Obama…New Chapter in American History

A couple of years ago Barack Obama was just a junior senator of the Democratic Party. Today he wrote a new chapter in the history of the United States by becoming the first-ever African American occupant of the White House.
It was no easy task going from that to this.

When the race for the Democratic Party president ticket began, Senator Hillary Clinton was not just the front-runner but the presumptive nominee.
She had the money and the Party establishment, being a former first lady and wife of arguably one of America's most loved and respected presidents, Bill Clinton.
She had a long history of public service and an unmatched seniority within the Democratic Party and the Senate.

The young, charismatic Illinois senator also had to steer his ship through some tough storms.
Obama's middle name, Hussein, and a picture of him in a traditional Somali garb during a visit to his father's homeland Kenya in 2006 stoke the "Obama is a Muslim" flames.

For weeks, he had to put up with news reports and rival remarks of being a Muslim in disguise.
Obama is the son of a Muslim-turned-atheist Kenyan father and a white American mother that did not practice religion.
Born in Hawaii, he lived from ages 6 to 10 in Indonesia with his mother and Muslim stepfather.
Obama, who describes himself as a proud follower of the Trinity United Church of Christ, also stumbled for weeks over inflammatory sermons by Rev. Jeremiah Wright, his pastor for the last 20 years.
Even his wife Michelle was not spared the campaign fire. He recently had to come out in force against Republicans using her as punch-bag.

Making History

But Obama's hope and change message resonated across a country wearied by the Iraq war and stalked by fears of recession.
He beat all the odds being overwhelming elected the first black American president in a transformational election that will reshape US politics and reposition the United States on the world stage.

Obama's victory was greeted with euphoria by a vast crowd gathered in his home city of Chicago, as his supporters, screamed, waved American flags as they waited for him to arrive to deliver his victory speech.
The 47-year-old will be inaugurated the 44th US president on January 20, 2009, in an historic inauguration that will complete a stunning ascent to the pinnacle of US and global politics from national obscurity just four years ago.
The presidency also marks a stunning social shift, with Obama, the son of Kenyan father and white mother from Kansas, the first African American president of a nation still riven by racial divides.

Forty-five years after civil rights icon Martin Luther King laid out his "dream" of racial equality, Obama's election broke new barriers and may have helped heal the moral wounds left by slavery and the US civil war.
He rocketed to prominence at the 2004 Democratic presidential convention with an electrifying call for unity.
"There is not a Black America and a White America….there's the United States of America."
Source : Islam Online

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Arabia Businesswomen 2008 : Afnan al-Zayani

ARABIAN BUSINESSWOMAN: Afnan al-Zayani is the President of Al Zayani Commercial Services, Bahrain.

Al Zayani Commercial Services W.L.L. was established in 1980. Today, it represents various products and services from internationally reputed companies providing world class state of the art products, services and solutions by having a network of business associates, joint ventures and contacts all over the world. Al Zayani Commercial Services ‘s customer base covers ministries, banks, major companies, multi national organizations, institutes, as well as the business sector in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Al Zayani Commercial Services W.L.L comprises of three main divisions:
Office Automation Division:
AZCS office automation division provides a comprehensive range of Digital office equipment products under one roof. A team of professional sales, factory trained engineers and experienced system support engineers supports AZCS office automation division. Large quantities of consumables and spare parts are stocked to meet customer’s requirement at all time.

IT Solutions Division:
I T Solutions Division is a solution provider specialized in Document Imaging, Archiving, Management, data capture, and COLD applications. We are one of the reseller of handheld terminals and barcode equipment in the country.

Trading & Tendering Division:
This highly successful division of Al Zayani Commercial Services W.L.L. participates in tenders to major companies and government establishments in Bahrain. In recognition of its professionalism, Al Zayani Trading and Tendering has been awarded an ever increasing number of tenders to supply projects in ports, schools, hospitals, industrial companies and many business in Bahrain. We also represent various product/services offered by internationally reputed companies.

Tree of Life:
Tree of Life is one of the division of Al Zayani Commercial Services, specialized in producing a full range of decorative plants and arrangements, made in Bahrain to the customers’ requirement. Tree of life's art design plants provide a convenient and equally attractive alternative to natural trees and plants.

BUSINESS CENTRE
A division of Al-Zayani Commercial Services - Office Automation Division. The Business Centre provides personalized services to all major companies, ministries and institutions as well as conference services with operators and equipments.
RICOH Business Centre services are:
Desktop Publishing, Thermal & Spiral Binding of documents, Printing on T-shirts, Caps, Mugs and personalized items, Graphic designing, Flyers designing and printing using PC and Mac, Full color and Black & White copying (A5-A3), plus transparencies, Engineering Drawings copying, plotting using AutoCad2000 and scanning, Arabic and English Typing, Plastic identity cards designing and printing, CD creation, Document Scanning, Multimedia projectors and screens rentals, Lease/ Rent of photocopiers, fax machines, scanners and printers with or without operators.

