Amana Mutual Funds Trust

Amana Mutual Funds Trust ( [http://studio.financialcontent.com/Engine?Account=prnewswire&Ticker=AMAGX&PageName=QUOTE AMAGX] ) ( [http://studio.financialcontent.com/Engine?Account=prnewswire&Ticker=amanx&PageName=QUOTE AMANX] ) is a Bellingham, Washington-based mutual fund managed according to Islamic banking principles.

Founding principles

Amana is unique among high-growth investment funds in that it was specifically conceived to meet the needs of Muslims investors, and in particular to help make financial preparations necessary to make the "Hajj", a sacred form of a self-presentation before God (Allah in Arabic) that is considered to be one of life's primary duties. In order to make the "Hajj", a Muslim must first get his financial house in order, which presents special challenges if the money is to be invested in compliance "Shari'ah"-oriented financial principles. According to Amana's founding chairman Dr. M. Yaqub Mirza,

:In order to make the "Hajj", muslims must first pay off their debts, including the zakat due on their wealth; to return whatever was given them in trust; and have enough savings to bear the expenses of the journey (such as travel, "Hajj" tax, and lodging) and the sacrifice (of an animal). Besides this, they also have to provide for their families and dependents during their absence. They must have earned and saved enough to cover these expenses. No Hajj is valid if it is performed "on credit." [M. Yaqub Mirza, [http://www.amanafunds.com/hajj_main.html Early Bird Financial Planning] ]

Performance

The fund has earned good reviews in recent years, ranking among the top 1% of financially similar funds over the last three years in early 2006, with annualized returns of 28.6%. [Timothy Middleton, [http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/P143801.asp Mutual Funds: Your beliefs and your dollar dont mix] , MSN Money, February 21, 2006] [ [http://www.smartmoney.com/fundscreen/index.cfm?story=20070518&afl=yahoo Mutual Funds Anyone Can Afford] ]

Organization and structure

Amana's financial advisor is [http://www.saturna.com/ Saturna Capital Management] .

Current board membership

* Nicholas Kaiser, MBA, CFA
* Iqbal Unus, PhD
* Samir I. Salah, MS
* Talat M. Othman
* Abdul Wahab
* Abid Malik

Alumni

Amana's past board membership has included the following interesting individuals: [ [http://www.secinfo.com/dNCa2.4f894.d.htm SEC PRES14A filing, 6/14/2001] ]
* Yaqub Mirza, co-founder, trustee 1986-2003.
* Jamal M. Barzinji, trustee, 1984-2001.

References

External links

* [http://www.amanafunds.com Main website]