The Era of Hope

This past week, I took at trip to the Arabian Gulf for the Islamic Funds World 2005 Conference. The trip, in and of itself was good, with the details being below. However, I must say that it is a looooooooooong trip. I started off from Bellingham to Seattle to New York to London. I had an entire day in London as I arrive on Saturday morning and my flight did not leave until Saturday night. I took a trip into the city where I met up with my cousin. I went to a branch location of the Islamic Bank of Britain, but they had just closed 5 minutes before I arrived. They are in a good location in a predominantly Muslim area of London called Edgware Rd. I wanted to at least pick up some brochures from them, including account applications. I had submitted a request on their website for information, with no luck.

The flight to Kuwait City was 6 hrs. We left at 11:00 pm and arrived at 8:00 am. The last time I was in Kuwait was in 1999 and much has changed since. I met up with an old friend who is involved in the Islamic Insurance Industry (Takaful). We hung out the whole day and he took me around to meet others that I knew and to show me the developments. Kuwait, as I mentioned, has grown tremendously. I counted at least 10 new high rise buildings that did not exist when I was last there. One was the hotel I was staying at, Four Points Sheraton. Kuwait is benefiting from three things: the high price of oil, the war in Iraq, and the fact that Saddam is no longer in power. After the invasion of Kuwait and its subsequent liberation, Kuwaitis were still scared that another attack might come some day. Obviously, that no longer is the case and thus confidence is very high. It shows in the real estate values as well as the performance of the stock market, which is up 36.97% as of the end of June. In the area of Islamic Finance and Investing, things are going great as well. Kuwait is dominated by Kuwait Finance House which is an Islamic Bank, but later this month, a second bank sponsored by the government is starting, known as Bobyan Bank, capitalized by the Kuwaiti government with approx. US $1 billion. I actually met with the Chairman and CEO before I left as I knew him from previous trips. Overseeing the launch of the bank, he was very busy so we only had 30 minutes to meet. We talked about the situation in Kuwait and the fact that the returns are not sustainable. He told that the even though Kuwait suffered a major crash in mid-80s, then the tech bubble in the US (which most Kuwaitis were invested in), has not contained their enthusiasm for the future. Seems that the financial guys I met were cautious but mentioned that this is what the citizens are asking for, so what can they do. We also talked about the fact that most Kuwaitis are demanding Islamic products and as such, many conventional companies are either beginning to offer windows to Islamic products, or completely reinventing themselves. As for Kuwaitis demanding more products, he gave his own example where a few years ago he did not care and/or believe in the Islamic Investing and Finance Industry. Now, he is the head of bank strictly in this field.

After leaving Kuwait, I went to Dubai and arrived the night before the conference. I had only been to Dubai only once before, in 1998, and again, like Kuwait, it has changed so much. In fact, when looking at construction, it is far ahead of Kuwait. The street I was staying was a new "downtown" erected in the past 5 years. Each building in this area was not less than 30 stories tall, and some much higher. There is a new building coming up called the Burj Duabi and will be the tallest building in the world when completed, standing 189 stories tall. I did not have a chance to go inside the world famous Burj Al-Arab hotel that is built in the sea. It is booked throughout the year with minimum rate of US $500 /night. It is a tourist attraction so for the privacy of the guests, unless you staying there or have reservations to the restaurant, you have to pay US $100 just to get in and look around. It is a huge structure and very gaudy. Close to the top, there is a heli-pad that from the ground, in comparison to the hotel, looks like a small saucer built more for design than anything else. Dubai is a very interesting place and it definitely lives up to the name it tries to market "where East meets West". To give you an idea of what I mean, one small incident epitomizes what Dubai culture is all about. I was waiting to for an elevator one morning and when the door opened, I had to do a double take and wished I had a camera with me. In the elevator were two couple. The one one the right was an Emarati couple, the man dressed in traditional arab dress and head dress. Next to him was his wife dressed in black from head to tow. On the left was a European couple, with the man dressed in a t-shirt and shorts and the woman wearing a bikini. Both were talking amongst themselves, minding their own business. I guess this is why Europeans love to come to Dubai, for the freedom it offers. On my return flight from Dubai, I was sitting next to an Irish couple who come every year to Dubai for vacation. They told me they love the luxury, beaches, and the gold is cheap too.

The one other thing that I noticed there that has been tough to find throughout the Muslim world, especially here in America, amongst Muslims: hope. Everyone I spoke to was very optimistic about the future. With oil prices sky high, real estate in the region to very well, and the stock market even better, the optimism is justified, but a little scary. In Dubai, as I was speaking to people, it reminded me of when I visited Silicom Valley in the late 90s. People kept trying to convince me to move over there and that was the place to be. Very similar to what I found in Kuwait and Dubai. I just pray that their exuberance doesn't get to there head, that they are realistic, and at the same time, give thanks were thanks is due. Surah Kahf gives us a great example of what happens when you attribute success to yourself and not to the Creator, the Provider of Sustenance.