Banking on Sharia Principles - Islamic Banking and the Financial Industry

By Linda Eagle

There are an estimated 1.61 billion Muslims worldwide, making Islamic banking one of the fastest growing segments of the financial industry. Banks serving the Islamic population must comply with several very specific principles of Islamic law if they hope to retain existing customers and attract new ones. Banks must be ready with specialized products and services and they must put programs in place to train their personnel to support these products and services in order to exist in this competitive marketplace.
The basic principle of Islamic banking follows the laws of Sharia, known as Fiqh al-Muamalat (Islamic rules on transaction). The term "Islamic banking" is synonymous with "full-reserve banking" and "Sharia-compliant banking." The most prominent feature of these laws is usury - the prohibition of paying or collecting interest on funds. The Islamic terminology for this is riba or ribaa. The Sharia also forbids engagement in investments that include financial unknowns such as buying and selling futures, as well as businesses that are haraam - dealing in products that are contrary to Islamic law and values such as alcohol, pork, gossip or pornography. These principles apply to all individuals, companies and governments.
Banks that comply with Islamic law are forbidden to charge interest or late payment fees, which is also considered a type of riba. To minimize risk, banks will often require a large down payment on goods and property, or insist upon large collateral. It is lawful for the Bank to charge a higher price for a good if payments are deferred or collected at a later date since it is considered a trade for goods rather than collecting interest. Sharia-complaint banking products include Mudharabah (profit sharing), Wadiah (safekeeping), Musharakah (joint venture), Murabahah (cost plus) and Ijarah (leasing). Another way that banks work within Islamic laws while trying to turn a profit is by buying an item that the customer wants, and then selling the item to the customer at a higher price.
The Mudharabah is a partnership between an entrepreneur and the bank. The bank is known as the rabal-maal and the entrepreneur as the mudarib. The bank provides all of the necessary capital to start a business and the entrepreneur does the work of managing the business. Profits are split at an agreed ratio until the initial funds of the rabal-maal are paid off. The rabal-maal is also compensated with additional funds based on the profits of the business in terms previously agreed on. In the event that the business folds, the rabal-maal shoulders the cost and the mudarib is not compensated.
Musharakah is similar to Mudharabah, in which an entrepreneur seeks funds for a business venture and pays the bank back with a ratio of profits. However, there are often more than two parties who contribute funds and become partners who can influence the business depending on the amount of money invested. The entrepreneur also contributes funds and shares in the risk. Any loss is proportional to the amount of capital invested in the business.
Wadiah is a system in which a person deposits money into a bank and receives a "gift" from the bank. The bank is the keeper of the funds and will refund the entire amount at the demand of the depositor. The bank rewards the amount of time the depositor keeps the money in the bank with a hibah or gift, which is not guaranteed. The hibah is similar to interest, but lawful according the Islamic law.
Murabaha governs the issuing of home loans or any other type of goods needed by a borrower. An Islamic bank does not lend money to a borrower to buy properties; rather, the bank will purchase the property at the borrower's request at a freely disclosed price, and mark up the price for the borrower to pay back, therefore making a profit from the investment. The borrower is named on the title and allowed to utilize the property immediately and pays the bank back in installments.
Another type of loan is the Ijara, in which the bank buys the home or item and leases the property to the borrower while retaining ownership of the property. The borrower can either use the property for a pre-determined period of time, or pay off the purchase price and buy out the Bank to attain full ownership of the property.
There are occasionally controversies surrounding the interpretation of the riba, which certain scholars argue was meant to prevent petty money-lenders from abusing borrowers, rather than a modern bank charging a reasonable, agreed upon interest. The general consensus, however, is that any interest is a direct violation of the law of Sharia and therefore unethical.
While each Islamic bank has its own board which rules on ethical banking principals, Islamic banking organizations have been establishing standard regulations and policies. The Islamic Development Bank has been working on international standards, policies and procedures, and the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), Islamic Finance Service Board (IFSB), International Islamic Financial Market, Liquidity Management Center and International Islamic Rating Agency are in development to ensure accurate and fair banking practices.
Today, Islamic financial institutions exist worldwide, participating in the $180 billion/day industry. In 1975 there was one Islamic bank; today there are over 300 in more than 75 countries. Islamic banks have become more prevalent worldwide and can be found in high numbers in such countries as Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Sudan, Algeria, Morocco, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria and Kazakhstan. The total amount of deposits in Islamic institutions, balance sheets, assets under management and private wealth are growing at a rate of 25-40% annually.
Because oil prices and liquidity are expected to stay at the same levels throughout 2007, budget surpluses will remain high, pushing both public and private sectors to be involved with the Islamic market. Many Islamic countries are investing in large infrastructure projects, creating more than a trillion dollars in investments. There is also a huge potential customer base. According to Standard and Poor's surveys, 20% of the customers in the Gulf Area and Southeast Asia would choose an Islamic banking product over a similar conventional product. There are significant middle-class urban and suburban populations that already use conventional banking, and therefore present ripe opportunities for Islamic banks. Most important to note, outside of the religious and political allure of Islamic banks, is that people are choosing their services for the safeties they offer. The evidence is clear: Islamic banking is big business and it is growing every day.
However, in order for Islamic banks to be competitive with conventional products and attractive to customers, Islamic financial products must meet the risk/reward profiles of investors and issuers while fulfilling the tenets of the Sharia and remaining sufficiently cost-effective. Additionally, Islamic banks must educate their personnel to understand the tenets of Islamic law that pertain to banking, and to train them to comply with Sharia as they serve their Islamic customer population
Dr. Linda Eagle is Founder & President of The Edcomm Group Banker's Academy-a 22-year-old education and consulting firm dedicated to serving Banks, Credit Unions, Money Services Businesses (MSBs) and all areas of the Global Financial Community with thousands of generic and customized training programs in areas such as BSA/AML, Regulatory Compliance, Teller Training, Systems Training, Sales and Service Training, and many more.
The Edcomm Group Banker's Academy is headquartered in New York, NY. For more information, email linda.eagle@edcomm.com or call +1.212.631.9400.
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Hijab - Islam & the West

By Mehran Niazi

There is no uniform approach to terminology for Islamic dress. HIJAB is an Arabic word, originally referring to a curtain or partition, which later came to refer to Islamic dress in general, but is now commonly metonymically reduced to the headscarf.
In the recent years, Islamic dress has been emerged as abiding sites of the contention in the relationship between Muslim communities and the State. Specifically, the wearing of Islamic headscarves by women in public places has raised questions about secularism, women's rights and national identity. It has always been seen by the Western feminist as oppressive and as a symbol of a Muslim woman's subservience to men. As a result, it often comes as a surprise to Western feminists that the veil has become increasingly common in the Muslim world and is often worn proudly by college girls as a symbol of an Islamic identity, freeing them symbolically from neo-colonial Western cultural imperialism and domination. For well over two decades, Muslim women have been positioned in the Australian popular media in opposition to the values of liberal democracy and the feminist agenda. Muslim women, as if the act of "unveiling" will somehow bestow the "equality" and "freedoms" that Western women enjoy. While 'HIJAB debates' occur in various guises in France, the Netherlands, Germany, the UK and elsewhere, questions of gender, race and religion have a particular pertinence in Australia, where a combination of recent events has generated unprecedented public and scholarly attention on sexual violence, 'Masculinist protection', and ideas of the nation. It was against this historical backdrop that the Australian popular media developed an interest in the HIJAB-the traditional veil worn by some Muslim women. The first Gulf War in 1991 marked the beginning of the veiled symbolism in the Australian popular media.
Recently FIFA said in a letter to the Iranian Football Federation that the Iranian women's team is not allowed to participate in the games in Singapore while wearing HIJAB, or head scarves.

