by Moy Uddin
Switch over to any television station, radio show or internet news pages and you'll catch at least a snippet or two about the negative aspects of Islamists and such familiar terms such as "Islamic extremism" tend to crop up. Are we all really that bad? Surely it's not just me that doesn't want to wage war against the West?
A novel idea by a couple of aspiring internet entrepreneurs has a strong case for the more progressive and fresh-thinking muslim characteristic that is now being demanded to bridge the divide. The site http://www.IslamiCompare.com is one that is helping to swing the tide.
This merges the idea of comparing a wide range of products you find in typical online retail outlets such as travel insurance, flights, clothing and mortgages and then giving the consumer the best products available online according to their software used. They then proceed to offer cashback on purchases or even on applications made for home insurance, car insurance and so on. For some applications of insurance, one can "earn" £40.
Moyhim Uddin, one of the designers, explains "The idea is that we give something back to the loyal muslim users. In addition to this, from the profit we make, we will donate 10% of it towards Islamic causes, mainly in the UK, but also abroad such as USA, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and so on" with much of the revenue expected to come from advertising and affiliated sales. "Muslims are the most empathetic people on the planet and if they can support their muslim brethren just by doing what they would normally do i.e. shopping for a credit card for example, then they will come to use IslamiCompare as it has an Islamic bias" he continues.
But doesn't this example of applying for credit cards - or mortgages, loans and insurance as displayed online - contradict the core Islamic beliefs which is against interest or riba? "We know this and we acknowledge this. Primarily we strive towards sourcing Islamic products and halal finance options for the Islamic consumer. But the market is really scarce for such products and this is countered by the 10% to Islamic charities. If the muslim has no choice but to apply for a non-halal mortgage, then at least he or she knows that they are doing some good during the process"
It is fundamentally directed toward muslim consumers, but it's clear in the website that there is nothing stopping any persons of any faith from using the cashback website. It's early days yet, but if there are signs that integration can happen between the Islam and west, even on such modern concepts as internet marketing, then IslamiCompare.com is a good example. As it says on the site with a little bit of tongue-in-cheek, "Let's fight for Islam with consumerism"
To read more, go to http://IslamiCompare.com.
About the Author
Web writer for http://www.islamicompare.com - The 1st and Only Cashback shopping site for Muslims.
Switch over to any television station, radio show or internet news pages and you'll catch at least a snippet or two about the negative aspects of Islamists and such familiar terms such as "Islamic extremism" tend to crop up. Are we all really that bad? Surely it's not just me that doesn't want to wage war against the West?
A novel idea by a couple of aspiring internet entrepreneurs has a strong case for the more progressive and fresh-thinking muslim characteristic that is now being demanded to bridge the divide. The site http://www.IslamiCompare.com is one that is helping to swing the tide.
This merges the idea of comparing a wide range of products you find in typical online retail outlets such as travel insurance, flights, clothing and mortgages and then giving the consumer the best products available online according to their software used. They then proceed to offer cashback on purchases or even on applications made for home insurance, car insurance and so on. For some applications of insurance, one can "earn" £40.
Moyhim Uddin, one of the designers, explains "The idea is that we give something back to the loyal muslim users. In addition to this, from the profit we make, we will donate 10% of it towards Islamic causes, mainly in the UK, but also abroad such as USA, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and so on" with much of the revenue expected to come from advertising and affiliated sales. "Muslims are the most empathetic people on the planet and if they can support their muslim brethren just by doing what they would normally do i.e. shopping for a credit card for example, then they will come to use IslamiCompare as it has an Islamic bias" he continues.
But doesn't this example of applying for credit cards - or mortgages, loans and insurance as displayed online - contradict the core Islamic beliefs which is against interest or riba? "We know this and we acknowledge this. Primarily we strive towards sourcing Islamic products and halal finance options for the Islamic consumer. But the market is really scarce for such products and this is countered by the 10% to Islamic charities. If the muslim has no choice but to apply for a non-halal mortgage, then at least he or she knows that they are doing some good during the process"
It is fundamentally directed toward muslim consumers, but it's clear in the website that there is nothing stopping any persons of any faith from using the cashback website. It's early days yet, but if there are signs that integration can happen between the Islam and west, even on such modern concepts as internet marketing, then IslamiCompare.com is a good example. As it says on the site with a little bit of tongue-in-cheek, "Let's fight for Islam with consumerism"
To read more, go to http://IslamiCompare.com.
About the Author
Web writer for http://www.islamicompare.com - The 1st and Only Cashback shopping site for Muslims.
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