Governments worldwide are struggling to manage the global financial crisis, with no end to the downturn in sight. But at least so far, one sector has been unscathed: the $1 trillion-and-growing business of Sharia-compliant banking.
That's right, Sharia. The same combination of medieval Islamic law and modern post-colonialism that makes the terrorist clique supposedly so hateful of Western freedoms. Where finance is concerned, most muftis-Islamic religious scholars-agree that God prohibits charging any amount of interest on loans. Trading debt and risky speculation are off-limits too, as is investment in immoral enterprises like gambling, prostitution, and war profiteering. Transactions should be highly transparent and risk, as well as return, should be shared by all parties.
You can't trap people into owing more than they can pay. Basically, most everything that caused the current mess isn't allowed. "Given their constraints, they actually don't hold any conventional debt or conventional mortgages," explains Samuel Hayes, emeritus professor of investment banking at Harvard. "They don't have any of these derivatives or outright subprime loans. There's no doubt that they have weathered this better than the conventional banks."
For a world in need of fast, creative solutions to a cascading crisis, might this financial subculture offer a way out? Duke University economist Timur Kuran calls for caution. "I think it's going to be a year or two before we have enough data to really know if it is the case that the banks are doing better and what explains it." One way or another, says Bill Maurer, an anthropologist at U.C., Irvine who studies alternative economies, "this is a really interesting moment for Islamic banking."
Sharia-compliant banks began appearing in the 1970s, but the concept dates to mid-century in South Asia and the Middle East, as Muslims newly independent from European rule sought to create an Islamic identity that would permeate all aspects of life, public and private. The first banks were small partnerships and development initiatives. In 1975, the Islamic Development Bank was founded by 23 Muslim countries (now 56), combining a World Bank-style mission with interest-free loans to member governments. It lent legitimacy and visibility to the approach. That decade's oil boom gave a jump start to a new crop of commercial Islamic banks, particularly in the Persian Gulf states. By the 80s, Pakistan, Sudan, and Iran were making efforts to Islamize their entire economies.
In the last decade, the industry has expanded dramatically. Dow Jones now offers an Islamic index for tracking halal businesses. Networks are growing among the religious scholars who sit on the banks' regulatory boards. The sharia-compliant line of financial instruments continues to grow, each known by its Arabic name: takaful insurance and sukuk bonds are already feeding the construction boom in the Gulf states. Islamic banks are opening across the Muslim diaspora, in places like London and Pasadena, California. Even big conventional banks are feeling the Islamic fever. Citicorp, Deutsche Bank, and HSBC have all opened Sharia-compliant subsidiaries. Recently, the British government has announced plans to issue sukuks of its own.
Meanwhile, governments that fear the power of Islamist movements, such as Egypt and Tunisia, have been reluctant to put their support behind the industry. There are some loose connections to radicalism. Sayyid Qutb, a hero of Osama bin Laden's, was an early advocate. In Iraq, Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, the father-in-law of Muqtada, made important theoretical contributions on the Shia side of the movement. The fledgling Islamic banks in the United States have come under increasing official scrutiny since 9/11. But aside from the cadre of vigilantes whose sense of purpose depends on seeing a never-ending "Islamofacist" threat, observers agree that there's no credible link between these banks and Al Qaeda-type bad guys. Read the founding theorists of Islamic economics, in fact, and you'll find a decidedly pacifist tone.

A golden age, in theory
From the view of Islamic law, writes Umar Chapra, a leading economist in Saudi Arabia, "while economic growth is essential, it is not sufficient for attaining real human well-being." Rather, we depend on "spiritual health at the core of human consciousness, and justice and fair play at all levels of human interaction." Much more than a business model for specialty banks, he and many others believe that Islamic economics offers a much wider vision.
The conventional view of the homo economicus-super-rational, selfish utility maximizer-dehumanizes people, denying the divine stamp on our nature. A truly Islamic economic theory, they believe, should restructure consumer preferences, ensuring that basic necessities are plentiful and luxuries come only after everyone is provided for. People should feel motivated to work by knowing that they share equitably in the produce of their labors. Sharia guidelines for inheritance distribute wealth among families in ways that prevents too much accumulation. More than an economics in the usual "dismal science" sense, this is a comprehensive rulebook for playing well with others. It also claims its authority from God.