FIFA says on its website that "the player's equipment must not carry any political, religious, or personal statements," and that "all items of clothing or equipment other than the basic must be inspected by the referee and determined not to be dangerous."
In 2007, an 11-year-old girl was not allowed to play in soccer game in Canada because she was wearing the HIJAB. The Quebec Soccer Association said the ban on the HIJAB is to protect children from being accidentally strangled. The secretary-general of Iran's National Olympic Committee has called on Muslim countries to protest the world soccer body's ban on head scarves for women during the Youth Olympic Games this summer.
On March 14, 2004, the French legislative council voted the ban on "religious symbols" in public schools. This uncommon law, which mainly targets Muslim young girls, was widely supported in France. After four years of the enactment of the law, one can hardly measure its consequences among the French Muslims. People still observe the case without real understanding.The French Muslims failed to build a unanimous strategy toward the crisis of hijab. They failed to make their voices heard through the media. The normal outcome was that their management of the crisis proved to be ineffective. Now, after four years of the enactment of the anti-hijab law, the situation appears to be the same.
The western media does not show the countless western women who have reverted to Islam, adopted the HIJAB, and are happy with it. Born, raised and educated in the west, they experienced freedom and spent life as they wanted. Then they studied Islam and reverted. What did Islam give them that they were missing? It filled the vacuum in their souls.
Should we listen to the western media or the western women who accept Islam after experiencing the so called freedom?
West think that the belt of freedom is held by them. NO. Islam is first to gave freedom to women. Islam gives women right to vote 1400 years ago, in America it is given in early 1900. Islam gives the right of property inheritance 1400 years ago, but in America laws for the inheritance are were rewritten in 1950's to give right of inheritance to women. How bad the status of women in west? We have given the rights 1400 years ago that the women of west dreams until this generation. It's amazing.
State has to make laws and we obey them, but they don't have the right to tell us what to wear and how to wear, this is our freedom. Veiling is not against west, veiling is against imperialism. There is a difference between west and imperialism. West is a culture and it's like a civilization just like any other culture or civilization. Imperialism is that when west tries to tell the world that we are the standard and everybody is ethnic. No, the west is as ethnic as Arab culture. HIJAB, scarf and covering body is also in other religions. Christianity also shows strength to wear it. Merry in the church wears scarf. Also in Hinduism ladies cover their body. If the nuns can wear the scarf then why the Muslim women is banned of wearing HIJAB?

We must show uniformity in our religion and culture. HIJAB is a mean source of perfection and achieving our goals. HIJAB is a choice for the women not a compulsion or oppression. It is on the will of the women not the by the enforcement of men. It's all by faith. It's what we are so there is no shame or hindrance to wear it. Covering is a sign of purity and dignity. A woman is not a sex object that she is turned out to be in the west. She is not an object of lust for every stranger. Just look at how the west treats women. Porn industries are thriving, filthy DVDs are sold everywhere, magazines of semi-nude women decorate even grocery stores, filthy magazines are sold even in corner stores, strip clubs are in abundance, and I can go on and on.

The west has left no stone unturned in shattering the dignity of a woman, and then they are ready to give lectures to others on how to treat women with dignity.
In your opinion, will the ban on hijab at French schools remain the same? How do you see the future of Muslims in France? How can they withstand the challenges they face in the French society?
Finally, why is the west so scared of the HIJAB? Is it a threat to their beauty and fashion industries or to their religion?
original link to article
[http://www.pakcolours.com/blog/hijab-islam-west/]
Writeen By
Mehran Hassan Khan Niazi
pakcolours@gmail.com
+92 332-7653132

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Turkey - A Bridge Between Islam and the West

By David Belle

After some time reviewing the Honduran constitutional crisis, I have decided to examine another example of a country where the constitution has generated controversy: Turkey. Although I believe Turkey has proven to be a success in bridging Islam and the West, I want to be clear that Turkey is not a country without its faults. Its refusal to accept responsibility for the Armenian genocide during World War 1 is deplorable. Also, Turkey's suppression and attempted forced assimilation of its Kurdish citizens and their culture is inexcusable.

Notwithstanding these two issues, Turkey represents an Islamic country that is a modern secular democracy, fully inclusive of woman's political rights. This country's secular constitution was instituted in the 1920s and 1930s by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of Turkey's republic from the remnants of the Ottoman Empire. Atatürk is the father of this nation and his legacy is still in full force today.

Turkey is integrated with the west being a member of such organization as NATO, the G20 and the OECD. Turkey is also in negotiations to become a full member of the EU. The country is a parliamentary representative democracy with three branches of government including, executive, legislative and independent judiciary. Turkey has good relations with the West, and is now also reaching out to other regions of the world. One interesting fact that differentiates this country from most of the Islamic world is its relationship with Israel. Turkey was the first Muslim country to recognize the State of Israel in 1949 and is considered one of Israel's closest allies both militarily and strategically.

A major controversy surrounding the Turkish democracy is the army's involvement in government. The Turkish military has taken on the role of the guardian of secularism and the constitution. The country's current ruling party, the AKP, has been cautiously treading towards a more Islamist stance. In reaction to the AKP's politics, the military issued a statement in 2007 that made it clear it is still a power broker. The statement entailed that the army will be a party in all arguments over secularism and warned they are ready to carry out their duties to protect the characteristics of the Republic. In 2008, the AKP government proposed to lift a ban on wearing headscarfs in universities. This proposal was annulled by the constitutional court and resulted in the AKP receiving a fine. During this deliberation, the constitutional court came within one vote of an all out closure of the AKP.

Although controversial, there are many who claim this deeply instituted secularism and modern approach has resulted in Turkey's economic success, considered both a "developed" country and a regional power. This issue is divisive within the country, with many claiming that the current system of military enforced secularism is anti-democratic. If the country compromises on its secularism, could that be the first step towards a religious state? If so, is the current alternative not preferable to a model such as the theocracy in Iran? At least under the current model democracy and personal freedom exist as long as religious based laws are not changed or instituted? On a relative basis, even with its issues, is the Turkish system not preferable to many others in the middle east? My hope is these questions fuel constructive dialog around the search to improve coexistence among nations and religions of this world.

