Combined Forces Operation in WWII Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Combined Forces Operation in WWII - Essay Example To the Allies group were Brazil and China as well. On the other hand, the Axis was formed by Italy and Germany at the beginning of the war. Later, they saw the inclusion of eastern European states like Bulgaria and Romania as well as Japan. 62 million persons lost their lives in this confrontation between the Axis and the Allies according to the solar navigator website. Jet aircrafts, atomic weapons, radars, rockets, submarines, tanks and torpedo bombers are the examples of the inventions made during the WWII. Despite the estimated period mentioned on when the war started, many of historians have not reached into an agreement on the exact date of its initiation. However, the commonest of the dates used to signify the beginning of the war is 1939, when Germany attacked Poland triggering the French and British announcements of their entry to the war about two days afterwards. Various conflicts were reported from 1939 onwards until 1941 when the war was now a global affair. The war continued with various attacks being witnessed until 1944. 1944 was termed as ‘the beginning of the end.’ On 6th June of 1944 the Allies from the Western side attacked Normandy a German held warfront. The British 6th, USA’s 82nd and 101st and the paratroopers from Canada spearheaded this. Allies, however, suffered a big number of deaths. Artillery batteries of Germany pounded the beaches. Hedgerows helped the units of Germany by offering vantage points for the location of MG 42. Tankers had difficulties, though, due to the hedgerow lanes’ narrow causeways. They couldn’t rotate their turrets. Months afterwards, the Allies measured their progress in long yards as well as deadly rifle fights in Bocage. The forces of Germany were almost totally brought down in France while making a counter-attack. In the beginning of the year 1944, the Red Army, which was the Soviet military representation, was at the Polish border and as well lifted the siege of Leningrad. Come

Islamic Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Islamic Finance - Essay Example Investments have an element of gambling because of the reality of risks. How can modern financial products be acceptable to Muslims? How can notions like â€Å"interest†, â€Å"speculation†, and â€Å"gambling† be excluded in financial products not only in form but in substance? In particular, how can it be possible for conventional financial products to be acceptable to Muslims? In the opinion of this writer, an important key towards designing financial instruments that are compatible with Islam is an understanding what financial transactions are prohibited and permissible under Islam. According to El-Gamal (2000, p. 2-6, 24), Islam prohibits Riba, Gharar, and financial insurance. Transactions that involve prohibited acts under Islam are invalid (batil) and forbidden (haram) under Islam (El-Gamal 2000, p. 1). On the other hand, El-Gamal (2000, p. 10-17) asserted that Islam permits cost-plus sales (murabaha), credit sales (bay’ bi-thaman ‘ajil), forw ard contracts (salam), and cooperative insurance. More importantly, Islam permits trade even if Riba is a forbidden (El-Gamal 2000, p. 9). According to El-Gamal (2000, p. 9), a trade that is valid from the perspective of Islam takes place â€Å"if the seller and buyer exchange an offer and acceptance which specify the object of sale and the price, and they both agree†. ... 4): Bilal visted the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) with some high quality dates, and the Prophet (pbuh) inquired about their source. Bilal explained that he traded two volumes of lower quality dates for one volume of higher quality. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: â€Å"this is precisely the forbidden Riba. Do not do this. Instead, sell the first type of dates, and use the proceeds to buy the other.† While usury involves exorbitant interest rates, a Riba takes place when an interest rate is charged regardless of its amount (El-Gamal 2000, p. 9). Thus, the charging of interest rate is prohibited under Islamic laws regardless of whether the interest rate is small or large. The preceding discussion pointed out that while inferior dates is prohibited to be exchanged with fine dates, the transaction can proceed nevertheless by selling the inferior dates and then buying the fine dates from the proceeds. Thus, it can be concluded that while Islam can prohibit certain transactions, th e same transactions can essentially proceed by taking certain routes such that the essential of the intended transaction can ultimately take place despite the prohibition under Islam. In short, alternative transactions routes can be executed such that the essentials of the target transaction are eventually realized. According to El-Gamal (2000, p. 6), a good translation of Gharar is â€Å"risk† or â€Å"uncertainty†. Gharar is â€Å"the sale of probable items whose existence or characteristics are not certain, due to risky nature which makes the trade similar to gambling. Selling non-existent objects is categorized as Gharar and is forbidden (El-Gamal 2000, p. 17). At this