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AAOIFI: The Gateway to Islamic Financial Institutions

The Islamic finance industry is experiencing significant growth, with more and more people seeking out ethical and sustainable financial products and services that align with their values. As a result, the need for a standard-setting body has become more crucial than ever. This is where the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) comes into play.

Sharlife

23 February 2023

A Beginner's Guide to Investing in Gold as a Muslim

Gold has a long-standing tradition as a medium of exchange and store of value. Historically, gold and silver were used as fiat money, but today, government-issued currency such as the Malaysian Ringgit, Pound Sterling, and US Dollar are more commonly used.

Sharlife

20 January 2023

What is Fintech?

Financial industry has been playing significant roles in the economy. Thus, maintaining its stability is very important. A study stated that Fintech shows a positive effect in maintaining financial stability causing more people to be part of it. Mirroring the global finance industry's transformational change, the Fintech industry is undergoing rapid digitalisation. However, what exactly is Fintech?

Sharlife

23 May 2022

Does Islamic Finance relate to SDG?

Since the turn of the century, there has been a greater emphasis on sustainable development. Is the sustainable development concept foreign in Islam? Fortunately, the sustainable development concept has long existed in the Quran and the Hadith. Nevertheless, the concept itself was adopted only recently in the Islamic world. The question is, how does Islamic finance help in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?

Sharlife

8 April 2022

Time Value of Money: Conventional vs Islamic

The concept of time value of money is the foundation of investment and the core fundamental principle of conventional financial theory. It is also a fundamental component of the monetary system. Islamic finance also adopts the concept of time value of money as well, however, from an Islamic perspective, the concept used in the time value of money differs from the conventional definition. What is the difference between the Islamic and conventional views on the concept of time value of money?

Sharlife

22 February 2022

Thing To Be Aware Of Before Investing In Unit Trust

Unit trusts and mutual funds are investment pools that are meant to assist investors to diversify their portfolios and grow their wealth. One of the benefits of unit trust investment is that investors gain experience investing in global stocks such as those from the United States, China, and other nations. Unit trust investments do not require investors to have a CDS account.

Sharlife

17 February 2022

The World's First Islamic Bank

The topic of Islamic banking is now being hotly debated among the netizens. Islamic banking is seen to be identical to conventional banking, and the name "Islam" is used to obscure the community. However, before we get into the system and the issues that arise in Islamic banking, did you know that Islamic banking does have a long, rich history?

Sharlife

15 February 2022

Corruption as Endemic

The issue of corruption has now become an endemic problem in the country. Corruption appears to be a norm or culture in Malaysian society, whether consciously or unconsciously. As a matter of fact, Malaysia is ranked 62 out of 180 countries in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2021, down five rungs compared to 2020. This decrease indicates an increase in corrupt activities in the country because the lower the position of a country (first place, for example), the less corrupt activities occur in that country.

Sharlife

10 February 2022

Zakat for Flood Victims

On the 18th of December 2021, Malaysia suffers the worst floods in 58 locations in eight states, which is expected by the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MET). Numerous organizations took immediate actions in relation to the incident. The Zakat center, one of the major associations involved, also provides assistance through the distribution of zakat to help the survival of flood victims post flood. However truthfully, flood victims are not regarded as recipients of zakat.

Sharlife

27 January 2022

Halal Affiliate Marketing

When the world was hit by a pandemic Covid-19 and the country went into lockdown, everyone was trapped inside the house. However, not everything is bad; this also has resulted in a positive impact and improvement in the online industry. There has been an increase in online activity such as through social media because the virtual world is the only link to interact with people and the outside world.

Sharlife

25 January 2022

Why is Credit Card Permissible in Islam?

Credit cards are often associated as the cause of massive debt burdens that people find themselves in. The debt burden from the credit cards is not the only cause, but the high interest rates they carry are, and these transactions contain the element of riba. Muslims are prohibited from engaging in any transaction that contains an element of riba because riba is haram. But, did you know that Islamic financial institutions also issue Islamic credit cards? How can this credit card become Islamic?

Sharlife

17 January 2022

The Issues in Bay' Bithaman Ajil (BBA) Contract

Bay' Bithaman Ajil (BBA) contract used to be the most popular financing contract in all Islamic banks in Malaysia for home financing products. However, it is often argued by the academicians that the BBA practiced is not a true BBA under the BBA principles, but rather it is a Bay' al-Inah (sell and buyback) in character which is contrary to a valid Islamic contract. Here we will discuss more of the issues that arose on the application of Bay' Bithaman Ajil Home Financing.

Sharlife

10 January 2022

The Hype of NFT: Shariah Perspectives

We already heard the hype about cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies that have been in the spotlight in recent years. It's a sign that the Blockchain ecosystem has been accepted by many people, just look at the volatility of the cryptocurrencies market. Many innovations and new features are rapidly introduced by developers to make this whole ecosystem useful for our daily financial activities. One of those unique innovations is Non-Fungible Token or NFT.

Sharlife

14 December 2021

Introducing SharLife, a One-Stop Centre for Islamic Finance

Introducing SharLife, a platform that compares Shariah-compliant financial products with the mission to assist consumers by providing the relevant information on products and services offered by Islamic Financial Institutions in Malaysia. Among the features offered are comparison tools for financing and takaful products, Debt Service Ratio (DSR) calculator and many other features. Let's go over some of the features provided by SharLife.

Sharlife

14 December 2021

Do We Understand Riba?

The word Riba is often mentioned by many Asatizah in their speech so that we do not get involved in it. Sometimes it is mentioned in dua' so that we are kept away from doing it. But our society needs a clear understanding of Riba, especially the Muslims to avoid being misleading about Riba. Some people define Riba as taking too much profit in trading. Is this what is meant by Riba? What exactly is the meaning of Riba mentioned by Allah in the Quran?

Sharlife

17 November 2021

Why Ar-Rahnu Changed from Qard to Tawarruq?

At its 194th meeting on 25 June 2019 and its 195th meeting on 31 July 2019, the Shariah Advisory Council (SAC) of Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) resolved that the ar-rahnu product structure through the combination of qard (loan), rahn (pledge), wadi`ah (safekeeping) and ujrah (fee) offered by Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) in Malaysia does not fulfil the Shariah requirements in Rahn Policy Document.

Sharlife

17 November 2021

Crypto & Blockchain According to Shariah Perspectives

The whole world right now has been very excited about a new blockchain technology that has been implemented over 13 years ago. Every single person involved directly or indirectly in this industry talks about how this technology can change the whole current finance system. But for Muslims, the question that remains until now is can we be involved in this technology, either invest, trade, or for daily transactions?

Sharlife

5 November 2021

Are Condom Stocks Shariah Compliant?

Among the Shariah-compliant stocks in the May 2021 edition, there are companies that carry out the production and sale of condoms, products used in family planning plans. Here we will explain the reasons why companies that run condom businesses are categorized as Shariah-compliant stocks.

Sharlife

1 November 2021