David Belle

For more information and analysis on world affairs, please visit: http://www.worldaffairsguy.com

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Muslim Marriage - A Relationship Which Symbolizes Islam and Love

By Ruben Adams

Muslim marriage as in other faiths is a sacred institution. It is a moral contract binding between a Muslim man and a Muslim woman. Muslim marriages are performed according to the laws of the Islamic Shariah. Islamic marriages are generally arranged marriages by the parents. The proposal for marriage is made by the girl's parents to the guy and once with the acceptance from both the sides the ceremony of engagement is made which is further followed by the marriage. The Islamic marriage is solemnized by a priest who takes the consent of both the bride and the groom for the marriage. The bride and the groom's consent is followed by signing of the marriage proposal by the bride, the groom and the witnesses. The Koran or the holy book is placed between them and they are made to see each other through a mirror. The Islamic marriage ceremony is celebrated with the distribution of dates and sweets and with a grand feast. In an Islamic marriage premarital intimacy is strictly not permitted. According to the religion of Islam a Muslim marriage is the foundation upon which an Islamic society is built.
Muslim marriage is characterized by offering of the dowry by a Muslim man to his spouse. The main purpose is to safeguard the economic status of the Muslim women in case of any unto do incidents. The dowry or the mahr can be paid before or after the marriage and with the failure of the payment of dowry the Muslim marriage becomes invalidated. The Muslim marriages insist on the husband supporting his spouse financially and therefore it is the duty of the husband to support and protect his wife. The Muslim marriage rules also insist that the husband should make sure that both his wife and children have access to the religious Islamic materials.
One major difference between Islam and other religion is the practice of polygamy, the Muslim men are allowed to marry up to four wives as long as he can support and protect them. Muslim women however are not allowed to marry more than one man. The religion of Islam does not permit homosexuality. It allows the marriage of a Muslim man to a Jewish or a Christian woman. Though the Islamic law permit's the marriage of Christian or a Jewish woman to a Muslim male it does not permit them to have the inheritance of their spouse unless it is conferred by the Muslim man on their Jewish or Christian spouses.
Islamic religion lays down strict marriage regulations as marriage and family are the building blocks of Islamic society. The moral contract between the husband and wife in Islam is bound by certain rules and regulations. Islam clearly defines the role of a husband in a family as well as that of a wife's duty. It is the healthy family life which would form the basis of healthy off springs. This further would lead to the growth of a strong Islamic society. The ultimate aim being the growth of the religion with staunch followers of Islam and Muslim marriage is a really a formatted institution.
A Muslim marriage [http://www.muslim-marriages.net/muslim-marriage/] is a bond that binds a Muslim man and woman together in matrimony for the rest of the woman's life.

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Bollywood After 9/11 - The Depiction of Islam and the West in Indian Cinema

By Robert W Rintoull

Since the dramatic events of 9/11, Bollywood cinema has shown an unusual interest in the terrorist film genre, especially as regards to international terrorism and global tensions between Islam and the West. Striking examples of this genre include Kabir Khan's New York (2008), Karan Johar's My Name is Khan (2010), Rensil D'Silva's Kurbaan (2009) and Apoorva Lakhia's Mission Istanbul, to name a few. Films like Anil Sharma's Ab Tumhare Hawale Watam Sathiyo (2004) and Subhash Ghai's Black and White (2008) focus on terrorist issues within the Indian subcontinent itself. The latter films have continued in the tradition of pre 9/11 terrorist films like Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Mission Kashmir (2000), Mani Ratnam's Dil Se (1998) and Bombay (1995). Ratnam's Bombay dealt with the devastating Hindu and Moslem riots in 1991, which cost over a 1000 lives. Chopra's Mission Kashmir dealt with a scenario of local terrorist activity in the Kashmir region sponsored by international terrorist cells working from Afghanistan. In this way the terrorist genre is not an entirely new genre in Bollywood, nor is terrorism an unfamiliar phenomenon in the day to day activities of the Indian subcontinent (the most recent and brutal terrorist attack was the Mumbai massacre in 2008). What makes the recent spate of terrorist films interesting is that they have entered the global sphere and have become part and parcel of a transnational dialogue between East and West and Islam and the other.

To make the terrorist genre more palatable, Bollywood has traditionally spiced up the violence and suspense with the hallmark Bollywood song and dance interludes and sentimental romantic exchanges between the hero and heroine. Mission Kashmir is notorious for its graceful dances and stirring emotional exchanges between the main protagonists, played out on the violent backdrop of terrorism in Kashmir. Mani Ratnam's Bombay likewise mixes up the most brutal scenes of Hindu and Moslem hatred and violence with delicious comedy and a forbidden love affair between a pious Moslem girl and a boy from a highly placed Shaivite Hindu family. His father is the trustee of the village temple and both the family patriarchs are violently opposed to the children marrying outside their caste and religious community.

Karan Johar's My Name is Khan

Following in the Bollywood tradition of mixing genres (known in the industry as the masala or spicy recipe film), Karan Johar's My Name is Khan blends comedy and romance with the political hot potato of post 9/11 bigotry and racial hatred in the US. The film's theme of ultra-nationalist extremism culminates in the senseless killing of a young Indian boy Sam or Sameer, who is beaten to death by youths in the football ground, in part due to the adopting of his stepfather's name Khan. Overflowing gushes of emotion and heart stirring romantic songs, such as the mixing of the 1960's counter culture anthem "We Shall Overcome" (sung in both Hindi and English), occur throughout the film to both lighten the tension and to exemplify the presence of light and hope in a world darkened by the bitter shadow of global terrorism. The fact that the central protagonist Rizvan Khan is a pious Moslem, and politically neutral to the hysteria of the debate, is significant. Brought up by his mother that there are no fixed labels such as Hindu and Moslem, but only good and bad people, Rizvan Khan freely practises his religion with equal love and respect for all other races and creeds, only differentiating between what is in the hearts and minds of people, not to what religion they profess, or to what race, culture and nationality they belong.

My Name is Khan is also significant for Bollywood fans in that it reunites the biggest heart throb couple of Hindi cinema from previous decades, Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan. The duo was previously paired in two of Karan Johar's earlier blockbusters Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1995) and Kabhi Kushi Kabhie Gham (2001). Both of these films were sentimental gushy romances, literally overflowing with juicy outpourings of emotion and feeling; a phenomenon which is termed rasa in India. The song and dance sequences were also very elaborately staged and combined a balance of the traditional Indian music and dance forms (Hindustani music and traditional folk dances) as well as modern Western forms. This ensured the films' immense popularity in both India and diaspora countries like Canada, the US and the UK.

Karan Johar continues to utilise the Bollywood masala formula in My Name is Khan, exploiting a sentimental and occasionally drawn out love affair between the autistic hero Rizvan Khan and his eventual Hindu wife Mandira, a proprietor of a successful hair dressing salon in San Francisco (the "city of love" which symbolizes the 1960s counter culture movement exploited by Johar in the "We Shall Overcome" sequence). In the preliminary scenes of the film, America is portrayed as the land of freedom and opportunity, the nation where all races and religions are given the possibility to move forward and achieve prosperity and happiness in a way that is seen to be almost impossible in a country like traditional India, buffeted as it is with caste and religious prejudices and between half and two thirds of its population living in poverty.

