Harris Irfan, an insider's view on Islamic banking, discusses the origins and contradictions of Islamic finance, the importance of risk sharing and due diligence, the need for a sound money system aligned with Islamic principles, and explores alternatives to the current financial system.
01:15:42
forum Ask episode
web_stories AI Snips
view_agenda Chapters
auto_awesome Transcript
info_circle Episode notes
question_answer ANECDOTE
Mecca Clock Tower Regret
Harris Irfan, involved in financing the Mecca Clock Tower, regrets his participation.
He feels it destroyed historical heritage and serves as a warning against financialization.
insights INSIGHT
Fractional Reserve in Islamic Banking
Modern Islamic banking, like conventional banking, relies on fractional reserve systems.
Banks create money by lending out more than deposited, essentially creating money from nothing.
insights INSIGHT
Islamic Banking Oxymoron?
Islamic banking is inherently problematic due to its reliance on the fractional reserve system, which is considered riba (interest).
Sharia-compliant contracts built on this foundation don't change the underlying issue.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Muslims worldwide have come to the realisation that the prevailing capitalist economic system does not serve us ethically. With its interest-based banking and casino-style financial instruments, a devout believer has no choice but to attempt to escape its haram, even if that hinders the progress and prosperity of our daily lives. In recent years, Islamic finance has been touted as an ethical alternative. A way to escape the haram riba based economy. Some have even presented it as an alternative to financial capitalism. The rationale behind these products is to accommodate the detailed Shariah rulings on trade and many Islamic scholars have endorsed products that Western financial institutes and governments have embraced. Our guest today was an Islamic finance industry insider. Harris Irfan is currently the CEO of Cordoba Capital Markets https://www.ccmkts.com. He has 29 years of investment banking and consulting experience. He was the former co-founder of Deutsche Bank's world-leading Islamic finance team and CEO of Deutsche's Islamic finance subsidiary. He is the Former Global Head of Islamic Finance at Barclays, and then Head of Investment Banking for the Rasmala group. He is also the author of "Heaven's Bankers: Inside the Hidden World of Islamic Finance", the critically acclaimed best-seller about the Islamic finance industry.
The Thinking Muslim