[za3faran]

Loaning money as per Islamic Law is a charitable act, not one of exploitation.

[avadodin]

Nice to get a callback to previously acquired knowledge with what I assume is an arabizi (sp?) handle.

Islamic trade is certainly one of the best models out there but I think in many cases in practice it is still applied subversively.

It is not enough to ban mechanisms like usury, designed and intended to exploit.

One has to go after the very subversion of legitimate practices for illegitimate goals.

[UltraSane]

reasonable interest rates aren't exploitation. Business Loans serve a critical role in economic activity by putting free cash to more productive use.

[za3faran]

All interest is usury in Islamic Law (and the laws before it such as Christianity and Judaism). There are ways to to put free cash into productive use without exploitation.

[UltraSane]

I understand and I disagree. Interest isn't always "exploitation". A 5% loan isn't exploitation and it is very stupid to ban such things.

[za3faran]

I think it's easy to look around us to see why it makes complete sense to prohibit it.

[UltraSane]

If going by the very poor economic performance of Muslim countries I would say interest is a very good thing if limited to reasonable interest rates and fair bankruptcy laws.

[za3faran]

Correlation vs causation (post WWI colonization comes to mind, that continues to this day). Historically, there was a period of time when there were no poor people left to take Zakat, everyone paid their share, and no usurious transactions permitted.