Islamic supremacists are expert in finding loopholes in Western laws that they can exploit; accusations of discrimination are a common means of this exploitation.
Sharia in any shape or form does not belong in any free country. Muslims need either to assimilate or remain in Sharia-compliant countries.
“Pension Discrimination Could Cost British Muslims $18bn,” International Quran News Agency, May 25, 2021:
TEHRAN (IQNA) – The next generation of British Muslims could lose out on as much as $18 billion over the course of their lives because of workplace discrimination that prevents Muslims from taking advantage of government-backed pension schemes.
According to a legal opinion obtained by top Islamic finance advisers, employers could be unwittingly breaking anti-discrimination legislation introduced in 2010 by failing to give Muslims the option of a Sharia-compliant pension fund.
In 2012, the British government made it mandatory for employees to be automatically enrolled in workplace pension schemes that see employers match their employees’ contributions toward their retirement funds.
However, according to halal investment advisers, Islamic Finance Guru (IFG), as many as one in three Muslims are still not enrolled in a pension scheme — and this could end up costing the community nearly £13 billion ($18 billion).
The main reasons that they had opted-out, according to research carried out by IFG, were twofold: Employers either did not offer a Sharia-compliant fund as part of the company pension plan at all, or employees did not have enough information about the funds to be sure they were halal.
It is forbidden in Islam to earn or pay interest on loans, excluding many of Britain’s three million or so Muslims from mainstream pension funds, which invest peoples’ money in interest-bearing assets such as bonds.
Instead, Muslim investors often choose to invest in special funds constructed to ensure compliance with Islamic law — however, sometimes these funds are not made available by employers, or workers do not even know they exist.
A legal opinion obtained by IFG found that any employer not offering a Sharia-compliant pension fund could be breaking Britain’s Equality Act, which came into law in 2010 and outlawed discrimination on the basis of “protected characteristics” such as race, gender and religion.
“The vast majority of investment funds used by defined contribution pension schemes will not be compliant with Sharia, because they invest in assets which generate interest or involve industries considered haram,” said Paul Newman, of Wilberforce Chambers.
“It is therefore not possible for Muslim employees to become members of their employer’s scheme if it does not offer the option of halal investment funds,” Newman said.
He continued: “Amongst the acts prohibited by the 2010 (Equality) Act is indirect discrimination, which is concerned with acts . . . which, in practice, have the effect of disadvantaging a group of people with a particular protected characteristic.”
Ibrahim Khan, co-founder of Islamic Finance Guru, told Arab News that the inability of many to access pensions will cost the Muslim community a “huge amount of money.”
Khan said: “This is bad for the Muslim community, but it’s also bad the taxpayers. If you’ve got a pensioner who doesn’t have the money to live, who’s going to pay for it? The taxpayer is going to pay for it.”….
wpm says
What is a Shira complaint investment pension plan investments? Investing in the slave trade of non-believers? Illegal drug trade selling trading drugs with non-believer? Human sex trade across international borders ? Selling weapons to Hamas pay for by America taxpayers money that was earmarked to go towards building schools, roads in Hamas control areas? Money laundry ,welfare cheating, stealing anything from unbelievers ,mail fraud, ?? Extortion paying protection money ,??
When you take a job with benefits you do not have the right to ask from your employer how those benefits are payed for. You can reject or turn down the benefits or not take the job if you dislike the way your employer does business. To demand your employer your boss to invest in things you “approve in” according to your cockmanies Sharia Law is stupid .You can still under Sharia law in your third world dirt ball live like a slave under a despot Islamic ruler and not invade the first world and try to make it “Sharia” compliant
Raja says
WPM,
You are right. Muslims are having the best of both the worlds. On the one hand most everything the West pays to Pakistan, Palis or any other “struggling” Muslim world goes for Jihad or Hamas or other terrror organisations. Sharia simply is obnoxious to the world in so many ways.