For foreign nationals or NRI's (non-resident Indians), however, 9/11 radically changes this formula and shatters the American dream nurtured for decades by an Indian diaspora which has merged its Indian cultural roots with American ideals of individual freedom and consumer prosperity. According to Johar's film, this is now the plight of the Khans who, instead of continuing to act as fully integrated members of the mainstream community, now suddenly find themselves on the periphery of a post-9/11"us and them" rhetoric, fuelled by an ultra-nationalist Republican President, who perceives the world in black and white realities, which have little to do with the everyday lives of the average individual. It is no coincidence that it is the newly elected President Barack Obama (played by his look alike Christopher B. Duncan) who greets Rizvan Khan at the end of the movie and applauds him for his faith in God and his humanity and perseverance. For Karan Johar, Obama's election is symbolic of the "us and them" divisions in the US psyche being brought to a close along with the restoration of the innate ideals for which the American Republic and its people stand.

Before the nation's divisions are healed, however, the Khan's experience extreme personal hardships due to their ethnicity. These hardships culminate in the tragic death of their teenage son Sameer, beaten to death in the school playing field by racist youths. In her grief, Sameer's mother Mandira blames her husband Rizvan, accusing him of the fact that if she and her son had not taken the name of Khan, he would not be dead. She then tells him that the only way he can atone for this stigma of being a Khan and, by implication a Moslem, is to meet the US President (at the time it is George W. Bush) and to tell him that: "My Name is Khan and I am not a Terrorist." This simple phrase becomes a kind of mantra throughout the film, powerfully confronting the viewer's post-9/11 prejudices by refusing to link the two concepts of Islam and terrorism together: i.e. my name is Khan, therefore I am a Moslem, but at the same time just because I am a Moslem, does this mean that I am a terrorist? Unhappily, during the hysteria that followed in the wake of 9/11 for many Westerners the two terms, Moslem and terrorist became pretty much synonymous.

This is a film therefore which, unlike its predecessors, is not only aimed at instructing Indians and West Asians (it broke all records in Pakistan), but is also aimed at educating and enlightening Westerners. This it does in a very subtle and didactic way, not only through its exploitation of familiar West Asian icons, but also through its exploration of themes and images universal to the US and the West: the 1960s counter culture, the plight of the coloured people in the South and references to the civil rights movement via the film's theme song "We Shall Overcome." This famous anti-establishment song from 1960s when sung in Hindi by a devout Moslem in a black gospel church gives the audience an almost surreal feeling of both merging and, at the same time transcending, national, racial and socio-religious cultural borders: a path to world brotherhood and unity which has been courageously expounded by two of the twentieth century's great spiritual leaders, India's Mahatma Gandhi and America's Martin Luther King.

Karan Johar thus draws upon both the Western ideals of liberty and individualism, as well as propounding the roots of West Asian religious piety and communal solidarity. By doing this My Name is Khan proposes an alternate model of global brotherhood and transnational identities and exchanges. This new global model for Johar is one which draws its inspiration and ideals from the grass roots level- from the poor coloureds of Georgia, from the socially ostracised Moslems, and from the autistic and mentally handicapped. All of them are an integral part of this global humanity and in the end the figure of Shah Rukh Khan, the biggest megastar in the global forum today (including Hollywood), speaks for all of them, when he says my name is Khan and I am not a terrorist, not an outcaste and not a threat to the US or the essential values which it seeks to export to the rest of the world. Rather, as pious Moslems, those like Rizvan Khan have something of value to contribute to the US and the West, and when those in power allow them to do so, the essential values which have made the US great can not only be maintained but increased and broadened. On the other hand, ultranationalist extremist practises will only create more and more hatred and division, so that even those who have assimilated the American Dream will grow to become its most sworn enemies. This is the main theme of Kabir Khan's New York, which I will briefly discuss in part two of this article.

Kabir Khan's New York

Although not as successful at the box office as Karan Johar's blockbuster, Kabir Khan's New York is perhaps an even more interesting example of the transnational trend in the Bollywood terrorist genre. Released in 2008, New York focuses on the lives of three trendy young Indians studying at New York State University together. The usual Bollywood masala romance dominates the first half of the film, focusing on a sentimental love triangle between Maya (Katrina Kaif), Sameer or Sam (John Abrahams) and Omar (Neil Mukesh). Both Katrina Kaif and John Abrahams, as well as Irrfan Khan (playing the FBi agent Roshan) are well established stars in Bollywood (Irrfan Khan also starred as the policeman who interrogates the main protagonist in Slumdog Millionaire). And the presence of these stars, along with the solid musical score and the dramatic love triangle scenario, assured the film's success despite its controversial theme. Significantly, Sam and Maya fall in love and shatter Omar's emotional world at around the same time as the two hijacked passenger planes are driven into the Twin Towers. As with My Name is Khan, actual footage of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre is utilised in the film.

From this point onwards, a film which has been mostly centred upon a sentimental love conflict between three friends now becomes a political indictment of the Bush administration's post-9/11 terrorist policies. Sam, as part of the FBI's nationwide hunt for terror suspects, is arrested, incarcerated and tortured. These tortures are graphically depicted in the film and are apparently based on true life accounts of innocent victims, who have been illegally arrested and incarcerated for no other reason than their having the wrong ethnic background and religious persuasion. During the final credits a grim note to this effect informs the viewers of the facts that: "In the days following 9/11 more than 1200 men of foreign origin in the US were illegally abducted, detained and tortured for as long as 3 years. The government did not find evidence linking a single one of them to the 9/11 attack...."

The central protagonist Sam or Sameer functions as a prototype for these 1200 men. Indeed, from being a totally assimilated American before his torture and arrest, Sam now becomes a Moslem Jihadi, fusing his hatred for the United States with that of terrorist cells in Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Middle East. His old friend Omar is recruited by the FBI to spy on Sameer and his Hindu wife Maya and to crack open Sameer's links to international terrorist cells. Omar is coerced into betraying his friends at the threat of disappearing into the FBI's custody and being tortured for months on end as Sameer had been. In this way, even if the film does not actively promote Jihad as a fundamental tenet of Islam, it does portray a sympathetic psychological profile of the terrorist mind-set. Sameer's friend Omar eventually understands this also when he is given Sam's story and the barbaric nature of the ordeals he has had to endure and which have caused him to become an international terrorist.

Unlike Rizvan Khan, who has no qualms about informing the FBI about the fanatic Doctor Faisal's terrorist plot in My Name is Khan, New York's Omar is torn between his sympathies for his friend Sam/Sameer and the US system of liberty and justice, which he sees as being seriously undermined by George Bush's invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan and his repressive domestic policies in the US, where under the Patriot Act fundamental individual rights and liberties of American citizens are apparently violated for no other reason than that they are of another ethnicity, culture and religious persuasion than the mainstream white majority. Omar, as the voice of reason and sensibility in New York, also represents the neutral observer, who is both within the system (he is educated at New York State University) and is outside it (he is an NRI national from Delhi living in the US). He has also been in love with Sam's wife Maya but has tried to detach himself from these feelings, indeed from feeling anything at all. As such his decision to infiltrate his friend's terrorist group and take part in its Jihad is significant. Omar is an "undecideable"; he is unsure of his identity, unsure of his ideals and his loyalties. Eventually, he betrays Sam and his group and communicates Sam's plan to blow up the FBI headquarters to the FBI agent Roshan and the relevant authorities.

