Three letters in response to Ather Farouqi’s ’Islamic Banking in India at the Service of Pan-Islamists’

COMMUNICATIONS

Investors are Exposed and Exploited

Apropos the commentary on Islamic banking entitled ‘Islamic Banking in India at the Service of Pan-Islamists’ in Mainstream (March 3, 2012), let me say that the proponents of Islamic banking are none other than radical Islamists, responsible for the distorted image of Muslims the world over. They offer nothing of merit in the name of Islamic banking vis-a-vis modern banking practices. The way they advance their logic is the way Muslim missionaries preach: come to Islam, as it is the best religion—as Asaduddin Owaisi once shamelessly suggested in an NDTV show. Logically, no civil society will follow a religious model in any walk of life and Indian civil society comprises a majority of non-Muslims. If any Islamic banking system is established in India, it will serve only to further isolate—rather ghettoise—Muslims and lend more strength to the fascist Hindu forces, which purpose pan-Islamist forces are already serving.

The chief argument of those advocating Islamic banking is that it is primarily Shariah-compliant, a claim which is patently false, simply because it is not tested. The truth of the matter is that even in this ‘Islamic system’ interest is charged, though this is sought to be masked by suitable phraseology. The only beneficiaries of this system, both financially and politically, are radical Islamic forces. The votaries of Islamic banking, including the Saudi Government, do not practice what the Islamists on the payroll of Saudi Arabia preach. But because religion is such a sensitive matter, nobody, particularly non-Muslims, dare call their bluff. Over a period of 20 years or so, the world over, those conducting Islamic banking have been controlling assets worth more than $ 500 billion, of which they are the sole beneficiaries. The investors, meanwhile, stand exposed and exploited, as was made clear by the BCCI fraud case in the 1990s. So the question that needs to be asked is: what is the need for Islamic banking by way of an alternative to modern banking when those who are supposed to be its beneficiaries, the Muslims, do not even uphold it in principle?

Richa Prakash

Agra

Extends No Benefits to the User

Financial institutions in India claiming to be Shariah-compliant, as explained in the article on Islmaic banking by Ather Farouqui in Mainstream ‘Islamic Banking in India at the Service of Pan-Islamists’ (Volume L, No 11, March 3, 2012), are autonomous and unregulated and uncontrolled or precisely fraud so to say. So, one cannot vouch for their dependability and adherence to normal banking norms. Also, the Islamic banking system seems to be neither cost-effective nor transparent and seems to extend no benefits to its user. If we accept the claim of the propagators of Islamic banking, then what is the need for a model in which most of the funds of the people lie unused? What further is the rationale for savings, if these cannot be utilised to generate employment and increase capital investment among Muslims?

Mehfooz Khan

Jaipur

Misappropriating Funds in Name of Religion

Ather Farouqi has most appropriately termed Islamic banking in his article ‘Islamic Banking in India at the Service of Pan-Islamists’ (Mainstream, March 3) as an anathema to modern society and common civic space, where Muslims share or claim equal rights. The various lending institutions functioning under the broad category of ‘Islamic banking’ claim to be Shariah-compliant, but the phrase holds no meaning for those who have invested in these institutions, as there is no transparency in their functioning. The owners of such ventures give and take interest but do not give the investor his due share of interest and make a killing in the bargain. It is just the backwardness of Muslims that makes them believe that these institutions are functioning on the basis of no interest and are, therefore, ‘Islamic banks’. In fact, these are a fertile ground for fraud and misappropriation of funds in the name of religion. The people they claim to serve are hardly aware whether their money is being invested in ‘Islamic-compliant products’ or not. Middle class/lower middle class Muslims as well as Muslim business-men are in no position to opt for a system which is incompatible with mainstream banking for practical reasons.

Mohammad Shahrique

Aligarh