Dr Shahid Hasan Siddiqui’s book on Islamic banking launched

KARACHI: Eminent Economist and Banker Dr Shahid Hasan Siddiqui’s latest book “Islami Bankari: Ghair Soodi yaa Soodi & Istehsali?” has been published.

The book has been published at a time when, under the 26th Constitutional Amendment, the government is required to eliminate Riba (interest) from the economy, banking and financial system by December 31, 2027, but in this regard, not only various sections have expressed numerous concerns, expectations and doubts, but many questions have also been raised.

This book covers all these matters and also answers these questions. This book is also unique in that it presents guiding principles and objectives of Shariah in the light of Quranic verses regarding the Islamic economic system including the prohibition of Riba (interest) and the Islamic system Zakat, along with a detailed review of the state of the Pakistan’s economy in the light of authentic statistics.

Not only this, the performance of conventional interest-based banks and banks operating under the banner of Islamic banking has been analyzed in the light of the annual financial statements of these institutions and the reports of the State Bank of Pakistan.

The book also observes that the rapid spread of Islamic banking in Western countries and other non- Islamic countries cannot be termed a success because banks operating under the banner of Islamic banking around the world are also enhancing their profits by doing business on a large scale on the footprints of interest-based banks.

The book emphasizes that, firstly, it will be just insufficient to eliminate only the interest from the economy, and secondly, the Islamic economic system as also banking system must be implemented in accordance with the spirit of Shariah. Therefore, the nexus of domestic and foreign elites has to be broken, financial and intellectual corruption has to be controlled as much as possible, and the IMF program has to be exited.

At the end of the book, two dozen feasible recommendations have been presented for the elimination of interest from the economy and banking system and the implementation of the Islamic economic and banking system by 2027.

A warning has been given that if these recommendations are not implemented, the interest-based system will continue to flourish under the banner of Islamic banking. In this regard, special reference has been made to verses 278 and 279 of Surah Al-Baqarah and verses 44 and 45 of Surah Al-Ma’idah. The foreword of the book has been written by eminent lawyer Munir A. Malik.

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