The report, titled ‘British Media’s Coverage of Muslims & Islam (2018-2020)’, was published by the Centre for Media Monitoring (CfMM), a project of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB). The MCB is a national Muslim umbrella organisation and includes mosques, scholars, charities and professional networks.

The report analysed over 48,000 online articles and 5,500 broadcast clips on 34 media outlets via their online websites and 38 TV channels between October 2018 to September 2019. The study revealed almost 60% of online media articles and 47% of TV clips associate Muslims and/or Islam with negative aspects or behaviour.

“While neither Muslims nor Islam should be immune from criticism or inquiry, where warranted, we do expect this to be done fairly and with due care, without resorting to well-worn tropes and generalisations,” said Faisal Hanif, the report’s author.

“This study is valuable to both the academic community, and more so to newsrooms and journalists, and will in some way go towards improving reporting and coverage of Muslims and their beliefs in the coming years,” he said.

The CfMM seeks to improve the quality of reporting of Islam and Muslims in the British media. It does this by hosting roundtables, publishing reports as well as working with stakeholders including the media, regulators, policymakers, and community organisations.

To launch the report, CfMM hosted a webinar, and included panellists from major UK-based outlets including the BBC, the Guardian and the Mirror. During the webinar, the report’s authors, members of the audience and panellists engaged in discussions.

Panellists agreed that British media should do a better job in reporting both positive and negative stories of Muslim communities. They also commented that one of the long-term challenges is changing the cultural mentality of traditional newsrooms.

Key findings show that over one in five online articles had a primary focus on terrorism and extremism. Similarly, the report noted that right-wing leaning and religious publications have the greater percentage of articles demonstrating a bias against Muslim belief or behaviour, or which generalise or misrepresent Muslim belief or behaviour.

The report noted that almost one in 10 articles misrepresent Muslims and/or Islam, with the majority of misrepresentation coming via news reporting (82%). Some 21% of all articles assessed were categorised as ‘Antagonistic’ while only 3% were categorised as ‘Supportive’.

“This report by the CfMM shows how much we as journalists must question ourselves and the work we are producing in relation to reporting of Muslims and Islam,” said Alison Philips, editor-in-chief of the Mirror.

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In a speech last year, Andrew Hauser, Executive Director for Markets at the BoE, highlighted that the ALF was an important step in providing a level playing field, and enabling greater flexibility in meeting regulatory requirements under Basel III prudential rules.

Good things come to those who wait

Last December, the BoE said that it was preparing to launch the ALF and planned to open it during the first quarter of this year.

The ALF has been in the pipeline for a while. In 2015, the central bank conducted a feasibility study of establishing a standalone non-interest-based facility. It followed up in 2016, with a public consultation, and then in 2017, when it sought to fine tune its approach.

“It has been a long time in development, there were challenges to be resolved to enable its implementation, but the BoE has been unwavering in its commitment to deliver the ALF throughout that extended period and it has achieved an industry first in becoming the first Western central bank to create such a facility,” said Cox.

Shaikh said that the fact the BoE has done this is beneficial to UK Islamic banks as they have an additional tool through which they can manage liquidity more effectively.

“It also demonstrates the UK's ongoing commitment to the Islamic banking sector,” he said. “This particular tool was promised some time ago and it has eventually come through, which is welcomed.”

The opening of the ALF follows the UK’s second sovereign sukuk which took place earlier this year. HM Treasury sold a five-year £500 million ($663 m) sukuk in March. The UK sold its maiden sovereign sukuk in 2014, which consisted of a £200 million ($265 m) issuance.

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In 2020, the fashion industry saw a wipe-out of its profits by 93%. A year later, and with the pandemic still going, some of the world’s largest fashion companies are showing strong signs of recovery.

H&M Group’s second-quarter gross profit increased by 89% compared with last year, while Gap Inc. reported a gross margin of 42.1% for the quarter, representing the highest third quarter rate in over ten years.

Pent-up demand, the acceleration of digitization and easier access to capital are fueling the recovery and providing start-up opportunities for young designers. In the United Arab Emirates, the in5 Fashion Lab helps aspiring entrepreneurs weave together a fashion business by providing essential resources. 

Located at the Dubai Design District, the lab is the latest facility added to the in5 design innovation centre, whose start-ups have raised $126 million (AED 465 million) in funding since 2013.

Design consultancy Aara Inc has been running the fashion lab since the beginning of this year. “People who are looking for grass roots level help and designers who don't have a very large budget to set up their collections come to us,” Aara Inc’s CEO Manoshi Kamdar told Salaam Gateway. 

She said many designers lack technical education or formal design experience: “They have ideas, and that’s where we can help them. We’re dying to show them the way and see some of those incubated businesses launch and maybe even make it to Fashion Week.”

