> The lender is paid for the service of lending money out (which incurs risk). You want to incentivize this behavior.
Not all forms of payment are ethical or moral (e.g. prostitution). This is an exploitative practice, and should definitely not be incentivized as we've seen time and time again the destructive effect it has on society and the economic system.
> This would keep people who aren’t already rich unable to access capital.
This is why Islam has Zakat laws to ensure the poor are lifted out of poverty. We keep seeing the dems trying to solve the problem by increasing taxation, but to no avail. Islam solved the problem over 1400 years ago.
> I think Islamic law (or really any religious framework) has very little of value to say on the topic of morality or running a productive society.
Morality does not exist without religion. Secondly, Islam has proven to have run one of the most successful societies of all time, and definitely the most moral since Islam came. We still benefit of the discoveries made during the Islamic Golden Age.
> "This is why Islam has Zakat laws to ensure the poor are lifted out of poverty."
Charity isn't as good as letting people get access to capital that they can leverage for themselves.
We're not going to agree on this so can probably leave it here.
I will say I think morality exists in spite of religion.
It's not hard to pick out examples where Islam fails on the morality issue, see: women's rights and the recent Charlie Hebdo murders, both driven by ideology.
As I originally pointed out, interest is prohibited in Islam, Judaism, and Christianity (at least) for a good reason. It's not ethical nor moral, in fact, it's destructive and parasitic.
> Charity isn't as good as letting people get access to capital that they can leverage for themselves.
It lifts people out of poverty to get them on their feet. There are many funds that provide people with access to capital (e.g. accelerators). Capital is not limited to interest bearing loans. The simplest example is pitching an idea to investors who in return own a portion of a potential company. If it works out, both parties benefit, otherwise, both parties equally took on the risk.
> women's rights
Those are cherry picked by anti-Islamic rhetoric drivers who have shown their ignorance and lies time and time again, and whose arguments fall apart the moment they're critically discussed. It's really meaningless talk that gets thrown around.
> and the recent Charlie Hebdo murders,
Easy refutation: you're going to have to show that Islam itself condones or required such murders to take place.
You just state it’s destructive for ideological reasons because of religious law, that’s not a good argument and it ignores contrary evidence. Why is taking a percentage of someone’s company better? If anything that’s more exploitive.
You’re the one cherry picking here and rationalizing anything that doesn’t fit into a narrative you’ve already decided is true. There won’t be any ability for us to agree, because you can’t update based on new evidence.
You can pretend Charlie Hebdo and any other negative action that’s clearly driven by ideologically motivated Islam is not “true Islam”, but then you’re just creating some special reference class that ignores the bad stuff.
I’m not trying to get into a fight. It’s rare for religious people to break free from their religion, but it’s possible. I succeeded when I was young and seeing counter arguments is part of it.
Yep, the one that guarantees women the rights to inheritance, not to mention that many other texts in Islam that order men to be lean and kind to women and not to exploit them (compare to what we see in the West today where women are sold as a commodity).
> but then you’re just creating some special reference class that ignores the bad stuff.
I'm not, because for any action that someone who ascribes to the religion does, we're able to go back to the texts and decide whether or not that was truly Islamic. There is no cherry picking or filtering. It's quite simple really. This isn't a "no true Scottsman" fallacy, it's going back to the Law books (Quran, Hadith, etc.) and checking whether what was done was legal or not.
> You mentioned accelerators - usually they operate by investing for a percentage of the company.
Yes. The trade off is that if the company fails, the accelerator loses the money they put into it, and the founder loses the time and effort. It's proper risk sharing. Now compare to a loan, where the founder not only owes the loan, but also the interest on top.
> you fear rebellion
The Arabic word is "nushooz". Look up what it means. Also, look up what "beating" means.
If someone defaults on their loan the bank gets nothing. If someone takes a loan and builds a successful business, the bank only gets the small agreed to percent return.
What you consider 'proper' is arbitrary and entirely determined by religious law.
> "Also, look up what "beating" means."
I know what beating means, this kind of denial of obviously bad stuff is one reason among many of why I find religion so distasteful. That entire section is written about how women are supposed to be obedient to men, the entire context is sexist.
With religion you start with an answer and make up reasons to get to your pre-determined answer. Outside of religion you start with evidence and struggle towards the truth.
> If someone defaults on their loan the bank gets nothing
Not before the bank coming after the assets of said person to try to grab as much as it can, destroying them in the process. Secondly, usurious money lending is obviously a very lucrative business by the fact that banks make billions in revenue. However, it is also extremely destructive purely by the fact that there exists trillions of dollars of debt (mortgages, auto, student, etc.), not to mention that the government itself is in debt and has to print money, devaluing the hard work of its citizens who worked and saved money, only to have it be worth less. Yet we cry because "the rich get richer", I wonder why?
We've already seen the effects on governments time and time again, most recently Greece and Lebanon. There is really no other way but to admit that it is a dangerous and predatory practice that benefits a relative few at the top of the economic ladder, at the expense of everyone else.
> this kind of denial
It's not denial because it is explicitly mentioned in Hadiths. We say things outright, and don't dance around the issue. Just one example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farewell_Sermon
> You too have right over them, and that they should not allow anyone to sit on your bed whom you do not like. But if they do that, you can chastise them but not severely
You can see how it refers to infidelity.
Both the husband and wife have rights from each other, and for each other. "Sexism" is quite meaningless in this context. We're not leftists/feminists/latest fad of the day, and we're proud of it. Each sex has their rights and duties, and claiming "sexism" shows weakness in argument. You can read about many important women in Islamic history who rightfully left their mark.
> With religion you start with an answer and make up reasons to get to your pre-determined answer.
Depends on the religion. It's a blatant fallacy to group all religions together, very unintellectual to say the least.
Not all forms of payment are ethical or moral (e.g. prostitution). This is an exploitative practice, and should definitely not be incentivized as we've seen time and time again the destructive effect it has on society and the economic system.
> This would keep people who aren’t already rich unable to access capital.
This is why Islam has Zakat laws to ensure the poor are lifted out of poverty. We keep seeing the dems trying to solve the problem by increasing taxation, but to no avail. Islam solved the problem over 1400 years ago.
> I think Islamic law (or really any religious framework) has very little of value to say on the topic of morality or running a productive society.
Morality does not exist without religion. Secondly, Islam has proven to have run one of the most successful societies of all time, and definitely the most moral since Islam came. We still benefit of the discoveries made during the Islamic Golden Age.