Islamic banking system plays safe

The Islamic banking system is a very safe one. Shares of Dar Al-Maal Al-Islami worth $105 each until December 1981 shot up to $125 each when equity trading began in December 1982. Within the next five years, the stock is expected to be five to seven times as valuable. Although interest rates on various types of bank accounts have dipped below 9% worldwide, investors in the Islamic Gulf Investment Company, a DMI subsidiary, earn a return of 9% to 21% each year due to the company's profit-and-loss-sharing approach. An Islamic bank has opened in Nassau; an Islamic re-insurance trust set to open there as well. The DMI was established in the Bahamas in 1981 with an authorized capital of $1 billion. The DMI will support the construction of an important shopping center in Riyadh. Another project of the company's is a joint venture to make clocks and watches that compute prayer times and point the way to Mecca. Scholarships to the International Institute for Islamic Banking and Econom