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Further Discussion On Investiment In The So-called Islamic Banks

Khalid Zaheer

July 10, 2024

2 min read 2 min

Economic Issues

Question

Dear brother, your answer[1] is not very clear. Firstly if Islamic Banks like Meezan are not fully Islamic then what is the fun of keeping money in them? You say leasing is acceptable and murabahah is not. Then how do we know that our money has been used in leasing only. In one of the TV shows a similar question was asked to Mr Ghamidi. He never commented on it to be half okay and half not. He simply said that no zakah is to be paid as 10% deduction has already been done. Please clarify this point as I placed my amount in this Bank for seven years after listening to Deen-O-Danish on Dunya TV. I want to be absolutely sure about my investments because I have to face Allah Almighty one day. I will be quoting you people on the day of resurrection. Now please tell me whether keeping money in these banks is Halal or not. They don’t give fix profit. They claim that they invest in Halal dealings. People like us can’t go and investigate them for that. We have to trust somebody when their is hardly any choice left these days.

[1] Reference is towards the following discussion: http://www.al-mawrid.org/pages/questions_english_detail.php?qid=524&cid=385

Answer

Each one of us is accountable to the Almighty to perform to the best of his judgment. We make statements on religious issues as best as we understand without claiming that what we have stated is the absolute truth. You have to form your opinion and act accordingly on the basis of what you think is the correct view from the ones that are available.

Mr Ghamidi holds the opinion that murabaha is Islamically undesirable if not completely haram. Incidentally, Mufti Taqi Usmani too is not fully satisfied with it. He believes that murabaha should be resorted to as a last resort.

The fact that murabaha-based returns account for 50% of the revenues of Islamic banks is a very rough estimate I reached when I was doing my PhD in Banking in Islam (1994; University of Wales) and later while interacting with Islamic bankers.

This world is imperfect. It is not likely to become otherwise. If you can’t find best solutions, you have to go for less-than-the-best ones.

Answered by: Dr. Khalid Zaheer

Date: 2015-03-05

banks islamic banking islamic banks

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Dr Khalid Zaheer is an Islamic scholar and academic. He has a Ph.D. from the University of Wales. His Ph.D. thesis was a critique on Islamic Banking. Dr Kahlid also had an intensive formal religious education in Islam. He studied Quran from Dr. Israr Ahmed, Mawlana Amin Ahsan Islahi, and Javed Ahmed Ghamdi. He also went through a formal two years course on Arabic and Islamic learning from Al-Mawrid, in 1983-84. Dr. Khalid Zaheer has a deep and incisive understanding of the very relevant issue of Islam and modernity and has taught courses on Islamic ethics, traditions and economics etc. at various top national institutions, including the Aga Khan University, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), University of Central Punjab, Hailey College of Commerce, information Technology University, and Institute of Art and Culture. Dr Khalid Zaheer has also delivered various lectures on Islam in UK, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Japan and many prestigious institutions of Pakistan. Including Civil Services Academy, Administrative Staff College and PAF War College.

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