The theory has something in mind for governments as well. They are responsible for administering the zakat tax, one of the Five Pillars of Islam. Though often translated as "almsgiving," it literally means "that which purifies." Though believers are encouraged to give over and above, the classical jurists developed a system of minimum annual requirements for a person's accumulated wealth. The rate of zakat varies depending on the resources one owns; it can range between 2.5% and 20%. These funds should be directed primarily toward redistributive purposes, to soften the market's burden on the poor. However, they can also be used to fund religious causes, a fact which medieval regimes sometimes used to usurp zakat funds for expansionary warfare. But modern Islamic economists, by and large, discourage military spending wherever possible.
The distribution of charitable giving is one of the many high hopes Islamic economists have for government. There is, in the literature, expectation for a kind of elixir effect. "The question of dishonest practices in the case of zakat is quite unexpected," writes the Pakistani economist M.A. Mannan, "because of zakat's religio-economic character." This, at least, is an impression they share with the Taliban and the ayatollahs: if you make the society religious in name and appearance, it automatically becomes religious in character. With corruption so widespread across the Muslim-majority world, it isn't hard to see the appeal of such a pious panacea.
Islam, the theorists believe, offers a distinct alternative to the other big-picture political economic options, capitalism and communism. By incorporating both markets and redistribution, they see it as the best of both worlds. After the two mega-ideologies spent the Cold War fighting over the allegiances of Muslim countries, the Soviet Union collapsed and now global capitalism is grinding to a halt as well. Islamists suspect that the reason Muslim countries remain impoverished is a fundamental incompatibility between these Western economics systems and the values that Muslim cultures hold dear. Now, perhaps, is the time for a third option to have its chance.
At the very least, suggests Boston University anthropologist Robert Hefner in a recent essay, these theories "provide a fascinating point of entry into the thoughts of Muslim leaders on global capitalism."

Are the fundamentals sound?
The most tangible outgrowths of Islamic economic thought, the banks, tend to be rather quiet about the visionaries' grand ambitions. Their spokespeople sound like bankers anywhere: optimistic, practical, and fond of jargon (in this case, specialized Arabic terms mixed in with the English vocabulary of international finance). By peppering business deals with the language of the Qur'an, the transaction seems to take on the endorsement of a higher power. Preachers play the role of advertisers by exhorting their congregations to purify their savings from interest. "Is 'Islam' merely a sort of brand name attached to products for marketing to a Muslim niche?" asks Bill Maurer in his book, Mutual Life, Limited.
If it is, the brand has its consequences. "In their investing options and the lack of diversification that they have to live with," Samuel Hayes says, Islamic investors "pay a price, no doubt about it." On a large scale, risk-sharing arrangements mean slower growth and, potentially, less short-run security for individual depositors. In one Muslim country, Jordan, the central bank has been reluctant to approve many new Islamic institutions for fear that they might add an unstable element to the bourgeoning financial industry.
The banks that already do exist there have poor reputations. Because of cases like this, most observers doubt that Islamic finance will broaden its appeal beyond the pious. But according to Mohammad Ismaeel, the Director of Global Marketing for HSBC's Islamic arm, this may be changing. He claims that more than half of his bank's customers in the Asian market are non-Muslim Chinese. "They haven't come to us for Islamic reasons," he insists, "but because it is a sound financial product. They've taken it on for those reasons and those reasons only."
In the process of becoming competitive, though, Islamic banks may have lost some of the values they claim to be founded on. The theorists' original hopes for fostering more ethical consumer preferences hasn't taken hold in the banking culture. Bill Maurer, who has studied Islamic banks in South Asia and the United States, says these institutions aren't much different from other banks, despite some conspicuous signs of piety like prayer rooms and conservative clothing. Working at one doesn't mean joining a monastery. "A lot of the time," adds Maurer, "it's the same kind of drudgery and tedium that any old bank employee is dealing with."
