(comment @1st and @2nd paragahabout 3 lines) @1st The business industry in the Islamic world is very complex, but there is one rule that you never want to bring up if you are to do business in the Islamic world. Do not ever bring up the Palestinian-Israeli situation, the reason for this is because especially if you are a westerner and you bring this up causes issues. The issue is back in 1947 the UN passes a resolution 181 and the United States told the Palestinian Arabs that territories were Arabic and which ones are Jewish. The Palestinian Arabs did not like that, and did not like that the United States told them that the Palestinian Arabs could not make a decision, without consulting the United States. This is why you do not bring up that conflict (Ghogomu, 2014).
Some of the challenges that you will face when doing business, are the communication styles. An organization doing business without being briefed on the communication style will often be left feeling confused and frustrated. The language relies very heavy on body language, and tone of voice as well as silence.
Islamic law, touches everything. The country is governed on Sharia, Islamic Law, this law shapes the value and rules on how to behave. This relates to their family, community and business. You need to understand their Islamic Laws (Maclachlan, 2010).
Some of my questions about the religion, if I were to ask would be, what does Islam teach, what are the major beliefs of Muslims, what are the Foundational sources of Islamic Beliefs and practices. This is what I would ask. The one thing that I do know about the Islamic religion is that they believe that Muhammad is their final prophet, along with the Qur’an talks about Muhammad than Jesus.
@2nd
As stated by Lagace 2002, the business scene in the Islamic world may be as complex as its 1.3 billion people, but one rule is nevertheless quite straightforward for Westerners who want to do deals. “One thing you do not bring up is the Palestinian-Israeli situation,” advised Samuel L. Hayes III, an expert on Islamic finance and an emeritus professor of investment banking at Harvard Business School.
According to Hayes and Vogel, business people, particularly Westerners who work in the Persian Gulf and other Islamic regions such as Asia and North Africa, need to appreciate the extent to which religion and Islamic law are intertwined and permeate all levels of society, including commerce, to greater and lesser degrees depending on the country. “This law is seen as deriving from direct, divine command,” said Vogel. “This is important to grasp.”(2002)
There are some important principles that can be follow by business people that want to succeed in the Islamic world:
Contracts should be fair to all parties. Partnership is preferred over hierarchical claims.
Speculation is prohibited.
Interest is prohibited. “This is the probably the thing that is most often identified with Islamic finance. Back in the time of the prophet Mohammed, some of the most rapacious individuals were the moneylenders; and so as a response to the things that these moneylenders did which were so reprehensible, part of the religious belief is that you do not charge interest or accept interest. Now, of course, that isn’t always practiced, but it is the theory.”
Compassion is required when a business is in trouble. “In any country that has Islamic influences in its legal structure, if somebody is in bankruptcy or if somebody is experiencing financial reversals, you can’t put pressure on them, because that is not an appropriate thing to do when somebody is down.
I would say that based on this principles the major challenges that foreign firms could find are relate to interest rates and speculation because depending on the market those practices can be acceptable in the western world.