The organisation’s services include apparel and textile designing, sampling, grading, production and business development. The initial 30-minute business consultation is free while additional services are subsidised for in5-members.

“Despite the pandemic, people have neither lost their appetite to buy nor to create,” Kamdar said. “They just don't do it at the same scale as they used to before.” 

Kamdar explained that young designers aim for minimal collections of less than 50 pieces, which the lab’s small-scale manufacturing with low minimum order quantities of up to 1,000 units can accommodate.

Young designers avoiding excess manufacturing saves capital and resources and highlights two of the fashion industry’s most prominent issues — overproduction and waste.

“40% of garments are sold at markdown,” said Anita Balchandani, head of McKinsey's EMEA Apparel, Fashion & Luxury Group, citing overproduction or misjudging consumer demand as the reason. 

Balchandani also noted that less than 1% of used products are recycled back into the industry’s value chain. Technical innovations such as predictive virtual sizing and personalised clothing are a creative way to tackle these problems, she said.

With fashion being a significant part of the creative economy, the in5 Fashion Lab initiative aligns with Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s announced plans to transform the city into a global hub for the creative industries. The new strategy aims to increase the sector’s GDP contribution to 5% of Dubai’s economy by 2025. 

In addition, it seeks to boost the number of creative companies based in Dubai from 8,300 to 15,000 within the next five years and more than double the number of creators based in the city, from 70,000 to 140,000.

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In October, the bourse launched the MOEX Shariah Index and MOEX Shariah Total Return Index. The indices enable investors to invest in halal instruments.

Gurbanzada said there were administrative and educational challenges in developing their new ETF.

“It was a completely new product for the Russian market and for Sber as well,” he said. “Our team was very excited to learn about ethical requirements for investment products. Based on the experience achieved during the work we found out some new investment ideas applicable to Islamic financing.”

As part of new investment ideas, Sber’s Islamic finance team is working in two areas. The first is the adoption of existing products to Sharia required standards. The second is structuring new products.

“At the present time we are focused on corporate financing,” he said. “Bank accounts for corporate clients, financing, investment products for individuals, operational leasing etc.”

Underserved market

Russia’s Muslim population ranges between 10% to 15% of the country’s 144 million, according to various estimates.

One Moscow-based banking analyst, who asked for anonymity, said local experts in Islamic finance point out the lack of information about the genuineness of Sharia compliance in the fund.

“I doubt that the investor community in Russia cares much about Islamic instruments,” he said. “Whether this ETF will be of interest to non-Russian residents, I’m not too sure.”

But a practitioner familiar with the Russian Islamic finance market disagreed, saying it was a positive development.

“This ETF is positive because Muslim consumers or those seeking Sharia compliant investments in Russia have little to no choice,” he said.

Despite a sizeable Muslim population, and a gap for Islamic financial products, there are few players in the market. Market participants point to some of the legal and regulatory challenges.

“There is still no law on Islamic finance and subsequently the tax treatment, and in particular VAT [valued added tax], makes Sharia-compliant products uncompetitive,” said the practitioner, who also requested anonymity.

Sber Islamic finance strategy

Sberbank’s Islamic finance efforts will be underpinned by Sberinvest Middle East, Sber’s subsidiary in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM).

The subsidiary has been operational since June 2021, when it received its final authorization from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of ADGM, noted Gurbanzada.

Sber’s foray into the Middle East follows a lengthy application process. In October 2020, Salaam Gateway reported that the Russian lender was working on the process.

In September 2020, the state-owned lender signed a strategic agreement with Mubadala, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign investment company. The agreement covered cooperation in several areas including Islamic finance.

“Our strategy is to create accesses for all clients,” said Gurbanzada. “To establish a secured bridge between Russia and the MENA. The bridge which will be based on partnerships.”

To meet their clients’ needs and demands, Sber’s Islamic finance team are working on Sharia-compliant asset management products.

“We are considering several investment products for local and international clients together with Sberinvest Middle East,” he said.

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Hejaz continues to focus on getting its banking licence application. In June, Salaam Gateway reported that Hejaz initiated discussions with the regulator, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, as well as the Australian Securities & Investments Commission. 

Dhedhy said that talks are progressing and hopes that Hejaz will receive its restricted licence within the next 12 months. After a two-year period, they hope to obtain a full banking licence and become a fully-fledged Islamic bank within three years.

“We have an excellent relationship with Australian financial regulators, who are willing to support us in developing more customer-centric products,” he said. 

Others in the race

Muslims make around 2.6% of Australia’s 26 million population, according to the 2016 census. This is expected to increase to nearly 3% during the next census which took place this year.

Despite the growing Muslim population, and demand for Sharia compliant products, there are no fully-fledged Islamic banks in Australia. However, that is set to change. Islamic Bank Australia (IBA), is hoping to become the country’s first Shariah-compliant retail lender and is in the process of obtaining its own banking licence.