Among those in the West who have been following the progress of Islamic finance, Turkish-born Timur Kuran is the most skeptical. "Endeavoring to implement Islamic economics," he writes in his book Islam and Mammon, both bankers and governments inevitably "recognize its unrealism." While the earliest experiments depended on genuine partnerships and risk-sharing, the bulk of today's Islamic transactions use instruments that differ only in name from what a conventional bank offers. In one of the most popular and long-practiced of these, murabaha, the bank buys an item for the client, who then in turn buys it from the bank, along with a premium that cleaves suspiciously close to the conventional interest rate. Religious scholars agree that the transaction is acceptable, even if the bank owns the item for just a millisecond.
Pure in God's eyes, perhaps, but there is nearly no difference in economic terms. Kuran and others have also pointed out that during the medieval period, when the Sharia guidelines for commerce were developed, nothing resembling a modern bank existed. There was no legal provision for such an institution to outlive individual owners, as nowadays a bank of any scale must.
In light of the Islamic sector's competitive disadvantage, and even questionable adherence to its own ideals, Kuran advocates making its target audience more aware of the risks. Potential customers should know, he believes, that "its political importance and symbolic importance is more important than its economic essence." But symbols and politics are never far from the machinations of economy. One need look no farther than the vagaries of investor confidence or the political imperatives that shaped the bailout plan this past fall.

From constraints to creativity
Kuran nevertheless suspects that there is something to learn from the experience of Islamic finance and that the current crisis would be a good time to start. "It may be possible through Islamic banking, or something similar to it," he says, "to reach out to the subprime borrowing population in a safer way, in a way that makes the risks more transparent and allows better risk diversification." With or without the utopian theories, the constraints imposed by interpretations of a bygone religious law have given rise to a laboratory for different ways of doing business. Because of its religiously-obligated client base, Islamic banking remains insulated, in part, from the conformity that competition enforces on the rest of the financial industry.
Maurer agrees, but he doubts that anybody from the Federal Reserve will be calling up the muftis. "What I think will happen," he says, "is that people in the conventional finance world are going to arrive at things that may look more like Islamic banking as it has already been practiced." Advocates of Islamic finance will probably celebrate the change as triumph for their convictions, even if the resemblance is coincidental. "Depending on where you stand, they're right, or not."
Maybe it is time to get the muftis on the phone after all. In the United States, at least, religious leaders and politicians have deferred some of society's most pressing ethical concerns to the wisdom of the market. Calls that the "end of history" lies with neoliberal capitalism are being heard as far as the People's Republic of China. Not without reason, the 20th century's question of why free markets has been replaced, especially in the developing world, with how to get there. But last year's collapse is one more reminder that the market won't be our brother's or our sister's keeper for us.
The shock waves of harm spread through global markets in ways that "love thy neighbor" doesn't seem to equip us for. Now is a good time to tinker with alternatives, and keeping an eye on models that already exist at the fringes of the global economy are a good way to begin. Peculiar conditions give rise to possibilities that couldn't develop on their own in the mainstream. Looking more closely at what Islamic economic thought has to offer, too, opens the door to more of the elusive "dialogue among civilizations" that leaders talk about but rarely do.
"Certainly asking questions about the ethical boundaries of finance is in order," says Ibrahim Warde, a professor of political science at Tufts University. There are any number of ways to think about economy in terms of right and wrong, but the Islamic case is different in an important sense. "Unlike other pockets of ethical finance," he points out, "it does exist in institutions," which are competitive enough to survive and available for study. Warde makes sure to add, "We should not go overboard, though."

Nathan Schneider is a writer who lives in Brooklyn, New York. He holds a master's degree in religious studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a bachelor's in the same subject from Brown University

Islam presents the best practical model of tolerance. It is a baseless fabrication that Islam is not disposed to tolerating people belonging to other creeds, ideologies and religions. The history of Islam offers models of religious tolerance and best treatment of persons belonging to different faiths. Islam certainly claims to be the right religion, but doesn't teach that the persons holding different creeds and different ideas should be eliminated by forte. It aims to create suitable atmosphere for the principle "live and let live." While emphasizing and preaching truth, it stands opposed to eliminate 'untruth' by force or suppression.