Despite promises from Roshan and the FBI executive heads, both Sameer and Maya are shot dead by FBI snipers during negotiations for Sameer's surrender. According to Kabir Khan's controversial film, this kind of FBI brutality and overkill is symptomatic of the new post-9/11 ultra-nationalist America which, in its unrelenting quest to punish the guilty, also leaves in its wake the bloodied corpses of the innocent: not just Maya, but arguably also Sam himself. This is a theme which has been taken up courageously and sometimes uncompromisingly by Hindi cinema.

Another powerful example of this uncompromising condemnation of post-9/11America occurs in Rensil D'Silva's Kurbaan. Here, in an open discussion university forum, the main protagonist Riyaaz condemns US intervention in Afgahanistan and Iraq, claiming that the world's biggest terrorists are the white super powers. Riyaaz informs the ethnic white students present about certain uncomfortable realities in US politics, such as the fact that the Taliban was a creation of the CIA and that more than 500,000 civilians were killed in Iraq. Much to the horror and consternation of the students present, Riyaaz concludes his speech by saying that "just because you wear a suit and call yourself President does not make you any less a terrorist." This is pretty bold stuff and seems to be reflective of the growing dissatisfaction of certain Bollywood filmmakers towards a period in history where the West appeared to go totally wrong taking the downward path from humanitarian ideals of universal equality and democracy to policies of religious bigotry and totalitarianism.

Interestingly, although these themes have also been taken up by Hollywood, in films such as James Cameron's Avatar, they have been depicted in a less direct way. In Avatar, for example, the" shock and awe campaign" unleashed upon the indigenous inhabitants of the planet Pandora (clearly a reference to Bush's shock and awe campaign against Iraq), occurs in the context of an ingenious fantasy universe, where the brutality of corporate capitalism and US neo-imperialist policies is downplayed in that it not only happens in the safety of another continent, as with Iraq and Afghanistan, but occurs on another planet entirely!

The new Bollywood terrorist genre is therefore a more uncompromising and indeed disturbing contribution to the global debate than films like Avatar. This is due to the fact that West Asian directors depict terrorist activity from the contemporary political standpoint, along with exploring relevant issues connected with the stigmatised cultural and ethnic group, which has been largely denied a voice in this debate ever since the 9/11 event took place. As has traditionally been the case in Indian cinema, the new Bollywood terrorist genre gives the Moslem minorities a voice, telling their story from the inside, making them subject and not object and narrating the plot from the perspective of their culture, religion and community base. In My Name is Khan, for example, Rizvan's sister in law Hasina is persuaded to remove her hijab (head scarf) after being attacked and having it forcibly removed by an unknown assailant. Eventually, she restores the hijab to her everyday dress, including her lecturing job at university. Here she says to her students: "M y hijab is not just my religious identity. It is a part of my existence. It is me."

In Rensil D'Silva's Kurbaan, the central protagonist Riyaaz is also instrumental in educating white university students about their preconceptions of Islam as a violent religion and the Koran as a scripture promoting Jihad. Riyaaz flatly informs the students that the word Jihad is in fact mentioned in the Koran only 41 times, but that the term mercy and compassion is mentioned 355 times. In this way, the film's viewers are also informed that Islam is predominantly a religion of compassion and peace and not violence and bloodshed, as right wing vested interest groups have led us to believe in the past decade or so.

It is these perspicacious insights from within the socio-religious roots of West Asian culture which makes Indian cinema, often dismissed in the West as sentimental and trivial, such a profoundly didactic medium from which audiences, especially in the West, can increase their scant knowledge about the psychology behind Hindu and Moslem icons and spiritual practises. In an increasingly global world, where these icons and practises are continually crossing over and clashing with Western standards, this knowledge and awareness is not only relevant to us in the West, it is fundamental to our very existence.

Films like New York and My Name is Khan are an integral part of the teaching of that awareness.

Robert Rintoull

PhD Graduate

Copenhagen University

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Women in Islam

By Natraj Chaturvedi

Women in Islam don't get the same treatment as their western counterparts do and Islam's treatment of women has been a subject of immense controversy of late. Some feel that Islam's treatment of women is not really unfair or even that its the correct way to treat women (I've even heard a Muslim woman say that she wears the Hijab/Burqa to in fact protect men because obviously men are powerless against a woman's beauty) while others agree that Islam does treat women unfairly sometimes even inhumanly but they hold the Koran and the 'fundamentals of Islam' responsible for this. My belief is that yes women are treated unfairly in Islam but the reason for that is not the teachings of the Koran or even brainwashing by the Muslim clergy. It is in fact the conformist and gang mentality that permeates Islamic society today, more on this later. There are several verses in Islam where women are observed as being as lesser creatures than men for example: "men are in charge of women because Allah has made one of them (men) to excel the other (women), thus man's superiority over women... good women are the obedient ones... admonish the rebellious women and banish them, and scourge them (whip them severely to inflict pain) (4:34) OR Your women are your fields, so go into your fields whichever way you like.... (MAS Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford UP, 2004) both of the above passages implying without ambiguity that Men are to be the masters of women and women are to be their slaves meant just for procreation and physical arousal. There are also passages where the Qur'an prescribes punishment for women who have strayed: If you fear highhandedness from your wives, remind them [of the teaching of God], then ignore them when you go to bed, then hit them. If they obey you, you have no right to act against them. God is most high and great. (Haleem, emphasis added).

On a side not, the people who say that these verses don't really say what they seem to say to everybody can be ignored as the Idiots they really are. These are the people who will say such lines as 'Islam is in fact a religion of peace" when clearly it isn't; verses like these amply make obvious this: "Whoever changes his Islamic religion, kill him." (Hadith Al Buhkari vol. 9:57) Or Sura 5:51: OR "O you who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors: they are but friends and protectors to each other. And he among you that turns to them for friendship is of them." This friendship makes any Muslim an enemy of their own and deserving of the same fate as the unbeliever. This is because God does not guide an unjust people." This advises Muslims to be untrustworthy of Christians and Jews and to hate them. I hasten to add it was in fact similar sort of messages coming from the Church back in the day that made a lot of Christians go crusading. But I'll admit Christian society does not seem to be in a mood to go on crusades for a long time the way things are as of today.

Coming back to Islam, what perplexes me is that even though other major religions like Christianity infer lesser status on women, most Christian societies around the world don't dole out an unequal status to women today. In fact there some who joke laws have now become unfair to men and men are the new women.

But why do the western and other societies don't and Islamic societies do treat women unjustly? As this article about Islam's treatment of women points out, why demean women by saying that their testimony is half as worthy as a man's in court? Why does she (the daughter of a Muslim) inherit only half as much as a son? Why does Islam accept polygamy but then not accept polyandry? Why have Muslim Generals in the past sent 15000 rape victims to jail while freeing their rapists saying they ( the women who were raped) provoked the rapes in some way and charging them with fornication? Why have Muslim women been stoned to death for showing their faces? Why are so many Muslim women still kept covered from head to toe day and night? Why do Muslim women have virtually no political rights in half of the Islamic states?

