Duduk dalam neraka ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ???Islamic Banking is a Con Job!

"Already Living In Hell" - Islamic Banking is a Con Job!

I was speaking to a Muslim PhD student whose thesis is going to be about 'Islamic Capital Markets'. I had met him a few months ago where he discussed about finding a pricing mechanism for Islamic banking products. There is no such thing. In the real Islamic world of conventional banking it is simply called the interest rate.

The interest rate is determined by a thousand factors including the capacity of the economy to repay its loans. Also the productivity of an economy. If an economy is dependent on poultry farming, where a chicken lays one egg a day (following the natural cycle) then that will translate into many things in the poultry based economy including the interest rate. Plus the productivity and selling prices of other egg producers in the world. Its all connected. Things sort of settle down. Mess with this and you create chaos.

If you want to invent a new Islamic "profit rate" it is just not going to happen. There is no such thing. And you cannot create a magical "Islamic" chicken that will lay two eggs or three eggs in one day. So I really dont know how anyone is going to find the "Islamic profit rate". The hen still naturally lays one egg per day.

When I met the PhD student again most recently he dropped two bombshells. First he said that he is not pursuing the "pricing mechanism" research anymore. Why? Because there are no reference materials !! (I told you so. It does not exist. Correction : It cannot exist.)

The second bombshell was actually quite atomic. He said that his Professor had told him (I will not mention who. If I mention the name - its a 'Dato Professor Dr.' etc - it will be very embarrasing for many people and quite a few institutions in this country) that Islamic banking in Malaysia is just a political tool. Without political support Islamic banking in Malaysia will fail.

In short - what this means is that Islamic banking is not commercially viable. Left to market forces it will possibly collapse. It is only political will that keeps it going.

The day before that I also met a whole bunch of senior bankers at a function. One of them just blurted out "Islamic banking is a con job". I couldnt agree more. The person who said it is also a Dato and a former general manager of a bank which also has an Islamic banking license. Kalau sebut nama or which bank - a lot of people will be embarrassed again.

A couple of days ago I met up with a friend who practises medicine up in the highlands. She shares the same wavelength as me. We discussed the increasing numbers of religious types walking on air around Kuala Lumpur, including the imported variety from places like Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. They are all up to no good. All of them are just cari makan types looking to fleece the ignorant for a quick buck. Remember no money no religion.

We also spoke about their irritating holier than thou attitudes which is essential for them to make money. This is when my doctor friend said, 'they may think that we are going to hell, but they are already living in hell'. Then she laughed almost hysterically, which became infectious.

Then as I was typing this last nite I received this sms from Kelantan :

"Mufti Kelantan hari ini antara lain kata, Dinar Emas Kelantan hari ini bukan matawang tapi barang perhiasan. Mengulas susut nilai pula dia berkata kalau ada susut nilai seperti skrg dan tidak ikut harga pasaran maka ada unsur penipuan."

Sumber gua petik dari  AZIZAH ISMAIL