Drivers invited to offer a ride to taraweeh with Terawhere

Source: Terawhere website.

The Terawhere movement in Singapore aims to save everyone's time and energy by offering people a ride to teraweeh prayers. Terawhere is a free carpooling app that helps users connect and share transport to teraweeh locations. There is no commitment needed; drivers can offer rides on their terms, as they wish. The initiative is supported by the Touch of Ramadan Campaign Committee and mosques in Singapore.

Interested?

Contact Terawhere to sign up as a Terawhere driver

Hashtags: #communityofrahmah, #terawhere, #terawih, #msociety

Go for ijarah sukuk and have respected shari'ah scholars certify them: IMF working paper

The type of sukuk and the choice of shari'ah scholar could affect interest in a sukuk issue.

In Do the Type of Sukuk and Choice of Shari'a Scholar Matter?, a working paper* from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released in August 2014, authors Christophe Godlewski, Rima Turk, and Laurent Weill study a sample of 131 sukuk from eight countries from 2006 to 2013 and find both criteria do indeed matter.

Some observations from the analysis include: 

• The average coupon is above 4%, maturity is 8 years, and the average amount issued is US$1,270 million with a large standard deviation. 
• An average of three scholars certify an issuer’s sukuk. 
• On average, half of the team of scholars is from the same country as the issuer. 
• A typical scholar certifies on average 24 sukuk per year, or almost 75 issues over three years. 
• Issuing firms have issued on average more than 11 bond issues.

According to the working paper, ijarah (اجارۃ) sukuk "exert a positive influence on the stock price of the issuing firm". The authors suggest that ijarah structures may benefit the most from the expansion of sukuk markets because of the better investor reaction to them compared to other structures. 

The authors observe that sukuk in the musharakah and mudarabah formats, which are partnership contracts in which the financier and entrepreneur share profits based on pre-agreed ratios but also the losses that are proportional to their contributions (financial or physical) to the partnership, are not as popular. "Ijarah is a debt-based instrument that is not based on profit and loss sharing principles; hence, it does not suffer from the possibility of attracting borrowers of poor financial condition as would a musharakah instrument," the authors suggested.

A similar positive impact was observed with sukuk that had been certified by prominent shari’ah scholars from the same country as the sukuk issuer. In more than half of the sample, at least one scholar is from the same country as the issuer, the authors observed. 

"Our finding provides some evidence that high compensation for reputable shari’ah scholars certifying sukuk may be justified on the grounds of better valuation of issuing firms," the authors said.

*Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate. The views do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF or IMF policies.

Du running 30 Days of Sharing campaign, umrah call privileges for Ramadhan

UAE telco du is celebrating the values represented by the month of Ramadhan with its 30 Days of Sharing campaign throughout the month. Social media users can use the hashtag #30DaysofSharing on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to share what makes Ramadhan special to them.

The company will donate AED10 for every post made using the #30DaysofSharing hashtag to its annual iftar tables initiative, du said, in which iftar meals (meals for the breaking of the fast after sunset) will be distributed to those less fortunate at three locations across the UAE.

The campaign is part of a number of Ramadhan initiatives for the company, including activities for employees and sponsorship of the Al Majlis Ramadan tent at Madinat Jumeirah. Du has also invited the public to help to distribute the iftar meals, and allocated AED1.57 million, 5% of the monthly fees from its Emirati Plan subscriptions, to employ 25 Emirati women to cook meals for distribution through the Mawaed Al Rahman locations.

Du has also created a Ramadhan offer specially for umrah. Customers travelling to Saudi Arabia during Ramadhan will enjoy unlimited free incoming calls on all networks. The offer is automatically activated as soon as the customer activates roaming on their mobile before travelling, the telco said.

There is also a Smart Plan offer in force this month. Subscribers can select a preferred local national, mobile or landline number and get 300 minutes free to call that number anywhere in the UAE, on any network, during Ramadhan with the with The Smart Plan 300, 600 and 1000. Subscribers which opt in can also enjoy more minutes for the month: 600 flexible minutes for AED300 per month, 1,200 flexible minutes for AED600 per month or 2,500 flexible minutes for AED1,000 and up to 12GB of data.

Hashtag: #30DaysofSharing