Thank you.

MicroPakistan Team

Islamic Finance has much to learn from the west
by Muhammad Saleem
Op-Ed page of the FT on January 19th

Proponents of Islamic finance maintain that as the Koran prohibits interest all financing must be done on a profit and loss sharing basis. In spite of all the lofty rhetoric in practice no more than five per cent of Islamic financing is done this way.

Instead, Islamic banks use a structure called murabaha, or cost plus pre-determined profit, for the vast majority of their finance deals.

Remarkably, the “profit” for an Islamic bank in a murabaha transaction and the interest a conventional bank would have charged on the same transaction happen to be exactly the same. Indeed Islamic banks in determining their “profit” even quote the rate as a margin over Libor or other similar indices!

Murabaha was a crude trading practice designed for transactions between real sellers and real buyers involving physical goods. By structuring a financing transaction while disguising it as a trading transaction – and charging interest concealed in Islamic garb – Islamic banks turn the entire enterprise into a charade.

Other modes of financing are just as dubious. Take Islamic house finance, structured as a lease: lease payments are equal to interest that a conventional bank would charge on a home mortgage loan. Sukuks, or Islamic bonds, are similar in many respects to murabaha and just as tainted. Brandishing a fatwa from a scholar of sharia law (who, like mercenaries, are sometimes for sale at the right price) blessing the structure does not absolve the bankers from the responsibility of meeting the spirit of the
sharia.

The real problem with the Islamic finance industry is that despite a 30 year history and current assets of about $300bn they have yet to add any value. Islamic banks have not created any new jobs (employment at Islamic banks does not count), financed new inventions or innovations or made the Islamic communities more just and equitable. The smoke and mirrors Islamic finance industry appear to be all about creating financial structures to comply with the letter of the law, not the spirit and intent of the Koran.

Islamic banks need to move away from the deceptive modes of financing they currently use and step towards the American style of venture capital. This has two advantages. First, the stated principles of Islamic banking – favouring profit and loss sharing over interest – are very similar to the financing techniques used by the venture capital industry, especially in the US. These private equity groups are the real Islamic finance, the genuine article. Second, by providing funds to entrepreneurs with bright ideas, the banks can assist in promoting innovation, invention and creation of new jobs and industries.

The ironic thing is that although the US is not an “Islamic country”, more authentic and genuine sharia compliant financing is done in the US than in all the Islamic countries combined. That is because American venture capital groups annually provide about $25bn in capital financing to entrepreneurs, scientists, and engineers with new ideas. As a consequence of the availability of this type of financing the venture capital industry in the US has given birth and nurtured scores of Silicon Valley companies including such modern day icons such as HP, Cisco, Intel, Sun Micro Systems, Apple, Netscape, Ebay, and Google. All were created in the last 30 years or so from ideas grounded in science and technology. Scientists and engineers came up with the ideas, innovations, and inventions while the venture capital industry provided the capital on a partnership basis. Millions of new jobs have been created as a result.

At one time – from AD750 to about AD1100 – it was the Muslim world that was making advances in science and technology, because of the availability of risk capital (from rich people or sponsorship from the rulers) and respect for education, scholarship, discovery and innovation. But nothing of consequence has been invented in the Islamic world for hundreds of years. The west’s renaissance partly came as a result of learning from the Islamic world. Now it is the Islamic world that needs to learn from the west, especially borrowing those ideas that are both consistent with its own beliefs and able to contribute to economic and scientific development. Venture capital is clearly such an idea. By becoming more like venture capital groups, the Islamic banks can practice real Islamic finance while helping the Islamic community to rediscover its tradition of invention and innovation.

The writer is a former international banker and the author of Islamic
Banking: A $300 billion Deception

From another Pakistani blog.

As importantly, he has done this – in his words – ‘wholesale’. He has single handedly built – literally by begging – a social services structure at a national scale. Bigger than what governments have. He has never taken a ruppee as salary himself. He lives in a two room apartment that most middle class Pakistanis would not call home and he oversees the largest ambulance network in the world, now with airplanes and helicopters, a multi-million dollar enterprise of relief, of goodwill, and of humanitarianism. If he does not deserve the Nobel Award, I do not know who does.