The reason for all this is not the 'wrong interpretation of Islam' as so called Secularists and some Muslims would want us to believe. When billions of people interpret something the same way then there is no doubt as to the meaning of it. No the wrong interpretation of Islam is not the reason. The reason for all of this is simply the dogmatic and fanatic belief in the rhetoric that permeates the religion of Islam. Most people in the world today would laugh if you tried to say to them that when you have to wipe yourself with pebbles (after answering the call of nature) you must make use of an odd number and when you perform ablution you must snuff in his nose water and then clean it OR that the devil resides in your nose while you sleep. This does not mean that we're all Atheists, while many of us are repulsed by aspects of organized religion, we will believe in some form of a higher power that keeps watch over us.

In the case of Muslims however, you are met with militant opposition and threats of death even if you so much as murmur a disagreement with any tenets of Islam and publish it in a book. They react not unlike some college or even jail gangs who like criticism be it from within or from outside. No other society in the world does that. If you take a look at the recent death of Pakistani Politician Salman Taseer who spoke out against the draconian blasphemy laws of Pakistan as per which a Christian woman has been given the death penalty and what followed after his death, you'll see a glimpse of the true reason Muslims still soldier on with their barbaric beliefs of which their treatment to women is no small part. Salman Taseer was killed by one of his bodyguards Malik Mumtaz Qadri who shot him 26 times. What followed the killing was even more tragic, the extremists in Pakistan hailed the assassin as a hero while the so called 'moderate' and 'the elite' sections of society refused to condemn the killing or to speak out against the hailing of Qadri as a hero. This demonstrated the unwillingness and maybe even the incapability of an Islamic society to recognize something as being wrong which by all means is wrong for example, the Blasphemy laws of Pakistan. This is the reason Muslims it seems will never find the will to change their behavior. As I pointed out at the start of this post, most religions do have failings but in the west and even in many eastern religions, people are willing to joke about these things and recognize them as being wrong while in Islamic society anything mildly against Islam or its ways makes you the villain and the whole gang turns against you. Looking at this, it seems that their deplorable treatment to women will continue on for some time.

Submitted by Raj who blogs on Current Affairs and Indian Politics over at Indian Politics Blog.

