Islamic Banking: Is It Really Kosher?
NO SHARIA.BLOGSPOT.COM: Muslim scholars say the Qur’an prohibits collecting interest on loans. But many banks, both global and local, have found clever ways to meet religious strictures. It’s a system that may be hypocritical, but also profitable.

The coverage can be a little bit breathless: “La finance Islamique en plein boom,” Le Figaro reported in September. Yes, Islamic banking, structured along the lines that religion decrees, is in full boom. But is it really banking? And is it really kosher?



Islam prohibits the payment of interest on loans, so observant Muslims require specialized alternative arrangements from their banks. Many of the largest global financial companies, including Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase, have established thriving subsidiaries that strive to meet these requirements. As a result, optimists speculate that the common pursuit of lucre—divinely sanctioned, filthy, or otherwise—will bring bickering civilizations together. They may be right.



The Islamic aversion to interest collection comes from the Qur’an. Not that the term “interest” is ever used: the Arabic injunction forbids something called riba. The Qur’an offers no exact definition of what riba meant in seventh-century Arabia, the time and place of the Prophet Mohammed—let alone what the term should mean today. In particular, the passages are ambiguous on the question of whether riba refers to all kinds of interest collection, or only usurious interest—that is, lending practices that are, according to some ill-defined standard, unfair and exploitative. What is clear in the divine financial critique is that, whatever riba may be, Jews are doing it. At one point God warns that they will face a “painful day of doom” if they keep it up.


This ambiguity was a practical problem for the early Muslim jurists, who formalized religious rules in a code called sharia. They were divided on the subject, but as time went on, the weight of consensus came to rest on the side of prohibiting all interest collection. Islamic Banking: Is It Really Kosher? >>> By Aaron MacClean, The American

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Idiots in the Banking Sector Eager to Play Dhimmi
THE STAR: A controversial study looking at Islamic banking by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. has ignited protest from some sectors of the Muslim community.

But despite opposition from the Muslim Canadian Congress, the federal housing authority said yesterday it is going forward with the study looking at banking that adheres to Islam's guiding body of rules, or sharia.

Tarek Fatah, founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress, which bills itself as a progressive Muslim group, said in an interview he was "shocked" to learn that "a Crown corporation is using taxpayers' money" for faith-based banking.

Fatah calls sharia banking the "biggest con job ever. What are we going to have next, Buddhist banking?" he asked.

The congress released a letter yesterday written to CMHC chief executive officer Karen Kinsley, urging the housing authority to abandon the $100,000 study.

"Religion has no place in the banking or mortgage industry," the letter said.

The group says the vast majority of Canadian Muslims already use conventional mortgages. Muslim leader calls sharia loans a `con job': Congress wants CMHC to end its banking study >>> By Tony Wong and Tonda Maccharles

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)