A short biography can be found on the Edhi Foundation website.

A great deal of detail on his life, management style, types of services, expansion plans, international services and offices and awards can be found here.

I am also quoting some interesting facts that were put up in another Pakistani blog

1. I did not realize how much he dislikes being called ‘Maulana.’ There are so many times in the book where he explains that he does not consider himself worthy of that title and how he stops his associates from using it, but they do anyhow.
2. He seems to have a rather nasty temper. But he knows it. And he knows that he is a tough task master on those he works with. He recounts incidences where he literally throws things in the room and at walls and shouts at people because they did not follow instructions or indulged in waste. But as he points out, he never asks others to do any more than he does himself.
3. The accounts of his romantic side. Including his falling for this Turkish girl on a train.
4. How his distractors have always been out to malign him. First the “memon seths” who did not like his style of self-help social work. Then the religious leaders who did not like his style of, what he calls, “ijtihaad” and “sufiism” and who tried to drive him out of the lucrative hide-collection business. Then the MQM folks. And more.
5. By far the most riveting part is where he recounts how some military people (intelligence agencies) – he seems to be saying Hamid Gul’s people – tried to use him as a front man for a counter coup and ultimately things got so bad that he had to leave the country and take temporary exile in London.


]]> http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/23/edhi-for-nobel-peace-prize-2007/feed/ 4 hakim http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/22/new-top-level-domains-micropakistanorg-and-micropakistaninfo/ http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/22/new-top-level-domains-micropakistanorg-and-micropakistaninfo/#comments Mon, 22 Jan 2007 11:31:56 +0000 hakim http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/22/new-top-level-domains-micropakistanorg-and-micropakistaninfo/ ]]> We have now registered two top level domains, www.micropakistan.org and www.micropakistan.info. Hence, from now on you can use both these addresses to access the blog.

It has come to our attention that WordPress.com has been banned in Pakistan and that means that the blog cannot be accessed from Pakistan. Once we are able to get a hosting provider to put our blog on it should be freely accessible, but till then there are certain websites that can be used to get around this problem. Now, logically speaking people from Pakistan would not be able to see this post as they have no access to this website so if you know anyone who has not been able to get to the blog please direct them to the following websites.

Proxify
Anonymouse

Here they can access the blog by using proxies. If anyone knows of a better way to go around this stupid ban then please let us know. Thank you!


]]> http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/22/new-top-level-domains-micropakistanorg-and-micropakistaninfo/feed/ 2 hakim http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/22/pakistan-upon-crossing-the-rubicon/ http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/22/pakistan-upon-crossing-the-rubicon/#comments Mon, 22 Jan 2007 04:49:48 +0000 Ghafoor http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/22/pakistan-upon-crossing-the-rubicon/ ]]> This document is significant as it illustrates the issues discussed by Mr. Khan during his visit of West Pakistan in 1948. It is unfortunate to see that a year after partition, the issues holding the country back from true progression in the right direction are the same issues that we are still dealing with presently.

Liaquat Ali Khan was the first Prime Minister of Pakistan and the head of the Muslim League, the dominant political party in Pakistan. It almost seems like fate as he issues a warning against fifth columnists active against Pakistan and three years after this visit he was assassinated. It is also interesting to note that he managed to quell the first coup attempt in Pakistan to overthrow his Government by Major General Akbar Khan in the famous or rather infamous Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case 1951, which can be seen as the Army’s first attempt to enter the political arena.

The assassination of Liaquat Ali Khan is definitely a moment to remember in our history. As it not only swelled the political vacuum already present from the Death of the Founder but it left the country’s most important neighboring and domestic issues to catch dust on the shelves.

Please click on the pictures below separately to enlarge.










