Media Release: Investment Fund Holding Company Limited (NIF)

Media Release:

Re: Investment Fund Holding Company Limited (NIF)

The PNM administration has offered for sale through the creation of the National Investment Fund Holding Company Limited (NIF), bonds in the amount of TT $4 billion.

Keep in mind, when you purchase a/any bond, you effectively are lending a company or a government money. The bond issuer is the borrower. It agrees to pay whoever holds the bond interest on a regular basis, and then to return the principal on the loan when the bond matures.

It is being advertised that, Citizens can invest from as little at TT $1000, in tranches with fixed rate options from 4.5% annual interest over 5 years, to 5.7% annual interest over 12 years, or 6.6% annual interest over 20 years.

These bonds officially went on sale last Thursday.

The NIF bond is supported by some of the strongest companies, with a collective market value of approximately TT$7.9 billion, including shares of Republic Financial Holdings Limited, One Caribbean Media Limited, West Indian Tobacco Company Limited, Angostura Holdings Limited, and Trinidad Generation Unlimited.

Having stated that, Waajihatul Islaamiyyah (The Islamic Front) is issuing a clear warning that Muslims cannot and should not invest in this offering as it has all the ingredients of a HARAM transaction, in other words it's not a HALAL transaction and Muslims should not participate. This now brings into question was the PNM administration properly advised on this issue? bearing in mind that Muslims number between 7 to 10% of the population. Why wasn't the Muslims consulted and considered in this decision?

The first test an Islamic scholar or fund manager applies when considering whether a company is sharia-compliant focuses on the company’s core business. If the company’s business centers on prohibited activities, the company is rejected.

For this reason, governments of multi cultural and multi religious countries must establish and use benchmarks for determining whether a specific corporation or group crosses the line into noncompliance as it relates to certain sectors of the society.

For Immediate Release:
Date: 20th July 2018

Umar Abdullah
Head of Waajihatul Islaamiyyah (The Islamic Front)
Tel: +18687870765 or +18683656253

PS: Prohibited industries and or businesses include the following:

• Conventional financial services that feature transactions based on interest, speculation, and/or gambling: This criterion means that conventional banks, investment companies, insurance companies, and other financial institutions are considered non-compliant.
• Certain food and beverage industry sectors: Some products in the food and beverage industry are prohibited because Islam prohibits their consumption. Companies whose core businesses involve alcohol, pork products, or other meat that’s not slaughtered according to sharia law aren’t considered compliant.
• Foods and beverages that Muslims can consume are called halal. Forbidden items include.

1) Pork: The Quran (the holy scripture of Islam) prohibits consuming pork and pork-based products (as well as any other meat that isn’t slaughtered according to Islamic principles), so investing in companies dealing with pork-based products isn’t acceptable.

2) Alcoholic beverages: Investing in companies involved in alcoholic products is also banned because the Quran specifically bans “intoxicants.”

• Tobacco: Islamic scholars hold the opinion that tobacco and the tobacco industry and it's activities have been linked to illegal drugs. Tobacco isn’t good for personal health and therefore believe that Islamic standards prohibit investments in tobacco-related business. In the past, tobacco use was a source of some controversy and confusion in the Muslim community. Now, however, most sharia scholars agree that the use of tobacco and investing in the tobacco industry are prohibited. 
• Illegal drugs: Investing in any company or activity that supports the sale, distribution, or use of illegal drugs is also prohibited. (In fact, investing in a way that promotes any illegal activity goes against Islamic law.)
• Gambling: This prohibition means Muslims can’t invest in companies or activities that support gambling. In addition to prohibiting investments that would themselves involve too much risk, this criterion also means that an investor can’t support the construction of a casino; the operation of a lottery; or the promotion of horse and dog racing, Internet gambling, and so on. Leasing an investment property to a company that conducts a gambling-related business is also banned.
• The production of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs): What the West refers to as collateral damage is considered the killing of innocents per Islam, and it’s forbidden. Therefore, sharia forbids the production of WMDs.
• Certain sectors of the entertainment industry: Sharia prohibitions apply to adult entertainment products, including magazines, videos, audio recordings, websites, and all methods of distributing pornography. The same prohibition applies to erotic arts and prostitution. In addition, certain types of non-Islamic music and cinema are prohibited. Islam considers all these to be harmful to society. Therefore, an investor can’t put money into a venture that involves products or businesses in these fields.
• Cloning: This example demonstrates a crucial point: governments must continually make decisions about the compliance status of new technologies and industries. Obviously, the prohibition against cloning activity is a fairly recent decision, and the prohibition of cloning could possibly change depending on future circumstances.
• Groups of companies with subsidiaries that engage in activities prohibited by sharia also are excluded from Islamic investment funds. For example, consider a hotel (owned by a large corporation) that derives a substantial amount of its income from a nightclub or casino that is prohibited in Islam. Because the profits from this nightclub or casino impact the overall profit of the corporate group, an Islamic fund can’t invest in the group as a whole.

Few companies pass the screening process related to the industry of their core business with a perfect score. In the case of a corporate group with scores of subsidiaries, you can be assured that somewhere along the line, one or more of those subsidiaries engages in prohibited activities.

Media Release:

Re: “A victory of no kind”

Waajihatul Islaamiyyah (The Islamic Front) extends congratulations to both candidates who were successful in the by-election, as the victors.

However, Waajihatul Islaamiyyah (The Islamic Front) will like to note that as it pertains to the electoral district of Barataria, it was evident to see the Muslim community voted against the People’s National Movement (PNM). This would have stemmed from the PNM’s attempt to oppress Muslims via the Anti Gang and Anti Terrorism Bills, and anti Muslim Carnival raid.

Therefore, it should not surprise the PNM that they would lose an area, where Muslims are, if not fully dominant but very influential. The Hindus also have been mistreated by this administration. Thus why polling division 1405 might have contributed to the PNM’s defeat there as well. In fact, the PNM should not celebrate their win in Belmont East, as the district can be considered somewhat “safe” for them. The PNM should not celebrate this, but in fact see this as a wake up call. See this for what it is; a clear, message.

So the question must be asked, had this been a General Government Election, would the PNM be as successful as they’d hope? The answer to that question is NO. Unless the PNM, start to properly consult the Muslim community on matters of importance and with regards to certain policies, then moving forward, they will certainly lose a great number of votes which will come from the Muslim community.

Attempts to appease the Muslim community now will only look like cheap and desperate bribery tactics, so it’s best moving forward the PNM do what’s fair, and right and start working with the Muslim community in this country; specifically on matters of policies and national interest.

Thus, Waajihatul Islaamiyyah (The Islamic Front) is open to consultations and assisting the government on critical matters of national interest which will affect the Muslim community. Further, in due time Waajihatul Islaamiyyah (The Islamic Front) will be holding walk-abouts and cottage meetings within the East/West corridor and certain areas in Central Trinidad to inform and educate the populace about the current state of affairs in this country.

For Immediate Release:
Date: 18th July 2018

Umar Abdullah
Head of Waajihatul Islaamiyyah (The Islamic Front)
Tel: +18687870765 or +18683656253