Surah Al Kafiroon makes it clear, "To you be your Way, and to me mine." "Let there be no compulsion in religion. " (Surah Al Baqarah, verse 256).
The great authority on the interpretation of Islam, Ibn-e-Kaseer may be cited in support of the view. He said that none should be forced to embrace Islam. The logic in support of Islam is crystal clear; the arguments in its support do not require that anybody should be compelled to adopt Islam. He has expressed the view while explaining the verse from Surah Al Kafiroon. According to Islam blasphemy, infidelity, and paganism are heinous and unpardonable crimes. However, reviling the practices and worship of anything other than Allah has been forbidden. Verse 108 of Surah Al-Inaam makes it clear, "Revile not ye those whom they call upon besides Allah. " Besides infidels Islam advocates co-existence with the Christians and Jews in an atmosphere of peace and tolerance. Several important points have been laid down to ensure that. If those are observed and put into practice, social and religious conflict of every type may be avoided. The most important among them is adoption of agreed and unanimous approach about common issues.
In the. Verse No. 64 of Surah Aal-e-Imran, the Holy Quran states, "O People of the Book! come to common terms as between us and you: that we worship none but Allah; that we associate no partners with Him; that we erect not, from among ourselves, Lords and patrons other than Allah. "Islam equally respects all prophets and messengers of God. Discrimination among them in respect of their being prophet is regarded as blasphemy. Faith requires belief in all those who have preceded our Prophet. Without the acceptance of that faith remains incomplete. Difference and distance among the followers of different religions arises, when one starts differentiating among the leaders of mankind. For sanctity of Faith belief in the unity of prophet hood is necessary.
"The Messenger believeth in what hath been revealed to him from his Lord, as do the men of faith, each one (of them) believeth in Allah, His angels, His books, and His Messengers.
"We make no distinction (they say) between one and another of his Messengers. " (AI Baqarah. verse 285) v Islam has invited attention to another important point, "The concept of unity of mankind"
"O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise (each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most rightenous of you." (Surah Al Hujurat, verse 13)
From the human angle there is no impediment to the treatment of persons belonging to other religions and ideologies in a fair and equitable manner. The Holy Quran guides in the matter. v "Allah forbids you not, with regard to those who fight you not for (your) Faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them: For Allah loveth those who are just. "(Surah Mumtahina, verse 8)
Justice and fair play are pre requisite for a healthy and peaceful society. Disruption of peace is the reaction of terror, injustice and atrocity. In view of that Islam has placed great emphasis on adhering to justice and fair play irrespective of distinction of creed and community. Islam has prohibited partiality in the matter of justice, even if it concerns your blood relation.
“O ye who Believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah. even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: For Allah can best protect both. Follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest ye swerve, and if ye distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily Allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do. " (Surah Al Nisaa, verse 135)
"O ye who Believe! Stand out firmly for Allah, as witnesses to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is next to Piety: and fiar Allah. For Allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do. " (Surah Al Maidah, Verse 8)
According to Islamic ideology all human beings stand equal for respect and kind consideration.
"We have honored the sons of Adam. " (Surah Bani israel, verse 70)
Therefore a human being who is respectable should not be subjected to atrocity and unjust treatment because that is disrespect and dishonor to him. The Prophet (pubh) declared that the protest of the victim of atrocity, irrespective of his creed and religion has the prospect of being heard by Allah. Discrimination among human beings is against humanitarian considerations.
