Successful launch of Nationwide Road Show to promote Islamic Banking and Takaful

The awareness campaign has started from Peshawar, and will end in Karachi while passing through 30 different cities of Pakistan and organizing 100 events

04-03-2014

(Peshawar) National awareness campaign “Road Show 2014” has started today  from Peshawar to promote the Islamic Banking and takaful, to trim down the rising criticism and objection on Islamic finance, thriving the Islamic Financial methods in Shariah perspective in the country to get rid of interest element by benefitting Islamic Banking and Finance. The awareness campaign named as “Khyber to Karachi” Road Show 2014 which will pass through 30 different cities of Pakistan from Khyber to Karachi, will conduct 100 free seminars and workshops especially in Chambers of Commerce and Industries, Trade Associations, Universities, Professional Institutes and Industrial Estates to equally benefit the businessmen, industrialists, professional experts and students.

Stating the objectives of nationwide awareness campaign “Road Show 2014”, the Organizer, Muhammad Zubair Mughal, Chief Executive Officer – AlHuda Center of Islamic Banking and Economics (CIBE) said that the prime objective of the Road Show is to enhance the awareness of Islamic Banking and Finance among the masses and to eradicate the objections that has been put on Islamic banking and finance through different propagandas. He said that the promotion of Islamic banking and finance is necessary for the economic development and prosperity where we can benefit the agriculturists, industrialists and the whole economy with Islamic financial services by strengthening our financial institutions and also the Sukuk (Islamic Bonds) can be strengthened and poverty can be alleviated through the Islamic microfinance.

He said that the rationality behind Islamic financial system can be observed in the recent global financial crisis where thousands of interest based financial institutions were ruined but no Islamic financial institute was adversely affected by such upheaval although there are more than 1500 Islamic financial institutions working with interest free modes such as Asset Based Financing under ethical practices around the globe and number of international financial institutions are transforming towards the Islamic Banking and Finance. He said that Alhamdulillah, today, we started the awareness campaign “Road Show 2014” from Peshawar followed by seminars in University of Peshawar, Agriculture University of Peshawar and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry etc and this road show, passing through 30 different cities, will conclude after a long way of 3 months at Karachi. After the Road Show a comprehensive report on Islamic Banking in Pakistan will be published. 

Halal tourism is poised to become next big goldmine

Halal tourism, or Muslim-friendly travelling, is set to grow to a multibillion dollar business over the coming years based on rising attentiveness of tour operators towards the needs of Muslim tourists and the growing affluence of Muslims in population-rich Islamic countries especially in Southeast Asia and China.

The halal travel market was estimated to be worth $140bn in 2013, accounting for almost 13% of the global total, and is expected to rise to $200bn by 2020, according to Crescentrating, a Singapore-based rating agency for halal-friendly travel services.

While Muslim travel in the past has been mainly related to providing services to Haj and Umrah pilgrims, travel agencies are now catering to a far more diverse spectrum of Muslim travellers. In East and Southeast Asia alone, the regions with the highest number of Muslims worldwide, hundreds of Muslim-only tour groups have emerged, offering services such as booking of halal hotels and itineraries that include halal-certified restaurants and the provision of prayer rooms at airports and shopping malls and other Muslim facilities, as well as Muslim-friendly business travel to meetings or events.

These tour groups are increasingly reaching out to international customers, namely in the Middle East, but also in Europe and the US.

Interestingly, Shinto-dominated Japan has emerged as a popular destination for Muslim travellers, with hotels and airports having started to offer halal food and prayer rooms, according to Crescentrating CEO Fazal Bahardeen.

For Middle East investors the boom in halal tourism can be seen as a great opportunity. Growth rates in Asia are forecast to be as high as 30% annually, with the segment for meetings, incentives, conferences and events (MICE) expected to grow fastest, says Reto Kaufmann, head of MICE Sales Asia at Kuoni Group Travel Experts, part of Kuoni, one of the largest tourism companies worldwide.

And the sector is indeed moving quickly. Crescentrating says it will accredit more than 100 halal travel agencies over the next 12 months, with more to expect as long as they are rightfully accredited in their home country and/or by Iata (International Air Transport Association), send their staff to training workshops and offer Muslim-only travel packages.

Crescentrating is also ranking the most Muslim-friendly holiday destinations among member countries of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) and outside. Among OIC countries, Malaysia in 2014 continued to hold on to its top position as the most halal friendly holiday destination, followed by the UAE, Turkey, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Jordan, Qatar, Tunisia and Egypt.

Among the top-five non-OIC countries, Singapore leads the pack ahead of South Africa, Thailand, UK and Bosnia-Herzegowina. Japan has made a jump from 50th to 40th place in the overall list, the best improvement among the 60 destinations tracked, and it also released a special travel guide for Muslim travellers last year. Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport was ranked the top Muslim-friendly airport in non-OIC countries.

At the other end of the ranking, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Nigeria (OIC), and Belgium, Ireland and Mexico (non-OIC) where the countries with the least developed facilities for Muslim travellers.

Source: http://www.gulf-times.com/business/191/details/382182/halal-tourism-is-poised-to-become-next-big-goldmine

Malaysia targets booming halal tourism

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia is pushing more hotels to provide Syariah-compliant facilities amid a surge in the number of Muslim visitors to the country.

Government data show that the number of Muslim visitors to the country has more than tripled to 5.5 million since 2000, outpacing a doubling in the number of tourists overall.

