Pakistan Supreme Court outlaws interest (fwd)

[xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

I really don't understand why this is a flash issue. pakistani
financiers are still capitalists regardless of what the pakistani supreme
court decides. can religion be impediment to capitalism? not seriously,
me thinks. To argue otherwise is it to take a eurocentric perception of
eastern societies and to romanticize or orientalize them. on the contrary,
capitalism transforms and reinvents religious identities (given that we
are living in a highly integrated world economy where identities are
highly contingent, fluid and flexible)

i don't know the specific case in Pakistan at the moment, but young Muslim
brothers in turkey had formed their own Muslim Business Men Association
in opposition to the Turkish Business Men Association on the
secular/kemalist front. They are no less capitalist than regular ones.
they are property owners, and own some important industries. Instead of
being anti-capitalist, they "rationalize" capitalism from an islamic point
of view (such as saying obscure things that "prophet" invented capitalism,
and muslims know capitalism better than europeans), also to set off the
"radicals" on the unorthodox islamic front.In egypt, they were the first
advocating privatization, and some arab private investment,
banks and neo-liberal economic reforms! most of them mobilize constituency
from Cairo petty bazaar bourgeoisie and shoe industry

the paradox that faces Islamic societies such as Pakistan is a paradox of
imitating capitalism without transporting its political and cultural
requisites, such as political liberalism. but this does make them purely
non-capitalist, of course. they form their own capitalism by adjusting it
to their own cirscumstances.

moreover, look at the christian fundementalists here. they broadcast
jesus commercial movies and vidoe types on christian channel every night!
they are our moral capitalists..

bottom line is that religion problem is not unique to eastern societies..


Mine


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2000 00:50:19 -0800
From: Mason Clark <masonc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: pkt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: POST-KEYNESIAN THOUGHT <pkt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Pakistan Supreme Court outlaws interest


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