The ignoramus (like me) and the man in the street - also has his
queries and his misgivings and therefore his unease and ignorance must
also be addressed by those who know – for the good of all.
What must be Boko Haram's attitude to Islamic Banking? Is such an
attitude valid? Invalid? Legal? Criminal? Protected by the
Constitution? Can non-Muslims keep their money in Muslim Banks?
In my uninformed opinion, the main questions about Islamic Banking
ought to be, is it ethical? Will it be state-controlled? What impact
is it likely to have on Nigeria? Is it good for Nigeria?
http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&cp=13&gs_id=3f&xhr=t&q=Islamic+Banking&pf=p&sclient=psy&biw=1280&bih=728&source=hp&pbx=1&oq=Speaking as one who is neither an insider nor an outsider – in fact I
am dispassionately neutral about the issue - I see no reason for all
this hue and cry, all this great fuss and islamophobic hullabaloo
just because a section of the Nigerian nation – about 50% of whom are
Muslims, should want to practice an essential aspect of their religion
which prohibits interest banking - and I assume that this is the core
motivation for the so called " Islamic Banking." - based on the
Qur'anic prohibition against usury:
http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&cp=24&gs_id=3&xhr=t&q=Quran+%3A+Do+not+take+riba&pf=p&sclient=psy&site=&source=hp&pbx=1&oq=Quran+:+Do+not+take+riba&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=ba4a5d2eaf453507&biw=1280&bih=728Halal Banks:
http://www.google.co.uk/#sclient=psy&hl=en&source=hp&q=Halal+Banks&pbx=1&oq=Halal+Banks&aq=f&aqi=g1g-v2g-j1g-b1&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=2872l5567l0l5840l11l11l0l1l1l0l142l1037l6.4l10l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=ba4a5d2eaf453507&biw=1280&bih=728My basic understanding of Islamic Banking is that the bank is like a
joint stock company and that those who invest in the company, share
the profit. There are halal banks operating in Sweden and there's a
lot of Arab capital invested in this country.
The core fear of those who are ill-equipped with an understanding of
what Islamic Banking is all about, is that money is POWER and that
this sort of banking system will in the end give Muslims in the
country added economic clout resulting in the Nigerian Muslims gaining
the political upper-hand – Muslims putting their money where their
mouth is - as if the Islamic Banking system is some kind of daylight
robbery or criminal activity which consists in robbing Peter (child of
Christ) to Pay Paul ( another one) - or even worse, (watching these
smart Muslims) the fear that Islamic Banking in Nigeria is a subtle
underhand Islamic system which consists in robbing Peter (or even
Goodluck Jonathan and his folk)/ kuffar, to pay Muhammad.
The fact is that nothing could be further from the truth – although
the basis of this paranoia is more likely political than ethical -
along the old axis of the North-South divide - political in a very
competitive sense – since it is feared that Islamic Banking could not
only strengthen the Nigerian Muslim section of Nigerian Society and
the Nigerians' Islamic identity but also strengthen the Muslims'
collective economic identity as a moral economic force – that's what
Islam has always boasted - even in the age of modern oil-rich
economies where the petro-dollar Sheikhs are forever being criticized
for investing their monies in interest-giving Western Banks where they
can watch their capital grow - although history has taught us that in
the time of crisis ( just ask Gaddafi, ask the Shah of Iran - & the
Iranians) – at a time of crisis such huge assets could be "Frozen" -
some say " stolen" in the name of "the law" by the disenchanted West
– and there's nothing Gaddaf or Shah or his state can do about it it.
( In the case of the Shah, it was said that his vast dollar-wealth
did much to prop up the Chase Manhattan Bank, whilst Gaddafi must
still be crying about his $30 Billion that has been " Frozen."... and
so would you, if your $30 Billion was " Frozen … or stolen....)
Needless to say, this Islamic economic identity could result in all
Muslims obeying the Quranic edict and placing their money in one
Islamic Bank or another – where the money will not rot or get rusty,
could see the Muslim collective emerge as a conscious economic force –
indeed unity is precisely that : Strength..... not weakness.
During my time in Nigeria (1981-1984) - during the days of the oil
boom - a time when the Nigeria Naira passed through Nigerian Banks at
the exchange rate of £1 Sterling the equivalent of the Nigerian Naira)
foreign exchange was still a much sought after precious commodity,
especially for business people - and the order of the day was for
many a pious Christian Nigerian to "convert" to Islam, so that they
could get the minimum travelling allowance of a few hundred pounds in
foreign exchange – legal tender sanctioned by the Government/ Banking
system - in order to perform another Islamic duty ( with the
stipulation " if you can afford it") - the Hajj/ Pilgrimage to Mecca.
I met an Igbo friend or two standing in queue at the then Savannah
Bank at Number 10 Aba Road in Port Harcourt. Some of these people
never got to Mecca actually. They dropped off at Riyadh where they
went on a shopping spree and returned with tape recorders, Jew-ellery,
hyper sound systems etc. waving a bottle of beer and carried on as
before, with their trading business. Igbo Mallams and Alhajis.
So in those years ( don't know how it is now) but then "conversion" to
Islam was a good way of getting easy access to valuable foreign
exchange for business purposes.
How Islamic Banking could even better facilitate this for the
Faithful, is or could be a positive matter for Nigeria's economy/ the
business community.
Another side-effect could be that it attracts Arab and Muslim
investment capital in general (Nigeria is an enormous market
potential) and with or even without strings attached, the money could
still smell good. Strings attached means being within the sphere of
influence of those who own the money.
This is an important factor : Nigeria after all is a member of OIC:
http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&cp=30&gs_id=3l&xhr=t&q=Nigeria+is+a+member+of+the+OIC&pf=p&sclient=psy&source=hp&pbx=1&oq=Nigeria+is+a+member+of+the+OIC&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=ba4a5d2eaf453507&biw=1280&bih=728What I do know about Islamic Banking when the movement for such
Banking was at its height from Bangladesh, through Riyadh, to London
was some documents and motivational texts provided by the AbdalQadir
al-Darqawi people - chief of which was a fatwa that Umar Vadillo
issued " against useless paper money" :
http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&cp=25&gs_id=5&xhr=t&q=Fatwa+against+paper+money&pf=p&sclient=psy&site=&source=hp&pbx=1&oqhttp://www.google.co.uk/#sclient=psy&hl=en&source=hp&q=Abdalqadir+al-Murabit+as-Sufi++:+Islamic+Banking&pbx=1&oq=Abdalqadir+al-Murabit+as-Sufi++:+Islamic+Banking&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=10383l17188l5l17631l20l19l1l0l0l0l192l2068l8.10l18l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=ba4a5d2eaf453507&biw=1280&bih=728--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit
http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue For previous archives, visit
http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html To post to this group, send an email to
USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
No comments:
Post a Comment