Pakistan Supreme Court outlaws interest

[Mason Clark <masonc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The following was posted to the sci.econ and uk.religion.islam
newsgroups.  I'm certain the poster, who asks for comments,
will have no objection to its distribution to pkt.  The complete
judgement at the link below is lengthy, and must be of great
interest to economists (not to mention bankers!).

           Mason Clark

quote:

The highest constitutional court in Pakistan, The Supreme Court, in a
recent landmark judgement has prohibited the charging of INTEREST on
any financial transaction in the economy. This prohibition is based
upon the KORANIC injunction banning interest (Riba'  in Arabic) from
the economy.

The text of the judgement is available at

    http://www.jamaat.org/news/SCRiba.html

In my opinion the effect of the judgement are likely to of the same
magnitude, if not bigger, than the October Revolution,and are likely to
echo in the economies of the Muslim countries, in the near future and
consequently in the rest of the world. Founded on a religious basis, it
will precipitate responses much more powerful than those generated by
Marxist ideaology-- at least in the Muslim world.

The international financial system and with it the whole system of
commerce and trade shall be effected by it, particularly if the oil
rich middle eastern countries (which are all muslim) also take steps
towards an interest free economy.

Comments highly appreciated with a copy to me by email at
<expaco@xxxxxxxxxx>. Many Thanks in advance

Aurangzeb