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Obama gets down to business

CHICAGO: President-elect Barack Obama said yesterday that the US is facing the greatest economic challenge of our lifetime and were going to have to act swiftly to resolve it.

However in his first news conference since winning the presidency on Tuesday, Obama deferred to President George W. Bush and his economic team, noting that the country has only one government and one president at a time.

But, he said, immediately after I become president I will confront this economic crisis head-on by taking all necessary steps to ease the credit crisis, help hardworking families, and restore growth and prosperity.

The president-elect spoke after he and Vice President-elect Joe Biden met privately with economic experts to discuss ways to stabilize the troubled economy.

The meeting included Lawrence Summers, who some have mentioned as a candidate for treasury secretary, a post he held in the Clinton administration, as well as executives from Xerox Corp., Time Warner Inc., Google Inc. and the Hyatt hotel company.

Rep. Rahm Emanuel, who will be Obamas White House chief of staff, also participated in the meeting. Were not starting from nowhere, Summers told NBCs Today show. Throughout his campaign the president-elect has been talking about what we need to do. We need to put the middle class at the center of the policy approach in a way that it hasnt been these last years.

Exit polls from the election showed that the economy was far and away the top issue for voters. More evidence of a recession came yesterday when the government reported that the unemployment rate had jumped from 6.1 percent in September to 6.5 percent in October.

Obama has been meeting privately with his transition team, receiving congratulatory phone calls from US allies and intelligence briefings, and making decisions about who will help run his government after he is sworn in Jan. 20.

His first choice was Emanuel for White House chief of staff, a fiery partisan unafraid of breaking glass and hurting feelings. The choice of Emanuel is a significant departure from the soft-spoken, low-key aides that No-Drama Obama surrounded himself with during the campaign. And transition chief John Podesta, like Emanuel, is a former top aide to President Bill Clinton and a tough partisan infighter, though less bombastic than the new chief of staff.

The selections are telling for Obama, who campaigned as a nontraditional, almost post-partisan” newcomer. People close to him say the selections show he is aware of his strengths and weaknesses, and knows what he needs to be successful as he shifts from campaigning to governing.

Obama and his wife, Michelle, planned to visit the White House on Monday at President George W. Bushs invitation.

Obama planned to stay home through the weekend, with a blackout on news announcements so he and his staff can rest after the grueling campaign and the rush of Tuesday nights victory.

Obama, who bested Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, has made it clear he will rely heavily on veterans of her husbands eight-year administration, the only Democratic presidency in the past 28 years.

Source : Islam Online

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Best Sharia Compliant Index Provider (Global Finance) : Dow Jones Indexes

The Dow Jones Islamic Market (DJIMSM) Index was the-first-and remains the premier-benchmark of investment performance for the global universe of Shari'ah compliant equities. Since its launch in 1999, the Dow Jones family of Islamic indexes has expanded to provide over 90 benchmarks tracking Shari'ah-compliant equity and fixed-income securities.
The components of the DJIM Index are companies listed in the Dow Jones Global Indexes (DJGI) that have been screened to ensure that each meets Shari'ah requirements for acceptable products, business activities, debt levels, and interest income and expenses. The independent Shari'ah supervisory board that advises Dow Jones makes these evaluations using a proprietary Dow Jones methodology.
In addition to the DJIM Index, which is a comprehensive listing of investable Shari'ah-compliant global equities securities from 46 countries, Dow Jones Indexes also publishes Islamic Market indexes that track Shari'ah-compliant equities subdivided by specific countries, regions and industries.
This family of indexes provides performance benchmarks for securities in both developed markets and emerging markets. In addition, by identifying appropriate investments for observant Muslims, the indexes help to reduce research costs and compliance concerns they would otherwise face in constructing Islamic investment portfolios.

