Dr Yahia, who has succeeded in two previous careers as a chemical engineer and financial planner, set up Lariba in 1987 to develop a network of financial institutions in the US and around the world that operates according to Shariah principles, that cares about communities, to serve people of all faiths and to produce competitive returns on invested capital, compared with the conventional banks.
The name of the company consists of two parts: La, which means “No” in Arabic and the second part is Riba which means the conventional banking and finance process of buying money with money and pricing it using interest. Therefore, Lariba means “No Riba”. The word also stands for : LA = Los Angeles, R = Reliable, I = Investment, B = Bankers, and A = Associates.
According to Dr Yahia, Lariba was established to help people in the community invest their savings back in projects of the community. This way the community could create an intermediate prudent and fiduciary entity that evaluates risk of the investor and the quality of the project. As he put it, “We wanted to introduce the community to the real meaning of Islam. It is not only about rituals, it is social responsibility to all-Muslims and non-Muslims alike.”
The name of the company consists of two parts: La, which means “No” in Arabic and the second part is Riba which means the conventional banking and finance process of buying money with money and pricing it using interest. Therefore, Lariba means “No Riba”. The word also stands for : LA = Los Angeles, R = Reliable, I = Investment, B = Bankers, and A = Associates.
According to Dr Yahia, Lariba was established to help people in the community invest their savings back in projects of the community. This way the community could create an intermediate prudent and fiduciary entity that evaluates risk of the investor and the quality of the project. As he put it, “We wanted to introduce the community to the real meaning of Islam. It is not only about rituals, it is social responsibility to all-Muslims and non-Muslims alike.”
