Australia Eyes Islamic Finance Growth, Islamic World News, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic World News

Australia Eyes Islamic Finance Growth

Government aims to create finance hub for nearly one billion Muslims in Asia-Pacific region

The Australian government plans to attract Islamic banks after publishing its first report on this booming area of finance. The government wants Australia to become a finance hub for almost one billion Muslims in the Asia-Pacific region.

Banking systems that comply with Islamic beliefs are a multibillion-dollar worldwide industry. While such banks are common in Indonesia and Malaysia, they remain on the fringe of Australia's finance sector.

That could be about to change. The government has released a report that details how Australia's well-regulated economic system could cater to the Islamic market.

Trade Minister Simon Crean says expanding Islamic banking would help Australia become a dominant player in regional financing.

"The thing that struck me when we had our discussions in Malaysia 18 months ago, was how they were positioning themselves to become a financial services hub, particularly for Islamic finance. Where the U.K. has done it, given active support to it, if Australia wants to position itself as a financial services hub for the Asia-Pacific region, it has to, in my view, embrace Islamic financing too," Crean said.

Under Islamic, or Sharia, law, charging interest is forbidden. In addition, Islamic finance differs from conventional Western methods by focusing on profit-sharing, with wealth generated through trade and investment in assets, such as property or commodities. It also bars investment in businesses that are forbidden in Islam, such as liquor or gambling.

http://newageislam.com/australia-eyes-islamic-finance-growth/islamic-world-news/d/2470

WOMAN By Allama Ghulam Ahmad Parwez, Books and Documents, NewAgeIslam.com

Books and Documents

WOMAN By Allama Ghulam Ahmad Parwez

Chapter 19: Islam A Challenge to Religion

WOMAN

By Allama Ghulam Ahmad Parwez

I. Man and Woman - A Comparative Study

For ages, men did not treat the woman-folk with justice and fairness. That woman was inferior to man in intelligence, was, for long, regarded as a self-evident truth. All the dull and uninteresting tasks were, therefore, assigned to her. In the civilisation man built up, woman had to be content with an inferior role. It is only recently that woman has begun to assert her rights and claim equality with man. Though the intellectual climate of the present age is generally favourable to woman's demand for equality, the question of its validity has not quite emerged from the smoke of the controversy.

No doubt, there are differences between man and woman, but they are in fact far fewer than those which used to be quoted. Even these few are largely biological. A potent difference is that in physical prowess. The male surpasses the female not so much in his capacity for endurance as in the intensity of his muscular action. He generally runs faster and punches harder. His red blood corpuscles which carry oxygen from the lungs to the muscles are ten percent more abundant than those of the female. Then her feminine (biological) peculiarities and maternal duties not only consume her energies to no inconsiderable extent, but also confine her indoor for long periods. All these factors supposedly keep her weaker of the two. Hence the tasks demanding great physical strength or regular out-door activities, such as fighting and hunting, were naturally assigned to the man, while the woman generally took over the lighter and domestic tasks, such as cooking and washing. As physical strength was an essential value for a primitive group constantly threatened by other hostile groups, man soon secured for himself a dominant position in the tribal set up. As this state of affairs continued for long ages, men consolidated their position of dominance and ruled over the women-folk with a high hand. Gradually women were reduced to the position of serfs.

http://newageislam.com/woman-by-allama-ghulam-ahmad-parwez/books-and-documents/d/2047