Islamic finance has been welcomed uncritically into the UK. Today there are over twenty lenders in the UK offering Islamic financial services. The British government has been promoting Islamic finance for some years and Britain is the largest provider of Islamic finance courses in the world. In 2014, Britain made history by becoming the first non-Muslim country to issue a sovereign Islamic bond.
Watch Tim summarise the dangers of Islamic Finance
There are serious problems and concerns to raise about Islamic finance, however, and this is why we have produced this booklet. Islamic finance is based on the idea that the Qur'an prohibits all forms of interest. In fact, Muslims have borrowed and lent money with interest throughout history, and most still do so today.
The idea that the Qur’an prohibits interest is a modern radical interpretation of the Qur’an which is intended to promote Islamic segregation and to create a separate, rival financial system. It also aims at increasing the influence of sharia law more generally.
In this twenty-four-page booklet we outline ten problems with Islamic finance. It is time for the government and western financial institutions to recognise these problems and to stop promoting Islamic finance.