FINANCE

An Awqaf SA workshop examined how waqf in South Africa can move beyond charitable giving to preserve wealth, generate sustainable income and strengthen governance, leadership and community development over generations. By AHMED KAJEE A wide-ranging discussion on waqf as the legacy of Sayyidina Umar Ibn Al Khattab...

Islamic banking gives South African Muslims access to Shariah-compliant financial services without interest. Through structures such as murābaḥah, mushārakah and ijārah, finance is based on trade, partnership, leasing and shared risk. By ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR ASHRAF BOOLEY The Quran lays out the injunction for interest-free finance for the...

Ever used or thought of using artificial intelligence (AI) for financial advice? Is it a good idea? BOMIKAZI ZEKA AND RAECHEL JOHNS offer some professional advice on this somewhat unchartered financial frontier. Anyone with the internet, even on their phone, can access AI. Tools like ChatGPT, Claude...

In the last of this two-part series, we examine why a DIY will may leave Muslim families exposed to overlooked debts, vulnerable heirs, inadequate provision for children and legal complications, and why Islamic estate planning matters. Walk into any bank, stationery shop or browse the internet and...

By MAHMOOD SANGLAY A halal label can lower an investor’s guard precisely when vigilance is most needed. Recent cases show how faith, community endorsements and promises of exceptional returns may be engineered to convert religious trust into financial loss. The danger has a name: affinity fraud. It...

By MOHAMED JAFFER Death may come without warning, yet many Muslims postpone drafting a valid Islamic will. Proper planning protects spouses and children, honours Allah’s inheritance laws and prevents grief from becoming a costly legal crisis for them. “It won’t happen to me.” Those are perhaps the...

By MAHMOOD SANGLAY The genocide in Gaza has exposed a grave fault line in Islamic finance: funds can exclude alcohol, gambling and interest yet invest in companies linked to occupation and warfare.  Can a portfolio be technically halal while enabling injustice today? The uncomfortable answer is yes...

MAHMOOD SANGLAY Across Nigeria, motorists travel on roads financed through sukuk, with capital tied to identifiable public assets. This link between money and infrastructure is moving Islamic finance from a faith-based niche to an African development tool. On a conventional government balance sheet, borrowing can look like...

By MAHMOOD SANGLAY As climate change accelerates and the search for ethical ways to finance the green transition intensifies, Islamic finance is emerging as more than a faith-based financial system. Three recent studies suggest it offers practical tools to mobilise capital, empower entrepreneurs and align economic growth...

MOGAMAT ALI SALIE First Abu Dhabi Bank’s legal victory in South Africa is about far more than trademarks. It could pave the way for one of the world’s largest Islamic banking institutions to enter Africa’s most sophisticated financial market, opening new opportunities for ethical finance, investment and...