Among the other more established Islamic players are Crescent Wealth and MCCA as well as non-bank financial institutions like Amanah and Islamic Co-operative Finance Australia.

Adding to this, conventional banks like National Australia Bank (NAB) offer some Sharia compliant services. Most recently, NAB launched the country’s first Sharia structure for construction financing earlier this year.

One Australian banking practitioner said that the current Islamic product offerings are adequate given the poor uptake.  “If a major Aussie bank offered a product with the same service offering then that would improve uptake dramatically, '' he said. “Most Islamic players are tiny.”

Dhedhy said that Muslims are frustrated with current limited offerings. 

“A lot of educated and wealthier Muslims are looking for good quality products,” he said. “Among products we want to create are specific savings products for things like home deposits, weddings, college funds, and hajj.”

He also added that Islamic products don't have to be expensive when compared to the conventional. 

“Muslim customers should only expect to pay a few basis points more than conventional products, otherwise they’re not competitive enough,” he said. “Moreover, 5% of our customer base are non-Muslim, because we are offering competitive products that align with the moral values of modern Australians.”

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SG: What impact did the isef.co.id platform have?

Bashori: The platform was one of the reasons behind the increase in online transactions for halal products at ISEF this year. Another thing that contributed is the use of QR Indonesia Standard (QRIS) which continues to grow rapidly to support national economic activities. One of the advantages of QRIS is the availability of the no face-to-face feature, which allows customers to make remote payments for products purchased from merchants. In addition, QRIS can also be used to make donations or ZISWAF payments. (The platform is open until the end of 2021).

SG: What were the key highlights of ISEF 2021?

Bashori: Outcomes that can accelerate the national economic recovery. Firstly, increasing Sharia financing through facilitating linkages of Islamic financial institutions with businesses in the halal industry, especially halal food and sustainable modest fashion. Secondly, strengthening competence for both business owners in the halal industry and Islamic financial institutions. Thirdly, scaling up halal business transactions through a series of exhibition and business linkage among domestic and global Sharia businesses. Finally, improving Islamic social funds management through a series of facilitation activities to increase literacy, engagement, call to action, collections and distributions of zakat, infaq, sadaqah and waqf (ZISWAF).

SG: What was on ISEF’s agenda?

Bashori: There were 194 agendas, ranging from national and international forums, to talk shows and workshops, tabligh akbar (large-scale Qur'anic recitation), business meetings, business coaching, business linkage, various investment deals, entrepreneurship training, Halal Indonesia showcases and exhibitions of halal products, Muslim fashion parades as well as various competitions and cultural performances.

SG: How many Indonesian modest fashion designers were involved in ISEF?

Bashori: ISEF collaborated with 420 fashion designers and presented fashion parades and presentations that emphasized the principle of thayyiban (goodness) in their creative production with a total of 797 looks of clothing and accessories. In the future, Indonesia could become a major player for this sector. Bank Indonesia has committed itself to developing the sustainable and ethical fashion concept as one of the priority sectors in empowering the national Sharia economy. One of the strategies is strengthening the halal value chain to develop the ecosystem of Indonesia's Muslim fashion. This effort involves fashion business entities such as the textile industry and fashion designers to form an inclusive business chain. Bank Indonesia is conducting mapping, identification, model building and development to make a more integrated upstream and downstream model.

SG: ISEF also took place around Indonesia. Going forward, will ISEF expand such activities beyond Jakarta?

Bashori: To reach more people outside Jakarta, every year we conduct Road to ISEF activities which consist of the Sharia Economic Festival (Fesyar) in Sumatra, Java, and the Eastern region, with hosts changing every year, except for Java, as Surabaya will always be the host for that region. There are also Road to Fesyar activities held in each province. Going forward, Bank Indonesia hopes that ISEF will not only become a trendsetter for the national Sharia economy’s development, but also become a global event and a joint-platform for domestic and international stakeholders.

SG: What can we expect from ISEF 2022? Will you focus on other parts of the Islamic economy, as you did this year with modest fashion?

Bashori: The Sharia economy is certainly not just about halal food, Muslim fashion, Islamic banks, Sharia capital markets, and other Islamic social financial institutions. It is more than that, as Islamic economics covers all aspects of the economy. In the future, we will definitely see other Islamic economy sectors brought to ISEF, while still maintaining halal food and modest fashion as our priority.

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According to a report from the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bangladesh exported halal products, including food and cosmetics, worth about $1 billion in the 2020-21 fiscal year (July-June), 70% of which went to Middle East. Exporters are able to build capacity by also selling into a domestic halal goods market worth $107 billion, the second largest after Indonesia worldwide, according to the report.

