The Path of the Profit (SmartMoney Magazine)

Editor's note: Want to read all of SmartMoney magazine online the day it hits the newsstand? Subscribe to SmartMoney Select. ON AN AUTUMN morning in Bellingham, Wash., an eclectic audience of scholars, bankers and investors gathers in a conference room at Western Washington University. The topic is Islamic finance, and the sponsor is Saturna Capital, a Bellingham company whose Amana mutual funds have invested in accordance with Islamic law since 1989. Outside, the sun bathes the tree-lined campus, and inside, the mood among the conferees is relaxed and collegial — at least until Mahmoud Amin El-Gamal, the first speaker, starts shaking the foundations of their financial beliefs. Some interpretations of Islamic law, or Shariah, impose strict limits on borrowing money and earning interest, putting America's Muslims at a... [read full story]