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The Islamic Economic System

By Liaqat Qazi

Interest-free Islamic economic system is partially followed and partially not followed in Muslim countries around the world. The only country, which has followed this system completely in every minute detail is Malaysia. So the application methods in this post are mostly those implemented in Malaysia following the Interest-free Islamic Economic system.
The main feature of the Islamic economic system is that it is Interest-Free. As the Qur'an says in Sura al-Baqara Chapter 2 Verses 278 & 279, "O ye who believe! fear Allah and give up what remains of your demand for usury if ye are indeed believers. If ye do it not take notice of war from Allah and his Apostle: but if ye turn back ye shall have your capital sums; do not deal unjustly and ye shall not be dealt with unjustly."
Qur'an condemn all evil deeds, but never has the Qur'an warned of a war against God Almighty and His Messenger except in the case of taking Interest and Usury.
There are several evils of the interest based economy, the reason why Islam has prohibited it.
For example, if a person takes a loan from a bank and says the cost price of a certain article is 10 dollars and he wants to a profit of one dollar. So the selling price would include the 10 dollars cost price one dollar profit and one dollar interest and the selling price would be 12 dollars. The selling price would go up because of interest and when the selling price goes up the demand comes down and when the demand comes down the supply comes down and as supply comes down production comes down causing labour problem and unemployment.
There is Social Injustice.
For example, if a person takes a loan from the bank and no matter if he earns a profit or goes in loss he has to pay that fixed amount of interest. Even if some natural calamity befalls his family, such as flooding or earthquake, the person still has to pay the loan with the interest and a delay would only increase the amount of interest. It is social injustice.
There is no social consideration.
Suppose, if two businessmen come to ask for a loan from a modern bank and one businessman wants to start a social or hospital while the other businessman wants to start an alcohol factory or a gambling den. But natural the businessman, who wants to start an alcohol factory or a gambling den would have better returns and the loan given to him would be more secure and he would give a higher rate of interest as compared to the business, who wants to open a school or hospital. Modern banks are only interested in getting better and higher returns. That's why they finance gambling dens rather than schools or hospitals. That is why in the 80s thousands of gambling dens were financed by modern banks worldwide. For name sake only a few social projects are financed by modern banks and the majority of their loans are based on better interest.
Modern banks encourage people to store money and keep the money idle for small fixed return on it every year. In the end, power is concentrated in a few hands, the bankers.
In the same way there are several benefits of Islamic banking.
As there is no interest involved, there is profit and loss sharing. So if a person wants to sell his goods, it would only have the cost price and profit in the selling price and instead of 12 dollars, his selling price would be only 11 dollars. If the selling price comes down, the demand increases and if the demand increases the supply increases and as supply increases the production increases resulting in more labour for the people and higher employment. As a result encourages people to work and earn their living.
There is Social Justice in Islamic banking.
If a business takes a loan and goes in loss, the loss is shared by the bank and if he earns a profit, the profit is shared by the bank. If in case any natural calamities befalls him, the Islamic bank gives him more time to repay, unlike the modern bank, where the more time you take to pay the more interest you would have to pay. Many a times if the Islamic bank finds the situation very bad, they even let go off that loan.
There is Social Consideration in Islamic banking.
Islamic bank can not give a loan to any businessman, who is doing any activity, which is causing harm to the society. For example, if a businessman wants to start an alcohol factory and approaches an Islamic bank for a loan, the Islamic bank will not lend him a single penny, not even if he promises to give 100% profit to the Islamic bank. In Islamic banking there is social consideration and they encourage projects beneficial for the society, such as building schools, hospitals and nurseries. In short, the Islamic bank encourages the society to improve.
In the Islamic bank, you are not encouraged to keep your money idle. You are encouraged to invest your money and be a partner in the business and in the end, power is not concentrated in the hands of a few individuals. Because in the Islamic banking the profit and loss are shared by the business, the banker as well as the depositor. The power is equally shared among all the people.
The great philosopher, Aristotle has beautifully defined Interest as "An earning based on the use of money and not on labour, and all such earnings(interests) are against nature."
Lets quickly analyze the objectives of the Islamic economic order before we analyze the theory and practical application of the Islamic economic system.
The Objectives of the Islamic Economic Order
1- Economic well-being
Islam encourages a person to enjoy the bounties of God Almighty, to work for his living and refrain from begging.
2- Universal Brotherhood and Justice
Qur'an says in Sura al-Hujurat Chapter 49 Verse 13, "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 honored of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you."
From this we come to know the criteria that the criteria of judgement in the sight of God is not wealth, not sex, not color, not Caste, but it is "Taqwa" God consciousness, piety and righteousness.
Qur'an says in Sura an-Nisa Chapter 4 Verse 135, "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 protects all."
According to this we have to stand for truth and justice be it against anybody even against our own selves and sacrifice your own interests.
3- Equitable Distribution of Wealth
Islam is against the philosophy that the wealth should be concentrated in a few hands. The difference between the rich and the poor should be reduced. Otherwise they would become enemies unto each other. For this, Islam has devised a system of "Zakat" that every Muslim, who has excess wealth exceeding the amount equal to or more than 85 grams of Gold. This amount is spent on the poor, orphans, needy and so on. If every individual in the world practices this system of "Zakat", not a single person in the whole world would die of hunger. Islam teaches to find lawful employment for the unemployed and to pay him a good remuneration.
According to Islam if a person dies his wealth should be distributed among his heirs according to the guidelines laid down in Qur'an and Ahadith and it should not go to just one or two individuals in the society as it is done today.
4- Individual Freedom within the Context of Social Well-fare
According to Islam man is born free and nobody not even the state can abrogate his freedom nor subject his life to strict regimentation. Every individual is free as long as he does not harm the society because in Islam the larger welfare of the society takes precedence over the individual freedom.
Working and labour as well as the benefit in business are both important principles of Islam, but working and labour take precedence over the benefit in business. If you are doing business, a big loss can not be inflicted to relieve a small loss, nor can a big profit can be sacrificed for a small profit. In short, Islam believes in individual within the context of social welfare.
There are mainly four factors involved in production;
1- Land
In both the Modern and Islamic theories, you pay rent on the land.
2- Labor
You pay wages on the labour in both the Modern and Islamic theories.
3- Capital
In the Modern theory, you pay Interest on capital, while in the Islamic theory there is profit and loss sharing.
4- Organization
In the fourth factor of production, Organization, there is profit and loss sharing in both theories.
So the major difference in the four factors of production is the third factor of Capital. The Modern Theory says that a fixed interest should be charged on the capital, while the Islamic theory says that there is profit and loss sharing on capital. Because Islamic theory does not differentiate between the third factor Capital and the fourth factor Organization because the money lent by the bank does not belong to the bank itself, it belongs to the depositor. The depositors are the part of Organization and the money deposited in the bank (the capital) should be included in the Organization. In the Islamic theory Capital and Organization are clove together and there is profit and loss sharing on the capital.
When you have to do business, there are naturally two types of units. One is the surplus unit, who have excess of wealth, but do not know how to spend it. Second is the deficit unit, the people who do not have money, but have good ideas for business. The best examples of a surplus and deficit unit in the Islamic history is Lady Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her) had excess of wealth, but lacked avenues to spend in and being a female she couldn't travel abroad too much to deal in business transactions. The deficit unit, in terms of wealth, was Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him). He had good ideas and access to business avenues, but did not have wealth. So Lady Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her) gave wealth, which Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) invested in business avenues on her behalf and the profit was shared on a fixed pre-determined ration.
The System of Islamic Banking and Modern Banking
Lets analyze the options open for individual depositors to deposit their money in an Islamic bank.
Current Account
The money you deposit in an Islamic bank is utilized with your permission, but if the bank goes in loss, the loss is not shared by the depositor. If the bank goes in profit, neither is the profit shared by the depositor. The depositor is interested in only the safety of his money, not profit. The Islamic banks gives you a check book and a slip book with the functions as that of a modern bank.
Savings Account
Even here the depositor is mainly interested in the safety of his money. As the bank gets a profit from this money, the bank can gift a portion of that profit to the depositor, if the bank wants, but the depositor can not demand a fixed portion.
In Islamic banking, if a bank goes bankrupt then the depositors get their money first and then, the creditors. While in Modern Banking creditors get their money first and majority of the depositors lose their money. So even if you want your money safe, the Islamic banks are preferable and safer than Modern banks.
Investment Accounts
They are similar to the Fixed Accounts of Modern banks and are further divided into several types
Mudariba (Profit & Loss Sharing)
The depositor deposits a fixed amount of money in the bank for a fixed period of time, which maybe a multiple of three or a multiple of four. Here the surplus unit is the depositor and the deficit unit is the bank. The bank uses this money to do business with the businessmen and whatever profit the Islamic bank makes, it is divided on a pre-determined ratio, which can be negotiated. In the Islamic Banking of Malaysia, the ratio is 7 part to 3 part, meaning 70% goes to the depositor and 30% is kept by the bank. So there is sharing of profit, the greater the profit the greater the share of each.
Suppose, if there is a loss of a hundred dollars, then hundred would be deducted from the depositor's money. So theoretically only the depositor bears the loss. Practically analyzing even the Islamic bank is going in loss because they are paying money for the rent, administration and salary, but the loss ratio of the bank is less than that of the depositor, as even the profit of the bank is less than that of the depositor.
Project Financing in the Mudariba System
If a businessman approaches an Islamic bank with a project idea and asks for a loan for a fixed period, the Islamic bank analyzes the project, then the businessman and the Islamic bank negotiate the profit ratio. In Modern banking interest is negotiated, in Islamic banking profit ratio is negotiated.
Suppose, the businessman takes a loan of $5000 from an Islamic bank for six months and the pre-determined profit ratio is 60% to the bank and 40% to the businessman. If the businessman is working for his business, even his salary would be included in that $5000 and suppose the salary of the businessman is $200 per month.
Suppose, if the businessman earns a profit of $5000, the business would get (his 40%) $2000 from the profit and the businessman would get paid $200 salary per month from the $5000 loan, amounting $1200 for 6 months. So the businessman gets his profit as well as the salary for his labour, if he is working for his business.
But in case of loss, the bank bears the complete loss and in turn passes the loss to the depositors. But technically even the business also goes in loss because he is only paid for labour, not for his thinking and ideas.
In Mudariba System, the bank can not interfere in the management of the business. The business can not tell the businessman to build a 12 story building instead of a 10 story building. The bank can not tell the business to produce a certain article instead of another article. The bank can not interfere in the administration of the business.
Mushariqa System (Partnership)
In Mushariqa system or Partnership the Islamic bank can interfere in the management of the business. The bank can tell the business to build a 12 story building rather than a 10 story building. The bank can tell the businessman to make a certain product instead of another product. In Mushariqa system the businessman has part of the capital and the other part he takes from the bank. The profit is shared on a pre-determined ratio. Suppose, if the businessman and bank give 50-50% capital, they would get 50-50% profit. But in case of loss, loss is shared on pre-determined ration and the Islamic bank bears more loss. The Islamic bank may have to bear 60% loss, while the businessman would only bear 40% loss.
Mudhaba System
Suppose, you want to purchase a particular machinery from abroad costing $10000, in the Modern Bank you open a LC (Letter of Credit) or a TR (Trust Receipt/Sales Slip) and you deposit the money in the Modern bank and the Modern bank charges you a fixed amount of interest on the time it takes for the transaction. If you deposit the money in an Islamic bank and ask the bank to buy the machinery on your behalf, the Islamic bank would charge you a service charge/commission.
If you do not have money to buy the machinery, you can combine Mudhaba System with Mudariba System or if you have the money you can combine the Mudhaba System with the Mushariqa System and share the profit on selling that machinery with the bank on a pre-determined ratio.
Ijara (Leasing or Higher Purchasing)
Suppose, you don't to buy a car, you want to rent it. The Islamic bank charges you a certain profit and rents you the car. The price of the car and the profit are divided by the life span of that car to calculate the per month rent. The Islamic bank provides you Ijara ending with sale and also buying back facility. If you don't the car, the Islamic bank buys back the car, a facility which Modern banks do not provide.
Interest-free Loan
It is the loan the Islamic bank gives to the poor to do business without charging any Interest at all. There is nothing like Interest-free loan in Modern banking. In the Islamic system of banking in Malaysia 10% of profits are kept separately/ reserved for Interest-free loan for the poor. In Islamic terminology it is called "Karze Hasana" meaning "the good loan".
Liaqat Qazi is a student of Islam and Comparative Religions, who runs a blog called Peacebook, where he discusses issues about all major World Religions. He also discusses the most controversial issues about Islam and other religions in a logical way, with proof from the religious scriptures.