Bangladeshi halal certified food is overwhelmingly red meat, poultry and processed poultry food products, said the chamber. Producers seeking to export such products have been struggling with limited certification capacity in Bangladesh, but this is now expanding. Until this year, the only body able to issue halal certificates was the Islamic Foundation Bangladesh, a state-run body, which has been issuing certificates since 2007. However, the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI), another government body, has secured authority to also issue halal certificates for food products. Meanwhile, the Islamic Foundation has submitted a draft Halal Certificate Policy 2021, which it says will enable it to better approve certification for large scale exports.

While this expansion of certification capacity is welcome, Enamul Hafiz Latifee, joint secretary (research fellow) at the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), who until recently promoted the country’s food sector with the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, warned that the new system may be administratively complex. The Islamic Foundation says it will work with the BSTI as well as the government’s Department of Livestock Services and Department of Agricultural Extension to conduct laboratory testing and certification. “This may create bureaucratic complexities,” said Latifee.

Moreover, the government has yet to secure formal affiliation for its certification system with international halal certification agencies, he said, noting that Indian halal certification is affiliated with Malaysia’s Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia halal agency (JAKIM). “The Bangladesh government should explore affiliation as well,” said Latifee.

Global Muslim spend on food (halal and non-halal) was estimated at $1.17 trillion in DinarStandard’s State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2020/21, forecast to reach $1.38 trillion by 2024. “If Bangladesh can tap even 1%, this will be huge,” said Latifee.

But to achieve this, Bangladesh will especially need to demonstrate high standards in red meat production and logistics standards, including demonstrating its cattle are disease-free, and that whole pre-, during- and post-slaughter procedures are strictly monitored and controlled. The country does not export halal sheepmeat.

At present, only Dhaka-based Bengal Meat, Bangladesh’s largest meat manufacturer, exports beef cuts used to make curry dishes in Kuwait through compliance with that Gulf country’s strict halal standards. “The Bengal Meat factory was set up in accordance with Islamic law, hygiene rules and international compliance standards. We had to bring delegates from Dubai and Kuwait for checking the compliance in our factory,” said Ahmad Asif, Bengal Meat’s CEO, who noted that the company had yet to start exporting to the UAE.

Other companies have struggled to meet Gulf countries halal standards, he told Salaam Gateway, with “compliance and hygiene issues” restricting overseas sales, although the Bangladesh government has been lobbying importing countries, requesting that they buy more Bangladesh meat.

A Bangladesh Halal Meat Importers’ Association official who requested anonymity said “it will take time” to build confidence in Bangladesh compliance with international standards over hygiene and halal procedures. Also, Bangladeshi meat can be expensive – sometimes priced at 20% to 40% more than many other Muslim countries. For instance, India sells buffalo meat at around $3.36 per kilogramme, where as Bangladeshi meat sells for $6.41/kg. Latifee said that the smaller size of Bangladeshi buffalo production prevents it from securing economies of scale regarding feed purchases.

This has opened an import market within Bangladesh for sales of cheaper buffalo bovine meat from India, China, Myanmar and Nepal – a challenge for local producers.

Nonetheless, Department of Livestock Services data cited by the Dhaka Tribune, a local daily newspaper, stated that Bangladesh produces 7.6 million tonnes of bovine and sheepmeat, compared to its annual domestic meat consumption of 7.3 million tonnes

“As we have a surplus of meat, Bangladesh has infinite opportunities for exporting to the global halal meat industry,” Asif told the Dhaka Tribune.

Certainly, the export production potential is large, with 522,000 commercial farms employing 15 million Bangladeshis, Asif told Salaam Gateway.

Halal seafood exports also have potential. “Bangladesh currently exports frozen shrimps to the European Union and USA, and fresh ones to Middle East countries, such as Saudi Arabia [and the UAE’s] Dubai, where a large Bangladeshi community lives,” said an official at the Bangladesh Frozen Food Exporters’ Association (BFFEA). The country also exports some small fish, such as Indian carplet, to the Middle East.

The official added that there was huge potential for exporting halal bovine omasum (the third stomach compartment in ruminants) and cow liver to the Middle East, although he said the market was being undermined by black market exporters based in Bangladesh.

As for Middle East halal fish exports to Bangladesh, these are limited to oily fish such as sardines and a handful of other species, such as hilsa from Oman, said the BFFEA official.

Bangladesh mainly imports poultry and processed meats from Turkey, Malaysia and Brazil, said the Bangladesh Halal Meat Importers’ Association official.

But Bangladesh exports frozen halal snacks, such as parathas, singaras and samosas to Europe, the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, and Japan.

Such successes, said Latifee, could help Bangladesh improve its halal exporting image. He said exporters might also focus on Indonesia and Malaysia initially, being easier markets to tap than those in the Middle East.

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