent to Saruman in our time. A traitor who has joined forces with the powers of evil. How ironic that France even has a famous tower to make the comparison even more adequate. Saruman is also the only name in the whole saga that sounds arabic. Perhaps Tolkien was the Nostradamus of our time?

Anonymous said...

What an idiot!

Anonymous said...

Socialists. The only thing that surpasses their holier-than-thouism is their breathtaking hypocrisy.

Henrik R Clausen said...

Sarkozy has a long tradition to stand up for the Right Thing - except when it matters.

This is just another instance of our elite being rotten, left and right. In this case, I recommend reading the Timur Kuran book Islam and Mammon, which inspired me to write an essay about Zakat.

Sarkozy is what passes for "conservative" in France and Europe in general i.e. left of center instead of far left of center.

Correct. We have the same problem in Denmark. Always giving in to mega-socialist EU, too. But when their money-printing machines overheat, it will be the end of this 'Elite'.

Perhaps Tolkien was the Nostradamus of our time?

He was. If Baron makes a thread about it, I'll elaborate :)