Islamic Finance and the Possibility of Rebirth

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“What is at the core of the philosophy of Islamic Finance is the idea of money [as] a measure of value, and not a real asset in itself. According to the principles of Islamic Finance, profiting from money–including charging interest on loans–is regarded as riba, or non-permissible investing activity under Sharia law.

Instead, what Islamic Finance emphasizes is the idea that the investors should share the risks involved in whatever projects they are investing in, and that they should be investing in real things, whether it’s land improvement projects, housing, or helping start up a new business.

This represents a glaring difference from daily activities of investment firms in the West, who get huge returns by hacking variations in currency exchange rates, legally manipulating stock prices, and engaging in the kind of risk-spreading and avoiding activities (through an ever-increasing range of derivatives) that have created the huge mess we’re in now.”

Islamic Finance and the Possibility of Rebirth