Dow Jones Shari'ah Supervisory Board
The DJIM Shari'ah Supervisory Board was established to advise Dow Jones Indexes on matters relating to the Shari'ah compliance of the indexes' eligible components. The independent board consists of five eminent Shari'ah scholars from around the world. The geographic diversity of the scholars ensures that diverse interpretations of Shari'ah law are represented.
Rushdi Siddiqui, Global Director of Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes, manages the meetings of the DJIM Shari'ah Supervisory Board.
Members of the DJIM Shari'ah Supervisory Board are :
Dr. Abu Ghuddah is a senior Shari'ah Advisor to Albaraka Investment Co. of Saudi Arabia. He holds a PhD in Islamic Law. Dr. Abu Ghuddah has published many books on Islamic Financial transactions. He was an advisor for Islamic Law Encyclopeadia (Kuwait Awqaf Ministry). Dr. Abu Ghuddah is a member and chairman of seeral reputed Islamic Shari'ah Boards.
Mr. Yaquby is a member of the Islamic supervisory boards for several Islamic institutions, including the Arab Islamic Bank and the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank. His work has appeared in the following publications: Risalah Fi al–Tawbah, Qurrat al–'Ainayn fi Fada il Birr al–Walidayn, Irshad al–'Uqala'ila Hukun al–Qira'h min al–Mushaf fi al–Salah, Tahqia al–Amal fi Ikhraj Zakat al–Fitr bi al–Mal.
Dr. Elgari is an associate professor of Islamic Economics and the director of the Center for Research in Islamic Economics at King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia. He is an expert at the Islamic Jurisprudence Academy (OIC), Economics. He is also an advisor to several Islamic financial instituitons worldwide and the author of many books on Islamic banking.
Mr. DeLorenzo is considered a leading Islamic scholar in the United States. He has translated over twenty books from Arabic, Persian, and Urdu for publication in English and has been commissioned to prepare a new translation of the Qur'an. Mr. DeLorenzo compiled the first English translation of legal rulings issued by Shari'ah supervisory boards on the operations of Islamic banks. since 1989, Mr. DeLorenzo has served as secretary of the Figh Council of North America. He is also a Shari'ah consultant to several Islamic financial institutions and was an advisor on Islamic education to the government of Pakistan.
Dr. Baker is currently a member of the Shari'ah Advisory Council of many financial institutions in Malaysia and around the world, including the Central Bank of Malaysia, Securities Commission of Malaysia, International Islamic Financial Market in Bahrain, Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions in Bahrain and HSBC (Malaysia).
Dow Jones Citigroup Sukuk Index

The Dow Jones Citigroup Sukuk Index, which tracks the global performance of investment-grade, U.S. dollar-denominated, Shari'ah-compliant fixed income securities, is also part of the Dow Jones family of Islamic indexes. The Shari'ah Supervisory Board screens Islamic bond issues on an individual basis to determine whether they are appropriate for inclusion in the Sukuk Index.
Only fixed-income securities that pass three sets of screens for compliance with
Islamic investment guidelines are eligible for the Sukuk index. Bonds must be certified as sukuk by a globally recognized Shari'ah board and also must comply with Auditing and Accounting Organization of Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) standards for eligible asset classes. Additionally, the underlying assets must comply with Shari'ah principles.

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Arabian Businesswoman 2008:Amna BinHendi

Amna BinHendi, Chief Executive Office of BinHendi Enterprises

Amna BinHendi currently sits as the Chief Executive Office of BinHendi Enterprises, a position she has held since September 2007. As the CEO, Amna has successfully stirred the organisation into becoming one of the fastest growing trading and distribution companies in the UAE that has its eyes sets on becoming power house in the industry across the region.

Prior to joining the family business, the young ambitious executive’s experience included a brief stint at the Dubai E-Government after which she joined Bin Hendi enterprises as Vice President for Human Resources in December 2002. With her strong business and leadership skills, she has been promoted to become one of the youngest top female executives in the corporate sector.
Born in 1980, Amna completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Information Systems and Business Administration from Zayed University.

At BinHendi Enterprises we believe our philosophy has driven the organization to offer unmatched quality, luxury, and elegance coupled with strong and professional business acumen. We strive to live up to our commitment in developing a diverse retail portfolio of the world's most prestigious brands. Today the group has successfully introduced more than 75 world-renowned brands to the UAE in the fields of fashion, watches, jewellery, accessories, furniture, fine dining and more.
Binhendi.com will give you an insight on our background, our brands & stores. Enjoy your stay with us & keep connected for updates & the latest happenings on the retail front.
Almost three decades ago market research analysts at BinHendi Enterprises recognized a growing consumer interest in international products and fashion brands. In direct response, we established the United Arab Emirate's first exclusive fashion boutique, Pierre Cardin. Enthusiastic consumer response propelled the Company to fill another untapped niche in the Middle Eastern market with the introduction of Dubai's first car rental agency. Our unique approach, in hand with strong market growth, favorable government relations and an intimate knowledge of consumer preferences, encouraged BinHendi Enterprises to develop new sources to help meet the growing demand for high quality products and international services. BinHendi Enterprises currently operate twenty-nine highly successful fashion, Jewellery, accessory and food retail outlets, while our trading division reaches in excess of one thousand retailers, thus establishing the company as a leader in one of the world's most exciting and affluent markets.

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