That has led to a government push to draw up rules to tap an estimated US$126 billion (S$160 billion) in Muslim tourist spending worldwide. Last year, the country’s Haj fund set up a Syariah-compliant hotel in the north-eastern state of Terengganu.

Under proposals being drafted by the Islamic Tourism Centre (ITC), hotels will be encouraged to stop serving alcohol, prepare food according to religious guidelines and require men and women to use facilities such as swimming pools at different times.

“We are seeing increased interest from countries, especially in Asia, to become more Muslim-friendly,” said Mr Fazal Bahardeen, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Crescentrating, an Islamic travel research company. “It is a very fast-growing major market, comparable even to the Chinese market.”

The ITC, set up by the government to assist the tourism ministry, is working on the guidelines with hotel operators, tour guides and travel agents, said ITC Director-General Zulkifly Md Said. They are targeted for completion this year and compliance will not be mandatory as they are intended to serve as a guide to hotels that want to be more Muslim-friendly, he said.

The government estimates the number of Muslim holidaymakers in Malaysia will increase to 6 million in 2014 and 6.5 million in 2015, Mr Zulkifly said. Muslims have been looking for alternative destinations since the Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States spurred a wave of “Islamophobia” in the West, he said.

“If Malaysian hoteliers and travel agents were to realign their marketing and readjust their in-house facilities, they will get the economic benefits that they are looking for.”

Some 5.5 million Muslim tourists visited Malaysia last year, compared with 1.5 million in 2000, figures from the ITC showed. Total arrivals climbed to 25.7 million last year from 10.2 million in 2000, government data show. Indonesians topped the list of Muslim tourists in Malaysia in the first nine months of last year, making up 40 per cent of arrivals, ITC data show.

Non-Muslim nations are also seeking to attract Muslim travellers. New Zealand and Japan have published guides on halal restaurants and the Global Health City Hospital in Chennai obtained halal certification in 2012 to tap the Syariah-compliant medical tourism market.

Hotel Grand Chancellor in Australia’s Gold Coast has a Ramadan lounge for Muslims holidaying during the fasting month, joining accommodations from Dubai to Turkey that offer amenities such as prayer rooms and halal food. Bloomberg.

Source: http://www.todayonline.com/world/asia/malaysia-targets-booming-halal-tourism

Danish Muslims, Jews Fight Halal Ban

CAIRO — Rejecting ritual slaughter ban as a infringement to their religious rights, Danish Muslims and Jews have joined hands, vowing to fight the ban imposed on halal and kosher meat.

“Minority religious groups are afraid this ban will lead to other restrictions in the future,” Fatih Alev, president of the Danish Islamic Center in Copenhagen, told Religious News Service.

Earlier in February, Agriculture and Food Minister Dan Jørgensen announced that animals would not be slaughtered before being pre-stunned.

“This decision is an improvement for animal welfare,” said Pernille Fraas Johnsen, agricultural campaign manager for the World Society for the Protection of Animals’ Copenhagen branch.Accordingly, Jewish and Muslim ritual slaughter will be illegal in Denmark.

“We don’t call it a ban on kosher (practices) but a ban on slaughter without stunning because for us, and I think for the government as well, it is a matter of animal welfare.”

Yet, the ban sparked angry reactions from Jewish and Muslim minorities, saying the law threatens their religious freedom.

Bent Lexner, chief rabbi of the Great Synagogue in Copenhagen, has also asserted that ritual slaughter was a key belief for Jews.

“It is a basic element of the Jewish religion and if they take this away, they take away a basic right,” he said.

The concept of halal, -- meaning permissible in Arabic -- has traditionally been applied to food.

Muslims should only eat meat from livestock slaughtered by a sharp knife from their necks, and the name of Allah, the Arabic word for God, must be mentioned.

Muslim scholars agree that Shari`ah provides a divine law of mercy that should be applied on all Allah’s creations, including animals.

Islam also provides details about avoiding any unnecessary pain.

Religious Freedom

The latest moves were blasted by Jewish and Muslim groups as effectively disenfranchising their religious traditions.

“With this, it is no longer permitted to slaughter without pre-stunning a cow, and before, it was legal to do that — so it is a ban,” said Finn Schwarz, president of the Jewish Community Center in Copenhagen.

Though the European Union requires pre-stunning for animals, it allows exemptions for religious minorities.

“This has something to do with recognizing that you have a minority and the minority should have some kind of freedom to express its (values),” said Schwarz.

“So we keep hunting and lose ritual slaughter, which actually affects a much bigger group of people — but people whose position in Danish society is weak,” he said.

The Danish government move was also blasted as hypocritical, referring to Marius, a young giraffe at the Copenhagen Zoo who was killed and fed to lions earlier this month to avoid inbreeding.

“It seems as if the priorities are science, animal welfare and religion in that order,” said Johnny Rasmussen, an entrepreneur in the Danish capital.

“I am more interested in what animal welfare organizations say about Marius the giraffe.”

Denmark is home to a Muslim minority of 200,000, making three percent of the country's 5.4 million population.

The Scandinavian country has a Jewish minority of about 6,000.

Denmark is the latest European country to approve such a ban: Norway, Sweden and Switzerland passed laws forbidding ritual slaughter decades ago, and the Poles approved a ban in 2012.

The Dutch Senate rejected a bill by the Party for the Animals that same year, while the British have refused to introduce such a bill in spite of intense lobbying by animal rights groups.

Source: http://www.onislam.net/english/news/europe/469639-danish-muslims-jews-fight-ritual-slaughter-ban.html