]]> http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/22/pakistan-upon-crossing-the-rubicon/feed/ 3 Ghafoor 001.jpg 002.jpg 003.jpg 004.jpg http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/21/indian-controlled-kashmir-disagrees-with-musharraf/ http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/21/indian-controlled-kashmir-disagrees-with-musharraf/#comments Sun, 21 Jan 2007 19:23:12 +0000 Khuldun http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/21/indian-controlled-kashmir-disagrees-with-musharraf/ ]]> Omar Farooq, who is also known as Mirwaiz, is in Pakistan to talk about his latest epiphany. People think that he is the chief priest of Kashmir. That is not true. I am surprised that people call him the chief priest of Kashmir, for there does not exist such a title in Kashmir. Omar Farooq is a priest or a mullah in Srinagar and again, not the Grand Mullah of Kashmir. I am going to call him Mirwaiz in this post. I don’t believe that this title of Mirwaiz amounts to anything substantive, but since he markets himself as Mirwaiz I am compelled to call him that. Mirwaiz has now realised that Kashmir (I am referring to the Indian Kashmir as Kashmir throughout this post) should stay under the sovereignty of India and that the armed struggle in Kashmir, which he supported for sixteen long years, is not going to achieve anything for him. Musharraf, on the other hand, has buried the argument which suggests that Pakistan has a historical claim over Kashmir and hence is willing to concede on the vexed question of Kashmir. Indians like this solution because they are on the winning side and have to make no concessions. Mirwaiz is doing this for his own benefit and so is Musharraf. But what about the Kashmiri people then?

Now: why is Pakistan washing its hands off Kashmir? Pakistan wants to distance itself from the armed struggle in Indian Kashmir, for many outfits running the militancy in Kashmir are viewed as terrorists in many a G-8 capitals and Pakistan, as Musharraf has repeatedly assured the entire world, does not support terrorism in any part of Kashmir. As a Kashmiri from the Indian side I don’t personally believe in militancy and have always felt that the problem of Kashmir is solvable because it is possible to devise a peace treaty which will find agreement in India, Pakistan and Kashmir. But that will require political will in India and Pakistan. Both countries have to allow the people of Kashmir to decide what they want and not allow minnows and corruptible figures such as Mirwaiz to decide on behalf of the entire populace of Kashmir.

This recent peace treaty can work but for that the people of Kashmir have to know what this treaty means and then give their mandate for this treaty. Mirwaiz does not believe that the people of Kashmir are important and hence their view does not matter for him, otherwise he and his cabal would have devised a method to know their opinion. For a long time Mr. Mirwaiz supported militancy in Kashmir and cried incessantly about the human rights abuses in Kashmir and condemned the: cruel, torturous and colonial minded Indians. But now he thinks that Kashmir cannot become part of Pakistan and hence to cut his losses he wants to accept a solution that will bring him to power within the Indian constitutional setup. This solution is quite simple. Pakistan accepts that it has no right over the territory of Kashmir; and that India can enjoy complete sovereignty over it; and that the Line of Control will become the permanent border between the two countries. Mirwaiz will, as a result, transform himself from the militancy-supporting-mullah to a mullah who sounds and acts like Dalai Lama. If this peace is imposed on people, Mirwaiz will travel the world singing praises of Indian and Pakistani leadership and probably receive a Nobel Prize for engineering peace in Kashmir. Probably Indian and Pakistani leadership might even share that peace prize bounty with Mirwaiz.

Why does Mirwaiz think this solution is the best solution? Mirwaiz wants to taste power in any shape or form. Hence he is ready to accept any offer of peace. That is, Mirwaiz thinks he is fit and knowledgeable enough to make a decision on behalf of the entire population of Kashmir. Mirwaiz is simply a con artist or a political operative of the worst kind. His family’s main political agenda in Kashmir was to merge Kashmir with Pakistan. I don’t believe that dynasties should rule any part of the world. He calls himself Mirwaiz but what does that mean? What is the title of Mirwaiz indicative of? His constituency is limited to few neighbourhoods in old Srinagar city. Hence it is absurd to call him the leader of Kashmiri people.