It is grotesque that the very same parasitical Muslims want to have more Sharia and more lawlessness that comes with it.
gravenimage says
wpm, it can have two meanings. One is that it does not accrue interest (in which case it engages in sleight-of-hand in order to grow wealth). The other is that it only invests in Shari’ah complient investments–in which case the chances of it being used to launder money to fun Jihad is just huge.
In that case you would have in many cases have western employers and governments offering matching funds going to finance Jihad terror.
Fred van de Bunt says
In the UK you can find halal pension funds, what I see:
https://www.nestpensions.org.uk/schemeweb/nest/aboutnest/investment-approach/other-fund-choices/nest-sharia-fund.html
So what Khamenei in Tehran is saying, is that some employers choose a collective non halal pension fund, and that the Muslim that starts working with that employer is forced to participate in that fund.
Then I would say that the Muslim, by choosing to work for that employer, which he is not forced to do, is breaching the law, I mean the sharia law. Fortunately Islam allows Muslims to be practical. Like in this case, when a small size employer made a deal with a non-halal pension fund for his employees, than the Muslim can participate also.
And what about the case when a Muslim steals from the shop of a Muslim in the UK. It seems pretty discriminatory to both, not to cut the hand of from the Muslim thief. But I am sure both Muslims are happy to solve the issue in a practical way, by not having to adhere to sharia law.
I am afraid that Khamenei in Tehran is deliberately creating trouble in the UK, and creating mischief in a country is severely punished under sharia law.
JOHN H HARVEY says
I hope that no UK court falls for this bad logic. In the US, ordinary citizens are routinely bamboozled by the cheap trick of decrying a practice as “discrimination,” as if discrimination were not a necessary function of life, as when one chooses to drink water rather than ink.
Rueben Singh says
“A legal opinion obtained by IFG found that any employer not offering a Sharia-compliant pension fund could be breaking Britain’s Equality Act, which came into law in 2010 and outlawed discrimination on the basis of “protected characteristics” such as race, gender and religion.”
How absurd, sharia does discriminate on the grounds of “protected characteristics” such as race, gender and religion.”
Keith O says
They missed a third reason for workers not being in pension funds.
Simply because they are illegal immigrants and have no right to be working in the UK in the first place.
Treereen says
Well, another valid reason would be that the legal employee is too old to accrue enough before tax contributions to make a practical difference to pension payouts no matter how much the commission-driven pension fund manager downplays the uselessness of such late in life contributions and parrots the parent company’s sugar coated “possible benefits” “propaganda”. They’ll be out of pocket by £100s every month to get a few measly pence or pounds back as pension or nothing at all, should these reputable insurance companies “Mirror-pension-fund” us in the future. And the worst part: the government sets the minimum % contribution. It’s already at 5% for employees and set to rise year on year. So, practically, another 5%+ tax on top of income and NI.
Treereen says
Many smaller companies don’t have the resources for protracted, vexatious litigation. The solution to the problem is simple: don’t employ them. Let them work for multiculturalism-ridden government organisations where “diversity of incompetence” is more important than actual ability.
So, we’ve had “special provisions” for worshipping up to 5 times a day at work, that nobody else would get in a million years or be allowed that amount of time off. Then, it was wearing religious garb to work. Then, it was “special treatment” for the “holy” month as abilities are impaired due to lack of nutrition and water. Then, failing to fulfil reasonable (and known beforehand) work duties on religious grounds such as refusing to serve or handle pork or alcohol. And now, we have “pension discrimination”, although last time I checked the UK was not yet a completely sharia-compliant Toiletton-Ont-Sandes. What’s next? Getting wages for not turning up? Oh, wait… They already do that and it’s called welfare.
gravenimage says
UK accused of breaking anti-discrimination laws in not allowing Muslims Sharia pension funds
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“Sharia-based finance” in its various forms is stealth Jihad. It has no place in the civilized world.