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Understanding Islam

By Ismail Ulukus

Hello my precious brother,
I had talked about the five existence dimensions of the human to you in my previous articles. The human gathers on himself all the physical and chemical features of the matters world in first dimension, all the physiological features of the plants world in second dimension, all the psychological features of the animals world in third dimension. He also obtains a humanistic personality different from the other creatures, with the thinking, deciding and adjudicating ability, in fourth dimension.
The uncounted benefactions have been given to the human
Certainly the wonderful benefactions have been provided to himself until the human comes this level. Now, try to think only the physiological dimension. Thousands of chemicals play their roles in this mechanism. Imagine that only one enzyme or only one hormone doesn't do it's function. How distressed days human lives.
Try to remember the benefactions at your psychological dimension. Think of your attention has weakened, your memory is absent, or you lost your consciousness. Imagine that you have afflicted with mental deficiency. How bad case for you!
Now, think that you are deprived of "reason" benefaction. Everybody treats you like dirt, for you can not think and for you can not be possessed of the power of deciding and responsibility. You can not manage yourselves. You can not manage your wares and properties. Your relations with the society in which you live completely breakdown. You can not sign an agreement and a contract. You can not vote. Even, if you bring any information, nobody believes this news. This is how much bad case.
The human, here, in his first four dimensions, has attained measureless benefactions of his creator Almighty God (Allah) who has possession of mercy and compassion. But, I'm sorry to say, the majority of the humans are not aware of these benefactions.
Almighty Allah wants to complete this beneficence
My dear brother,
Almighty Allah (God), who is the creator and the greatest protector of the human, has equipped with such measureless benefactions the human up to fourth reason dimension. And He also wishes to complete His benefactions and favors on the human by carrying him to the peak of the matureness for making him much more precious and excellent in fifth dimension after this point.
"Allah does not wish to place you in a difficulty, but to make you clean, and to complete his favor to you, ..." (Qur'an, Maide, 6)
But these favors, which will be realized after this phase, has been made dependent on the own volition of person. Namely, for this, it is necessary that person must abandon his own personality, his own arrogance, and his own egoism; and he must completely subject to his creator's volition and surrender to him. This submission is called, briefly, as Islam.
I had tried to expound the human in the previous articles. In this article, I'll try to explicate Islam.
Islam is to be subject to the will of Allah
My dear brother,
Islam is an Arabic originated word and it means "submittal, to lay down one's arms". Its meaning as a religious term is the submission and being subject to the will of Almighty Allah that He has not the similars, partners and assistants; He has created the physical and metaphysical worlds; He keeps them in existence by supplying their needs; He provides necessary power, force and energy for them; He arranges and organizes them at will; He makes present or absent everything at will and at any time; He is real owner the whole property and is unique sovereign on the worlds. "Islam" is to live according to the commandments, the wills and the rules of this Almighty Allah, but not according to the desires of person's own ego.
Certainly, this only comes true with "faith". Can it be under discussion to be subjected to God's volition, without believing and not being accepted His existence? For this reason, the religion erudites have accepted that the belief is the fundamental of the religion.
My precious brother,
Religions are the systems in which divine education comes true. Divine mercy turns into well behaviours in the personality of the human by means of religions. By the help of religions, the human obtains a clean and mature divine personality, by getting rid of the bad and egoist humanistic personality. The Creator saw fit to Himself the name Allah in His Last Book. This name gathers all nice attributes of Him on self. For this reason, I'll prefer to use this name in my articles.
Almighty Allah has named his own education system as Islam
Islam is the appearance of the Rab (educator) attribute of Allah on the human. Allah Taala has given Islam name for own schooling system that will bear away the human to the peak of matureness. Islam is a doctrine. It is the name of a schooling system being notified by a prophets chain ranging from Adam aleyhissalaam to Muhammed aleyhissalaam. There is no religion other than Islam before Allah.
"The Religion before Allah is Islam." (Qur'an, Al-i Ä°mran, 19)
The essence of all the celestial religions is Islam, though there are some differences between their sharia. Islam is an ego educating system. Islam means to live a person according to The Almighty Creator's wills, but not his ego's desires. Islam means that submittal of the human to the rules of Allah by witnessing the existence of Allah Taala who is the creator and educator of him; to prefer the wills of Allah rather than his own desires; limiting his own wishes by the wills of Allah; not exceeding the limits which has been determined by Allah Taala.
Islam means to be subject to His rules, believing only a one God, that He has no partner, no similar, no equal; He has created all the alems (worlds) and the universe; He keeps them in existence; He provides all the needs of them by His mercy and His kindness. And also the persons who are subject to the rules of Allah Taala are called as "Muslims". The Arabic originated word "Muslim" means the surrendered person to Allah. If you believe such a unique Creator and if you accept to be subject to Him, you are also a Muslim.
All Messengers has advised Islam
The religion being notified by all the prophets since Adam aleyhissalaam is Islam. Each one of the prophets didn't bring different religions such as Judaism, Christianity, Mohammedanism that the majority of people such suppose; contrarily, all the prophets have notified only one religion Islam. The people has nicknamed afterward as Judaism, Christianity. All the prophets were Muslims. All of them were sent for making known Allah Taala that He has no partner and no similar; for teaching to the people to behave according to the rules of Allah, but not according to the wishes of their self; for pointing the correct way to them. All of them also advised not to kill the humans unmeritedly; not to do harm the humans' body and goods; not to live intercourse out the marriage, namely not to fornicate. All of them also advised to love each other; not to do spitefulness; not to tell lies. Today, all merits being possessed by the humans, either prayerful or atheist, have arrived up to us by means of the prophets of Allah. However, each one of the prophets brought partially different rules according to the conditions of that time. The each one of these is called as sharia. The last prophet Mohammed aleyhissalaam has also announced the rules that both to correct the false comments coming out at previous times, and to keep its validity along all the times for maturing all the humans eternally.
To be subject to the latest Sharia is matureness
For this reason, a human finds the right by being subject to any prophet, on condition that he must subject to essence of religion. A person who is subject to previous sharia must take into consideration the abolished rules by the subsequent sharia. To be subject to the last prophet Mohammed aleyhissalaam is also a fully matureness. It is like to prefer the latest model car to arrive at the destination.
My dear brother,
I'll try to tell you Islam also in my subsequent articles. Islam is a perpetual happiness way of the human who is a precious creature. A person walking in this road reaches the salvation both in this and the other world. But the persons who have strayed from the correct way, by being subject to their disdainful ego, have fallen to heresy for their own harm.
Be entrusted to Allah.
Dr. Ismail Ulukus is a former phytopathologist and researcher. He has various articles written on plant diseases. In these days, he has begun to write articles on the religion and moral values due to a moral degeneration growing up on all the world.

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