He is in Pakistan because Pakistan’s General and President Pervez Musharraf wants to create history by ending the problem of Kashmir. His counterparts in India love this deal because that means they don’t have to sacrifice anything. And Mirwaiz makes a good bedfellow because he will get to rule with the pretext that there is no other solution to this wretched historical problem of Kashmir. However, these following questions are more relevant now than at any other time: who has entrusted Mirwaiz to go and speak for all Kashmiris? Does Mirwaiz have the mandate of the Kashmiri people to go around the world and impose this so-called peace on Kashmiri masses? Why doesn’t he clearly tell Kashmiri people what this treaty will entail? Mirwaiz now says that history does not matter. What does that mean? I guess since he thinks he will benefit from forgetting history hence it is apt for all of us, who are from the Indian controlled Kashmir, to forget history as well.

I think people of Kashmir should be given a chance to give their opinion on this critical issue and then only should the drums roll in the Indian and Pakistani capitals. The people of Kashmir are not happy with Mr. Mirwaiz’s stance. His visit to Pakistan and support for this latest peace offer from the Pakistani President has not found acceptance in the Indian side of Kashmir. In opposition to him and his stance the entire Kashmir protested by staying shut and it is clear what that means.

Pakistani leadership has always used Kashmir as a political stunt. Kashmir has never been important for Pakistan but is used as a political tool to gain votes during elections. Unfortunately: Kashmiri people in the Indian side have been used by the Pakistani leadership and on the contrary, Indians have humiliated, tortured and subjugated Kashmiris in Kashmir and in the rest of India.

Again, the problem of Kashmir is not an easy dispute. However, the leadership of Kashmir that is being propagated by the Government of India and Pakistan has no mandate from the people and hence their decision to agree with the latest peace proposal from Pakistan does not amount to anything. They are a bunch of power hungry politicians and opportunists who can go to any length to gain power. Mirwaiz is nobody to speak for the entire population of Indian Kashmir. It is a disgrace that Kashmiri people are being silenced; and their omission from any peace treaty involving them is not going to end the problem of Kashmir.


]]> http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/21/indian-controlled-kashmir-disagrees-with-musharraf/feed/ 3 Khuldun http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/21/newsflash-karachi-to-have-43-billion-islands/ http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/21/newsflash-karachi-to-have-43-billion-islands/#comments Sun, 21 Jan 2007 03:11:50 +0000 hakim http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/21/newsflash-karachi-to-have-43-billion-islands/ ]]> Emaar of Dubai is investing $43 billion to convert two islands off the coast of Karachi into resorts for the rich elite of the city. In recent years residents of Karachi have been facing a great deal of problems due to the increase in traffic, pollution, crime and lack of other basic amenities. Such a project would allow the crème de la crème to distinguish themselves from the millions of middle-class people in the city who have now, according to one socialite, turned it into a ‘shit-hole’.

The islands would also serve as a permanent getaway for its residents as all their needs would be provided for and they would be able to access the areas of Defence and Clifton by a $50 million bridge. The other Karachi ‘towns’ were already no-go areas for most people tipped to be buying property on these islands. However, it was a cause for concern that on national holidays, such as Eid, Independence Day, Defence Day etc., a lot of the inhabitants of deprived Karachi areas would migrate to Defence and Clifton to enjoy the only source of entertainment for the middle-class of the city, the Clifton Beach.

The elite class was finding it very difficult to enjoy their privacy in areas believed by them to be built exclusively for them. Therefore, a final solution to the problem has been reached and the construction on the project started on 8th December 2006. This is surely a sign of great progress. International construction firms are showing great interest in Pakistan and this can only bode well for the economy.

In other news…

Fishermen from the islands of Buddo and Bundal (Dingi and Bhundaar in Sindhi) off the coast of Karachi will be displaced so that a state-of-the-art model city could be built. The city will be called Diamond Bar Island City.

PFF (Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum) President Muhammad Ali Shah told journalists that fishermen were seriously concerned over possible loss of their livelihood, obstruction of passage to the open sea, destruction of mangrove forests and destruction of marine life and environment.

Upon questioning a Government spokesman said, ‘All this talk about the environment, mangroves and marine life is a subterfuge. All the fishermen are interested in is illegally taking control of government land.’ Human rights and environmental organizations responded by saying that for the pleasure and leisure of a few, many thousands of fishermen would lose their livelihood and marine life and mangroves would be permanently harmed.

