Refocussing the Valid Criticism on Islamic Banking
There has been a lot of criticisms on Islamic banking but it has to be addressed correctly.
Criticisms of Islamic banking includes it being too expensive and just a mirror image of conventional banking.
To get credibility of the criticisms we must address the Shariah issues of Islamic banking whether Islamic banking in practise contradicts Shariah.
We cannot say Islamic banking is wrong because it is too expensive. It is a makruf (known) principle in Shariah not to interfere in normal market pricing. If that is our line of criticism we have to prove the point with statistics and be sure we are comparing like with like. For example are we comparing fixed rate Islamic finance with floating rate conventional finance? In which case is our conclusion conclusively proven with numbers to support?
We must also be cognisant that Islamic banking is not meant to operate in a dual environment and in a real Islamic economy it is haram for Muslims to frequent conventional banks. In today’s economy Muslims are allowed to also use conventional banks and conventional banks do not have to abide rules Islamic banks have to. This means Islamic banks by default have to be “like” conventional banks to survive and thrive.
In this case it is not appropriate to level criticism only at Islamic banks; the bigger criticism have to be levelled at the government for allowing conventional banks to continue operating at a distinct advantage over Islamic banks. Governments have also failed in their duty to prevent the Muslim ummah from using riba institutions.
Criticisms of Islamic banking includes it being too expensive and just a mirror image of conventional banking.
To get credibility of the criticisms we must address the Shariah issues of Islamic banking whether Islamic banking in practise contradicts Shariah.
We cannot say Islamic banking is wrong because it is too expensive. It is a makruf (known) principle in Shariah not to interfere in normal market pricing. If that is our line of criticism we have to prove the point with statistics and be sure we are comparing like with like. For example are we comparing fixed rate Islamic finance with floating rate conventional finance? In which case is our conclusion conclusively proven with numbers to support?
We must also be cognisant that Islamic banking is not meant to operate in a dual environment and in a real Islamic economy it is haram for Muslims to frequent conventional banks. In today’s economy Muslims are allowed to also use conventional banks and conventional banks do not have to abide rules Islamic banks have to. This means Islamic banks by default have to be “like” conventional banks to survive and thrive.
In this case it is not appropriate to level criticism only at Islamic banks; the bigger criticism have to be levelled at the government for allowing conventional banks to continue operating at a distinct advantage over Islamic banks. Governments have also failed in their duty to prevent the Muslim ummah from using riba institutions.


The success of the central banking scheme developed into a far-reaching plan described by President Clinton’s mentor, Georgetown Professor Carroll Quigley, “to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent meetings and conferences. The apex of the system was to be the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, a private bank owned and controlled by the world’s central banks which were themselves private corporations. Each central bank….sought to dominate its government by its ability to control Treasury loans, to manipulate foreign exchanges, to influence the levels of economic activity in the country, and to influence cooperative politicians by subsequent economic rewards in the business world.”
If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks…will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered…. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs. – Thomas Jefferson in the debate over the Re-charter of the Bank Bill (1809)
History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by controlling money and its issuance. -James Madison
If congress has the right under the Constitution to issue paper money, it was given them to use themselves, not to be delegated to individuals or corporations. -Andrew Jackson
The Government should create, issue, and circulate all the currency and credits needed to satisfy the spending power of the Government and the buying power of consumers. By the adoption of these principles, the taxpayers will be saved immense sums of interest. Money will cease to be master and become the servant of humanity. -Abraham Lincoln