According to Imam Mohammad when there was famine in Mecca, the Prophet (Pbuh) sent goods for their relief, although he knew that the people of Mecca were not Muslims. (AI Sharh-ul-sair-I-Kabeer, Part I, pp144)
According to Shariah, the Prophet (Pbuh) has urged the help of neighbors. It is not necessary that the neighbor be a Muslim. It is enough that he is neighbor. The Islamic State assures the security of life and property. It also guarantees religious, economic, commercial and educational freedom for Non-Muslim subjects. Islamic Shariah does not permit discrimination between Muslim and Non-Muslim in the matters of security of life and property. According to Imam Abu Yusuf, harassing a Non-Muslim of Islamic State invites Divine Wrath. (Kitab-ul-Khiraj, pp125)
If a Muslim borrows money from a Non-Muslim subject of an Islamic State, and does not pay back, the Qazi may imprison him till he returns the amount. It is the obligation of an Islamic State that it should redress the grievances and sufferings of its Non-Muslim subjects. Speaking against them also is prohibited.
According to Allama Shami, oppression of Non-Muslim subjects is a grave and serious crime.
(For details please refer to Durre Mukhtar ma-al-Shami Volume III pp344 t0346)
If the Non-Muslims subjects of an Islamic State are poor and needy, they should be supported and helped from the funds of Islamic Bait-ul-Mal. (Kitab-ul-Khiraj pp144) v Under the regime of Hazrat Umar a treaty was executed with the people of Quds that provided for security of life and property as well as protection of the church, the cross and other religious symbols. Assurance was given that there shall be no interference in the affairs of the Church. The churches will not be demolished or desecrated, the cross shall not be taken away or the funds seized. There shall be no force or compulsion in the affairs of religion. Nobody shall be harassed. (Tarikh-e-Tabari, Part IlL pp 609)
The treaty executed by Hazrat Khalid bin Valeed with the people of Aanaat, provided for the freedom to ring bells any time throughout day or night whenever they liked and move about with the crosses during their festivities. (Kitab-ul-Khiraj, Imam Yusuf. pp146)
The authorities of Islamic jurisprudence have discussed in detail, the commercial freedom of Non-Muslim citizens under Islamic regime. Only trade in liquor is forbidden because it leads to disorder in society. Excluding that they have complete freedom to carry on any other trade or industry. That totally refutes the allegation that Islam or Muslims do not believe in co-existence with Non-Muslims, or under Islam there is no scope of tolerance of persons professing other religions. The false propaganda, carrying such series of al¬legations is regrettable and is based on ignorance of facts.

By: James Kan

As a Catholic, I was led to believe that Catholicism was the only true religion, and that Judaism was only a preparation for Christianity. Hence the other religions were all false. In fact, I only heard about Islâm for the first time in 1978. I had learned that Muslims believed in the divine origin of Christianity and Judaism.
The Qur’ân indicates that Allâh (the proper name for God in the Arabic language) had sent prophets to every land in order to guide people to the path of truth and righteousness.
In order to carve the Christian message into the depths of my subconscious, the Catholic Church designed a program which, when applied from childhood, had a very high probability of retention. This program affected people’s beliefs and their behavior for the rest of their lives. In this scheme, the central figure is Jesus and the rites are mostly related to events surrounding his birth, supposed death and resurrection; from his birth, assumed to be in December, to his alleged crucifixion on Easter.
These religious rites were introduced by human beings many centuries after Jesus’ departure rather than by Divine Revelation.
According to tradition in Venezuela, at midnight on December 24th I used to wait for the arrival of Jesus to bring the gifts that I had requested in my yearly wish letter. Being from a poor family, and having several brothers and sisters, I understood that it was very difficult for “Child Jesus” to bring me what I had asked for.
But I was often confused and puzzled because if Jesus had performed so many miracles as I had learned from nuns and priests, why was he not able to bring me a tricycle? Wasn’t that request easier for Him than bringing dead people back to life? Thus, for several years, the concept of “Child Jesus” left me disappointed.
As Easter was approaching, I used to watch televised stories of how Jesus was abused until he was hung on a cross to be crucified. I really wanted to climb inside the TV set and help him somehow.
I asked God to help him, and asked Him not to let His ‘son’ be crucified. In the end, I would hide and cry because I was taught that “men do not cry.” I could not understand why such brutality was inflicted on such a good man. As a child, this incident cultivated in me an intense love for this great prophet of God. As for other children, perhaps the toys they received on Christmas – as an answer to their wish letters – was the cause of their affection towards Jesus.