MicroPakistan heard from some local fishermen that they believed that Hazrat Yusuf Shah of Bundul(known as the ‘fishermen saint’), whose 522nd Urs was held recently, would unleash his wrath on all those that try to tamper with the islands and the natural beauty around them. They believe he will protect his people, the fishermen. Certainly, the Government of Pakistan won’t.-MicroPakistan


]]> http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/21/newsflash-karachi-to-have-43-billion-islands/feed/ 7 hakim http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/19/fin-animals-bunch-of-hyenas-go-back-to-the-zoo-its-not-pakistan-this/ http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/19/fin-animals-bunch-of-hyenas-go-back-to-the-zoo-its-not-pakistan-this/#comments Fri, 19 Jan 2007 16:23:35 +0000 AI http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/19/fin-animals-bunch-of-hyenas-go-back-to-the-zoo-its-not-pakistan-this/ ]]> Seemingly, these words appear to be those of an uncouth, imbalanced and racist individual but no, they were spoken by none other than the cricketing pride and joy of South africa, a self admitted match fixer. I am talking about Hansi Cronje’s partner in crime Mr. Herschelle Herman Gibbs. Is it not ironical that a man at the lowest ebb of human conduct and morality is accusing over zealous spectators of animal-like behaviour? Keeping in mind that this exuberant behaviour is perhaps what provides one facet of cricketing entertainment, it hardly warranted such a reaction. A professional sportsman , an icon of sorts,  resorting to frequent punctuations of profanity with racist undertones to convey his sentiments; It’s Shameful. I would’ve thought that as a nation, we would’ve responded with a vehement call to bar Herschelle Gibbs from playing test cricket in pakistan at the least. The fault is mine, it slipped my mind that we are a passive collective. He would’ve had to say the above personally to our mothers or perhaps our wives, maybe then we would wake up .      


]]> http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/19/fin-animals-bunch-of-hyenas-go-back-to-the-zoo-its-not-pakistan-this/feed/ 3 A.I http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/19/truth-the-lodestar-of-a-better-pakistan/ http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/19/truth-the-lodestar-of-a-better-pakistan/#comments Fri, 19 Jan 2007 00:25:18 +0000 freddie http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/19/truth-the-lodestar-of-a-better-pakistan/ ]]> Many of us will be acquainted with the western stereotype of Pakistan: hostile, intolerant and in some cases radicalised. Many of us will also be aware of the societal schisms within Pakistan itself. In the quest for a modern state, many Pakistanis have wholesale secularised themselves and those around them. More still are fairly rabid in their quest to eliminate all traces of Islam from Pakistan’s national consciousness. On the other end of the spectrum, we have the equally intolerant, highly literalist and in some cases bigoted self-anointed ‘defenders of the faith’, out to press their interpretation of Islam on any and all. An observation both sides of the chasm would do well to stare down into, however, would be that of the importance of truth- truthfulness towards others, and themselves. For this truthfulness would let us realise that there is to be no compulsion in religion, and yet that there are tangible benefits to be had from a more genuine incorporation of Islam in the fabric of Pakistan. This post will briefly seek to touch on this conceptual touchstone that I call truthfulness, and exemplifying some of its benefits to Pakistan’s overarching identification issues.

Truthfulness would clear up the fundamental misconception that Islam is to blame for Pakistan’s lack of progress and the negative image it projects to the world. A common cited example is that of Christendom in the Dark Ages, which experienced a revival in its fortunes only after it excluded the church from the state. However this is at best a misconception, and at worst a heinous intellectual and factual deception. The European Renaissance’s principal features were the revival of learning based on classical sources and the advancements of science. Precisely this was what happened centuries before in the Islamic world during its Golden Age. Throwing Islam out of Pakistan’s conciousness is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater, as it would not address the real problems underlying the malaise in Pakistan. Instead, we should be honest enough to admit that it is in our shortcomings as a community to reapply the spirit of Islam to our present problems that is the main issue. For if we did that, as Iqbal strenously exhorted in his “Reconstructions”, we would surely fare better. The lack of emphasis on spending for education and research and development in Pakistan, which Islam would simply not stand for, is a case in Pakistan. Islam’s truths are at one generic, and yet also highly detailed and specific in their solutions for day-to-day life.

