Question:
More than often,
interest-free banking system is demanded in the country. From the other end, the reply
comes that external trade is not possible without interest. A mid-way is now being
proposed that a pilot interest-free mode is tried in some banks to establish a model. What
does Jamaat think was the permanent solution of this problem?
Answer:
To claim that banking was
not possible without interest has been proved baseless even in a report of the State Bank
of Pakistan. The report informs that ‘interest’ was just one of the many
instruments of banking; and 12 substitutes of interest were indicated. The various
Commissions constituted by the past governments to suggest alternate modes, have provided
detailed structural designs. But none of the governments was really serious to implement
these recommendations which in fact, was necessary to understand what were the
difficulties by way of introducing the interest-free system. One of the main reason not to
implement the proposed interest-free schemes, has been that the privileged ruling class
brings in soft loans worth billions of dollars on concessional terms and further extends
it to public on exorbitant rates. The interest capital thus accumulated is transferred to
the foreign banks accounts of these ‘Black and White" masters. Currently
successful experiments have been carried out in various parts of the world including
Kuwait, the Emirates, Sudan and Iran to eliminate ‘interest’ from the economy.
Interest-free Banks are already working in Malaysia, Kuwait and Emirates. Al-Baraka Bank
has an arm in Lahore also and that provides interest-free venture capital. Interest-free
business based on profit and loss proves beneficial in the long run, particularly when
business environment is healthy and proves absorbing periodic shocks better than the
interest system currently in practice.
For more details, please
follow the following links:
Deliverance from the
Curse of Interest (Riba): The Real Hindrance
Federal Shariah Court Judgment on
Interest-Free Economy
