I've never deposited my hard-earned savings in interest-bearing bank accounts, even though I'm not deeply religious. It was because everyone thought something dreadful would happen if I earned interest money. I've studied this subject in detail and I'm convinced that interest earned from banks is not forbidden. However, I will not go into that now.
Recently I went to three so-called Islamic banks to find out how they operate. I was shocked at what I discovered. They told me that the rate of "profit" (a euphemism for interest) was much greater for higher amounts. A ten-million rupee deposit would get up to seventeen percent, while a million rupee deposit would get less than eight percent. And if I borrowed money from them, I would have to pay thirty one percent. I can't imagine anything more un-Islamic than this whole-sale looting.
Conventional banks offer twenty percent interest, whatever the amount. I heard one Islamic scholar say that it would be better to earn interest and give it to the poor. This is what one of my rich uncles used to do.
In my opinion, the whole Islamic banking thing is a scam to cheat gullible Muslims. But of course Pakistani Muslims will fall for it wholesale.
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