The Garden of Knowledge

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

 18 Shawwaal 1443/20 May 2022

All praise is due to Allah, the Cherisher, Sustainer, Nourisher and Provider of the entire creation. May peace, blessings and salutations be upon our Beloved Prophet Muhammed ﷺ.

Allah makes mention in Surah Maidah, verse 2:
وَتَعَاوَنُوا۟ عَلَى ٱلْبِرِّ وَٱلتَّقْوَىٰ ۖ وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوا۟ عَلَى ٱلْإِثْمِ وَٱلْعُدْوَٰنِ ۚ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ ۖ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ شَدِيدُ ٱلْعِقَابِ
“And Cooperate with one another in goodness and righteousness, and do not cooperate in sin and transgression. And be mindful of Allah. Surely Allah is severe in punishment.”

From this we understand the command of Allah to come together and cooperate in goodness and assist one another in staying away from sin and transgression. This is one of the main reasons for scholars coming together to further develop the field of Islamic Finance. The end goal is to create a system which is riba-free and to save our brothers and sisters from this atrocious sin of dealing with riba which has been strictly prohibited in the Quran yet the command seems to have been ignored.

Islamic Finance promotes income generation through sharing of risks and rewards between parties of a transaction. This profit-sharing mechanism is believed to encourage people to become partners and work together rather than enter into a creditor-debtor relationship. Partnership promotes mutual responsibility for the outcome of the financed project, which is believed to increase the likelihood of success of the venture. A tangential aim of the partnership approach is that such increases in successful projects also provide stimulus to the economy.

Islamic Finance encourages active participation of financial institutions and investors in achieving the goals and objectives of an Islamic economy. It merges the ethical teachings of Islam with finance as a means to meet the needs of society and to encourage socioeconomic justice.

We ask Allah to grant us the ability and strength to develop systems which are free of riba and are beneficial to humanity. May Allah accept our efforts from us and grant us understanding In Sha Allah!