Felix the Cat
12-15-2006, 01:55 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_economics#Interest
Islamic economic institutions, not just the Islamic bank but all those connected with Islamic banking, claim to operate on the basis of "zero interest." Critics of Islamic economics argue, however, that the fundamental characteristic of charging interest (i.e. charging a premium, on the principal amount of a loan, for the time value of the loaned money) is not truly eliminated in Islamic banking, but rather the interest is merely hidden and relabeled.
For example, consider the practical reality of purchasing a vehicle from an Islamic bank under an allegedly "zero interest" loan. The procedure, generally, is that the client tells the Islamic bank which vehicle he or she would like to own. The Islamic bank then purchases that vehicle in its name, and sells it to the client at a marked-up price, under an agreement that the new marked-up price of the vehicle must be paid in a certain number of installments of a certain time period. Thus a $20,000 car might cost $35,000 if purchased from an Islamic bank at "zero interest," 5 year loan. Of course, the bank charges the extra $15,000 on top of the $20,000 cost of the car because money has a time value (that is to say, a payment of $20,000 5 years from now is worth less than a payment of $20,000 today). This is also why a $20,000 car could cost $35,000 if the purchase were financed by an interest bearing loan issued by a non-Islamic financial institution.
Usually, time value of money is compensated to the lender by the lender charging the borrower interest on the principal amount of the loan. In the case of Islamic banking, the lost time value is compensated by charging a mark-up on the home or vehicle that the client might be seeking to purchase by way of a loan. The vehicle or mortgage usually remains in the name of the bank, until the principal loan including the mark-up has been paid. In the case of a business loan, instead of charging interest over the time that the principal amount is loaned out, an Islamic bank will demand a certain percentage of the borrower's business profits for an indefinite period of time. So it is the principle of sharing and the bank is a partner who obtains loses as profits. This is because of a law in the islamic finanical theory that you are not allowed to enjoy the profits if you did not take its risk.
Under a conventional interest based loan it is possible to "call" the loan if the interest rate drops and the borrower finds that he can find cheaper financing (i.e. pays off the entire loan before the end of its term, thus paying less interest). However, there is no way to call a loan issued by an Islamic bank. Thus, while the borrower from an Islamic bank is protected against interest rate increases, the borrower cannot benefit from interest rate drops.
In theory, Islamic banking should be synonymous with full-reserve banking, with banks achieving a 100% reserve ratio [2]. However in practice this is rarely the case.
Islamic economic institutions, not just the Islamic bank but all those connected with Islamic banking, claim to operate on the basis of "zero interest." Critics of Islamic economics argue, however, that the fundamental characteristic of charging interest (i.e. charging a premium, on the principal amount of a loan, for the time value of the loaned money) is not truly eliminated in Islamic banking, but rather the interest is merely hidden and relabeled.
For example, consider the practical reality of purchasing a vehicle from an Islamic bank under an allegedly "zero interest" loan. The procedure, generally, is that the client tells the Islamic bank which vehicle he or she would like to own. The Islamic bank then purchases that vehicle in its name, and sells it to the client at a marked-up price, under an agreement that the new marked-up price of the vehicle must be paid in a certain number of installments of a certain time period. Thus a $20,000 car might cost $35,000 if purchased from an Islamic bank at "zero interest," 5 year loan. Of course, the bank charges the extra $15,000 on top of the $20,000 cost of the car because money has a time value (that is to say, a payment of $20,000 5 years from now is worth less than a payment of $20,000 today). This is also why a $20,000 car could cost $35,000 if the purchase were financed by an interest bearing loan issued by a non-Islamic financial institution.
Usually, time value of money is compensated to the lender by the lender charging the borrower interest on the principal amount of the loan. In the case of Islamic banking, the lost time value is compensated by charging a mark-up on the home or vehicle that the client might be seeking to purchase by way of a loan. The vehicle or mortgage usually remains in the name of the bank, until the principal loan including the mark-up has been paid. In the case of a business loan, instead of charging interest over the time that the principal amount is loaned out, an Islamic bank will demand a certain percentage of the borrower's business profits for an indefinite period of time. So it is the principle of sharing and the bank is a partner who obtains loses as profits. This is because of a law in the islamic finanical theory that you are not allowed to enjoy the profits if you did not take its risk.
Under a conventional interest based loan it is possible to "call" the loan if the interest rate drops and the borrower finds that he can find cheaper financing (i.e. pays off the entire loan before the end of its term, thus paying less interest). However, there is no way to call a loan issued by an Islamic bank. Thus, while the borrower from an Islamic bank is protected against interest rate increases, the borrower cannot benefit from interest rate drops.
In theory, Islamic banking should be synonymous with full-reserve banking, with banks achieving a 100% reserve ratio [2]. However in practice this is rarely the case.