Islamic Finance: Ethics, Concepts, Practice

Although I could not find (as yet in my cursory reading of this book) any reference to undermining flaws in Islamic banking that could be taken advantage of by Euro-USA banksters (bankers+gangsters), the text appears to have the making of a definitive reference for Euro-USA (“Western”) students of alternative banking and money.It has an excellent bibliography & reference list, and could be bought for the bibliography alone.A growing interest in Islamic finance is not necessary a consequence of the 2008 worldwide financial debacle: there is growing realisation amongst relatively few conscientious sentient beings that Euro-USA society as a whole is ethically and morally unprincipled (enhanced by complicit apathy) – i.e. Western society is not only financially bankrupt (over 97% of Euro-USA-UK money in use is debt, not credit money, being used for goods and services that will never be fully paid for. Read “Life after Growth: How the global economy really works”. ISBN: 0857193392)The reason for the growing interest in Islamic finance could be that, unlike most other State-sanctioned private banking, it is based on principles that are reflected in Islamic religious ruling and opinion called fatwa.Western financial systems, which are globally dominated by Euro-USA banking, are predominantly based on precedent (as reflected in legal case laws), not principle (fundamental truth).At their core, Euro-USA banking is socially unprincipled and detrimental to their societies, hence “winner-takes-all & more”, being graspingly parasitic on those who create the actual wealth of goods & services. This unprincipled behaviour is even reflected in the use of language (vocabulary, innuendo and rhetoric) by Western society – hence the need for using specific words in Islamic finance described in this book: they cannot be deviously corrupted in their meaning and therefore their use by Westerners; they are based on fundamental truths.Westerners don’t even understand how they corrupt their own mother tongue(s), as can be seen in the simple example of how the word “good” is conflated and therefore confused with all things nice (that are not necessarily good in the true sense), which is intentional self-deceit.Fatwa reflects the wisdom of sages (such as even Jesus the Christ, who admonished the money-lenders) who reflected on what is good (not just nice) for all, and not just for the few who grasp at the fruits of others' labours._____________________________________________________________

This is a very concise and great summary of Islamic finance for anyone wanting to know more about this area. It is very easily read and can inform a lay audience without any previous knowledge about how Islamic finance works