Highlights of an interview given by Dr. Abdul Iwanto in London during the “World Conference on Islamic Finance: Thrusting into the 21st Century”. Q. Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed by us, Dr. Iwanto. Can I begin by asking … Continue reading
Reproduced from the preface of the third edition of The Problem With Interest (Kreatoc Ltd., 2010, ISBN: 978-0-9544974-1-5) In the seven years since the second edition of The Problem With Interest was published, the global economy has completed another boom-bust … Continue reading
On the 31st of January of this year I attended a conference on Islamic banking and finance organised by Euromoney in London. In answer to a question from the floor, one of the scholarly panelists remarked that “we welcome constructive … Continue reading
If a money lender from the time of Christ had loaned an ounce of gold at 5% annual compound interest, it would today require an amount of bullion weighing several planet Earths in repayment. Early bankers knew the profound implications … Continue reading
The contractum trinius was a legal trick used by European merchants in the Middle Ages to allow borrowing at usury, something that the Church fiercely opposed. It was a combination of three separate contracts, each of which was deemed permissible … Continue reading
Financial Times London 7 February 2008 Dear Sir, The esteemed Sheikh Usmani is not the first to cry foul of practices in the Islamic banking industry (Roula Khalaf, Financial Times, 6 February 2008). Sheikh ibn Uthaymeen, Sheikh Haitham Al-Haddad, Professor … Continue reading
The goldsmith bankers of seventeenth century England engaged in the seemingly innocuous practice of holding precious metal coins on behalf of their depositors. In return for each deposit of coins, a goldsmith would issue the depositor with a paper receipt … Continue reading