A contemporary philosophical conflict between Islamic finance and the historical monotheistic prohibition of usury.

摘要

The monotheistic tradition prohibits usury as it is considered to be an immoral act. It is interesting that the Islamic finance industry today deals in usury despite Islam's undisputed prohibition of it. The conflict embodies the millennia-old battle between monotheistic moralists and usurers. This study utilizes traditional commentaries on religious texts and their associations with morality, economics, and the Islamic finance industry to assess the historical correlation between usury, religion, and economics. Then, it discusses the rationale behind the prohibition of usury in Islam and traces the reversal of that prohibition from Islam's monotheistic predecessors. The study includes an analysis of the philosophy of capitalism and examines the factors that led to the contemporary Islamic banking industry and the philosophical contradiction that exists between the fundamentals of the industry and monotheistic traditions. Conclusions and implications for further research are discussed.