havent read it, but this is
Meezan Bank’s Guide to
Islamic Banking
I guess later on I will try to read through it. maybe comment on some of the stuff in it.
I got this from the Islamic Finance Blog.
Recently there has been alot of talk about applying Islamic finance models in the west.
A long debate has been going on about it over at IBF-NET.
Some are saying that the sukuk, Musharakah, and tawarruq models are entirely permissible, and so what if they cost more than conventional finance vehicles.
Others are making calls for mutuality, regulation, or (and this doesnt even make sense) micro-lending.
My take on all of this has been that these are clearly issues of venue, and to try and apply islamic finance methods in the context of a regulations that support and interest-based economy is, even though possible, not the most feasible thing to do, and seems to be costing Muslims alot more than it should (well those that can afford for it to cost them, as many “Islamic” outlets will not pre-approve the average muslim who does not have credit, no not bad credit, but zero credit, meaning he/she decided to stave the plastic, get a checking account and pay in cash when possible. for an example look here)
It is interesting to note that the Hanafi school of Jurists provide for the Muslim to deal in Interest in non-Muslim lands, as they also discuss the probability of a Muslim being a citizen of a non-muslim land. In fact, there are more than a few issues discussed about in the books of Hanafi fiqh that clearly make many pressing issues of our day and time issues of venue, and as such should be dealt with according to the prevailing system that the Muslim finds himself in.
Maybe I’ll write more on this later, but to sum-up, it seems that the Hanafis have a much more state-based localized view of government, while the rest of the Jurists (well at least the Shafi’is in the classic texts) have a globalist view of implementing Islamic law.
