I was recently asked my opinion on Islamic banking. I know next to nothing about that. I am told that it is against Islamic principles to charge interest on loans. As a liberal, I take the position that people ought to be free to do whatever they want with their property. They should be free to lend their money at whatever interest they want (including zero interest or a million percent interest.) The only condition is that there must be no coercion involved.
Therefore, anyone who is handing out interest free loans out of their own wealth will find a willing borrower in me. Although it is obvious that giving out interest-free loans is an idiotic thing to do, I don’t believe it is anyone’s business to force people to avoid folly.
I sometimes get to know of some Indian politicians’ call for Islamic banking in India. More power to them. I am all for Islamic banking, Christian banking, Voodoo banking, Jewish banking, Buddhist banking, Brainless banking, or whathaveyou. The financial intermediation services provided by banking are vital to economic well-being. But as always, I am against the use of force and aggression.
As long as the government does not take my money so that it can give it to Islamic banks to lend it out at zero interest rate, I am fine. People who follow Islamic principles may wish to do so but making me follow Islam under threat of force will invite massive resistance and retaliation from me.
Until India formally becomes an Islamic state (like Pakistan and Bangladesh), any Indian politician who demands Indian banks follow Islamic principles should be taken out and shot.
Life is a Random Draw 
Thank you for the post sir.
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Absolutely agree with you. No place for Islamic banking in India, because according to that principle, fleecing money from kuffars is halal. So that would mean the interest for that loan would be paid by the infidels and that is indirect jiziya on the kuffars.
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Islamic Banking is a joke. Yes, they don’t charge interest on loans – but what they do instead is become ‘part owners’ of whatever you use the money for. Therefore, you make a monthly payment to them which is not ‘interest’ but a share of the profits earned. This share is fixed, and you have to pay it, even if you don’t make any money, under certain conditions.
It’s a pig with lipstick on it.
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“…any Indian politician who demands Indian banks follow Islamic principles should be taken out and shot.”
so much for your liberal ideals and for freedom of speech.
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Yes sir, I am like that only. All liberal and shit, but when the chips are down, calling for shutting people up by shooting them. Taking them out and shooting them first thing in the morning, even before having a coffee. Can’t get anything past you, can I? Truly amazing powers of observation!
Seriously though, your inability to comprehend a tongue in cheek sign off is sad. You could have raised some principled objection to what I wrote — such as that no-interest banking or loans have positive benefits for the system, or that I am mistaken in my belief that financial intermediation is important for the functioning of an economy. But no, you decided to focus on the trivial. Nicely done, sir, nicely done.
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Hey Einstein, if I disagreed with you on Islamic banking I would have said so. You are a living example of the fact that “you can take a person out of India, but can’t take India out of a person”. can’t recall last time I heard an educated liberal person saying “any one who doesn’t agree with me should be shot”, tongue in check or not.
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Would it be OK if I cross-posted this article to WriterBeat.com? I’ll be sure to give you complete credit as the author. Thgere is no fee, I’m simply trying to add more content diversity for our community and I liked what you wrote. If “OK” please let me know via email.
Autumn
AutumnCote@WriterBeat.com
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Ludwig von Mises spoke about this issue in these terms in his Magnum opus ‘Human Action’, p.529; p.532 :
“There cannot be any question of abolishing interest by any institutions, laws, or devices of bank manipulation.He who wants to ‘abolish’ interest will have to induce people to value an apple available in a hundred years no less than a present apple.What can be abolished by laws and decrees is merely the right of capitalist to receive such interest.But such decrees will bring about capital consumption and would very soon throw mankind into the original state of natural poverty.”
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