Dickens might say about Pakistan today that this is both the best of times and the worst of times- the worst, for obvious reasons, the best, for not so obvious. Perhaps the optimal way to phrase it would be like Goethe, that “there is strong shadow where there is much light”. Presumably that inner ideological and spiritual light is simply itching for an opportunity to make an appearance. In the smile of every genuinely compassionate Pakistani lies the makings of a nation based on harmony, not conflict- in other words, unity.

Without wishing to steal Jinnah’s thunder, I would like to point out, as he did, that, to harness that unity, we need faith and discipline. Faith, to have conviction when the box seems empty; and discipline, to harness Pakistan’s various strengths and minimize its weaknesses. Yet the common denominator of these endeavours has to be truth. And herein lies the rub. For in order to be effective truth must, says Wei Wei, “penetrate like an arrow — and that is likely to hurt”. Truth in practice is rarely an easy ride. We all have our skeletons in the closet, individually and collectively. Perhaps organisations in Pakistan, such as the NAB, would do well, to again quote Goethe, to “to investigate what is, and not what suits”. If we, like Pontius Pilate, cannot bear the painful lessons that the truth may bring sometime, then we as a people, as a nation, will ultimately be the worst losers. For a religious person, being forsaken by God is the worst thing that can happen. For a non-religious person, though they may not realise it, forsaking oneself is the worst. Ultimately, both outcomes stem from the same cancer: failing to face up to the truth.

I still believe, though the times may not evince it, that a refusal to self-check, to acknowlege truth and to use meritocracy as the guiding criterion in day to day conduct is what is holding Pakistan back. The day Pakistanis learn to sincerely play by the adage ‘may the best man win’, is the day Pakistan will rise meteorically in the comity of nations. “Truth comes as conqueror only to those who have lost the art of receiving it as friend.” Perhaps we need to judge our success by what we as a nation will have to give up for it in sincere and magnamimous sacrifice, whose starting point is by looking at the man in the mirror. Only then will we be able to cure the various ills facing us.In Pakistan, it seems that honesty is the worst policy. That the brazen, and not the meek, inherit the earth seems to be the core lesson to be learnt from six decades of nepotism, cronyism, party politics, and ubiquitous parochialism. Verily my friends, truth is the cry of all, but the game of the few. We would all do well to start playing it more often. 


]]> http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/19/truth-the-lodestar-of-a-better-pakistan/feed/ 3 freddie http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/17/irony/ http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/17/irony/#comments Wed, 17 Jan 2007 18:45:18 +0000 hakim http://micropakistan.wordpress.com/2007/01/17/irony/ ]]> Interesting to compare the two oaths. More importantly the fact that there is a SPECIFIC mention of ‘political activity’ in the Pakistani oath while on the other hand all that US Armed Forces are asked to state is that they will ‘support and defend’ the Constitution. Oh, and the Pakistani oath has been translated from Urdu into English so don’t think that just cause English is the American language they understand it better. It has nothing to do with comprehension. I guess for us oaths and promises are just things that we would like to get out of the way to carry on with what we want to do never to think of them again.

Oath taken by the Pakistan Armed Forces

“I, (NAME), with a sincere heart and God as my witness do solemnly swear that I will be faithful to the State of Pakistan and protect the constitution of Pakistan, which reflects the wishes of the people of Pakistan. Further, I will not indulge in any political activity and will perform my duties in the armed forces with full faith and honesty. I will go where and howsoever I am ordered to by land, air or sea and that I will obey all lawful orders given to me by my superiors without regard to any dangers and threats to my personal safety. May God be my protector and witness. Amen”

Oath taken by the U.S Armed Forces

“I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”

“Guide Note: There has been some controversy about whether the phrase “So help me God” is mandatory. Some people have seen officers allow enlistees to omit these words, if they choose, according to their religious preference and beliefs. However, federal law does not appear to make any part of the oath optional. See 10 United States Code, Section 502. ”


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