ALKHOBAR, 2 December — To encourage Muslims worldwide to participate in Shariah-compliant investment options, iHilal Financial Services, the world’s first regulated online Islamic financial services provider, has announced the launch of a new Umrah initiative.
Visitors to www.ihilal.com, who open a new brokerage account or create an investment profile in an Islamic mutual fund, will be eligible for iHilal’s draw on two economy class return tickets to Makkah from wherever they are in the world. iHilal’s Umrah promotion will continue through February 2002, with the winner being announced during the upcoming Eid Al-Adha.
“iHilal is developing a global reputation for devotion to service, the ease of use of its website, and the diversity of investment choice that it offers to clients,” said Ramzi Abu Khadra, CEO of iHilal Financial Services. “The newly launched Umrah initiative is one of the many ways in which iHilal shows its commitment to Muslim communities around the globe.” In addition to complying with Shariah guidelines, iHilal’s Islamic mutual funds — featured in the Umrah promotion — offer Muslim investors the ability to manage their capital by specialized investment institutions. iHilal enables the establishment of accounts with a minimum initial balance of $2,000. For Muslims interested in Islamic stock trading, iHilal’s Umrah promotion allows them to start investing with just $500. Islamic stock options available at iHilal provide Muslims with access to over 1,000 stocks using the iHilal Islamic filter, which is based on the Dow Jones SM Islamic screening process.
Moving on to the most recent Microsoft controversy, Bill Gates has given an interview to the Israeli magazine, “Asaqeen,” in which he asserted Microsoft’s continuing support of the Arab world despite the Israeli opposition to such a policy. On Nov. 26, the Egyptian newspaper, Al-Alam Al-Youm, published translated excerpts from the interview.
During his conversation with the Israeli journalist, Gates asserted that technology is like water, air and sun. It cannot be shut away from a person because of his origin, religion or nationality. He also said that the Arab countries have become a big technology power not just in the Middle East, but globally as well. Gates pointed out there was a growing consensus that was acknowledging the positive indicators from the Arab countries and Microsoft was taking these indicators seriously.
Gates emphasized that Microsoft could not stop cooperation with Arab countries just to ease the fears Israel had in the growth in the use of technology in those countries. Microsoft’s chairman did acknowledge that the intifada was causing strong negative affects on Microsoft’s operations in Israel just as it was hurting all economic sectors in Israel. Gates believes that if Israel would achieve a peace with the Palestinians then that would be an extremely positive development for the Israelis and Arabs alike.
In Microsoft’s latest move in the Gulf Region, Microsoft Great Plains Business Solutions, an independent division of the world’s largest software manufacturer, launched its Middle East operations based in Dubai Internet City. The new entity targets the region’s businesses with IT applications and solutions that help small and mid-market companies, across all industrial sectors, become more agile in today’s interconnected economy.
“Microsoft Great Plains is one of the IT world’s best-known brands in the small to medium enterprise market space. By establishing our regional headquarters at Dubai Internet City, we are able to provide superior products and unparalleled customer service that the Microsoft Great Plains brand represents to our growing reseller channel across the Middle East region,” said Chris Harris, Managing Director of Microsoft Great Plains Middle East and Regional Director of Microsoft Great Plains, based in Fargo, North Dakota in the United States.
“Our top priorities for the next 18 months are to expand the channel capacity by signing on new reseller partners — while expanding our assistance to existing ones — and increasing the number of our regional customers in the services, trading, manufacturing, and government sectors,” Harris added.
In Saudi Arabia, the company’s customers include Al Esayi Group, Compaq Computer and Olyan Group. Their leading reselling partners in the Kingdom are Compusoft and Digicom. Microsoft Great Plains, formerly known as Great Plains Software, was acquired by Microsoft Corporation in April 2001. Great Plains Software products were distributed in the Middle East from 1996 through 2000 by an independent distributor.
And now on to some really outstanding news. Our talented young computer wiz out in Pakistan has a new record to add to her previous achievements. Afsah Shafquat of Operation Badar has set a world’s record as the youngest Sun Certified Web Component Developer (SCWCD). She passed the exam on Nov. 21 at the age of 12 years 8 months and 25 days. Congratulations Afsah and keep up the good work!
Do you wish your children could be more like Afsah? Well, maybe you could harness the current Harry Potter craze to get them interested in the Internet, the technology it runs on, and the issues surrounding its use. Now I’m not endorsing the books here although the fact is that they have encouraged millions of children and even some adults to sit down and read a book for pleasure for the first time. My own son who had resisted every effort to read books of any substantial length, actually flew alone to the United States in the summer of 2000, registered in advance, and got one of the first copies of the book released to the public. He then sat down and read all 734 pages of “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” in one go. Strangely, he wasn’t all that interested in the new Harry Potter film. He worried that it would dilute his own imagination concerning the characters and story line. However, he can’t wait for the fifth book in the series which author J.K. Rowling has confirmed will be called “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.” It is apparent just by browsing the hundreds of websites dedicated to Harry Potter that the boy wizard isn’t going to be departing any time soon. It is simply amazing what’s out there and parents could use these resources in so many ways.
First there are the articles and sites dedicated to the controversy surrounding the books. Although more than 120 million copies of the books are in print, they have their critics. Some people believe that the books’ violent passages, examples of poor family relationships, and depictions of magic and wizardry are psychologically and morally dangerous for children. In fact, the American Library Association (ALA) reported that Harry Potter books were the books that parents most requested be removed from American school shelves in the year 2000.
In addition, after Warner Bros. Pictures bought the rights to the first movie, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” the company tried to buy for $9.99 the rights to each of the Harry Potter sites already in existence. Many of the sites were owned by Potter fans and Warner’s high handedness didn’t go down well with anyone. Media groups formed to publicize Warner’s actions including one infamous instance in which the film company tried to close down the Harry Potter Guide site in the UK which was owned by 15-year-old Clair Field. Warner soon realized that all the negative publicity was seriously damaging their image and they backed away from their Potter closure quest.
Despite their retreat it was noticed that www.harrypotterguide.co.uk, which is now known as “The Boy Who Lived,” has posted a legal notice before its home page that reads:
“This site is an unofficial Harry Potter site, and therefore should only be entered by people who fully understand that the site holds no connection to J.K Rowling, Bloomsbury, Scholastics or Warner Bros. It is however meant as an educational experience for all ages, and is non-profit. If you fully understand this criteria, then please feel free to click on the banner below and enter.”
Many of the sites online have been developed by children, some as young as eight, and this is truly inspirational. The sites have wonderful and varied features. Children can try everything from just reading about the world of Harry Potter to writing their own stories, playing games, chatting with other fans, seeing movie clips — the resources seem endless. One of the best introductions to all things Potter can be found at www.multnomah.lib.or.us/lib/kids/harrypotter.html. The official Warner Bros. site is at www.harrypotter.com, but beware! It takes forever to load on dial-up in peak periods. If you are looking for a splendid way to experience the web with your child then take the Potter plunge.
