Government needs honesty on Shariah

It appears that Shariah law has become politically acceptable if it is dressed in a white collar and a business suit.

While Prime Minister Julia Gillard is wooing Chinese investors abroad, Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan will be wooing Islamic investors back home.

Today, Mr Swan will deliver the keynote address and indeed give the Gillard government's blessing to the inaugural Australian Islamic Finance Forum. This one day international investment forum in Melbourne is presented by Amanie Advisers Australia whose motto is 'driving global Shariah solutions'. It will bring together senior Shariah scholars, senior industry figures, global Islamic investors, Takaful (insurance) operators and Islamic bankers from the Gulf, Asia and Australia.

The forum follows the ASIC granting of an Australian Financial Services Licence to Amanie in February 2012, pathing the way for Shariah-compliant investments in Australia.

Just as Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been galvanising opportunities in China, this forum also recognises that Australia is the 12^th largest economy in the world and a 'highly desirable investment destination…for Islamic investors'.

There is no problem per se with Australia securing a share of the booming global market for Islamic financial services which is worth more than one trillion dollar annually.

The problem is that our political leaders have been giving all things Shariah a public flogging for years, yet suddenly they are giving Shariah an air of respectability.

Let us examine what the treasurer's cabinet colleagues, past and present, have said on the public record.

In July 2011, when Prime Minister Julia Gillard was asked whether "Shariah law has any place in our society", her response was "there's only one law in this country, Australian law."

That same month, Attorney General at that time Robert McClelland declared that "there is no place for Shariah law in Australian society…Our constitutional founders included a provision against the state endorsing … religious practice".

Then in March 2012, Attorney General at that time Nicola Roxon declared that "there is no place for Shariah law in Australian society and the government strongly rejects any proposal for its introduction."

So far, so clear. There was no qualification about whether it was criminal or civil aspects of Shariah.

But as soon as Shariah pertains to attracting financial investments into Australia, it appears that the horns become a halo, or at least halal (permissible).

For example, in 2009 Assistant Treasurer at that time Senator Nick Sherry asked the Board of Taxation to "undertake a comprehensive review of Australia's tax laws to ensure that…they do not inhibit the expansion of Islamic financial products in Australia". This was in line with recommendation 3.6 of the Johnson Report which sought to ensure parity and a level playing field for Islamic investors. This is a meandering way of saying accommodate Shariah practices without using the Shariah label.

The Board of Taxation discussion paper referred to five main features of Islamic economics, a euphemism for Shariah compliance: no interest to be charged, no uncertainty in contractual terms, both risks and rewards to be shared, each transaction to be based on stable assets, and no financing of prohibited (haram) activities such as gambling, alcohol, weapons or pork products.

Similarly, in October 2010 Assistant Treasurer at that time Bill Shorten declared that "Islamic finance is a rapidly growing part of the global financial system and Australia is in an excellent position to capitalise on that growth".

The solution to these ostensibly schizophrenic statements is qualification and education.

Shariah is an Arabic word meaning 'the way to the watering hole' and is based on scholarly interpretations (Fiqh) of the Qur'an and the Sunna – the teachings and deeds of Mohamad.

In their July 2011 report on 'Australia's mixed response to Shariah law', Queensland legal academics Ann Black and Kerrie Sadiq concluded that we have been "oblivious to the legal pluralism that abounds in this country." They cite Muslim schools, funeral parlours, businesses, abattoirs, charities and financial institutions as Australian Shariah realities. One of caveats of Shariah is that one must obey the law of the land which always prevails.

Public statements about Shariah need to discern between the criminal and civil elements. Too often, the punitive hudud stories over-shadow the soft Shariah stories such as dispute settlement via a local imam thus preventing protracted family court settlements.

Rather than skirt around the Shariah word as a loaded hot potato, these leaders should be honest. They should use the word with the correct qualifications to help educate the public about the aspects that they have accommodated.

If they are prepared to label the hudud hand cutting as Shariah, why not label the halal hand shaking as the same? Our leaders cannot shy away from the fact that our white collar guests with impressive letters before and after their names and impressive bank balances are Shariah experts in Australia.

They cannot demonise Shariah in public for political gain yet brandish Shariah in private for financial gain.

They cannot have it both ways, claiming to be allergic to sweets while eating chocolate.