Mateen Altaf

Riba can be roughly translated as "Usury", or unjust, exploitative gains made in trade or business. Riba is mentioned and condemned in several different verses in the Qur'an (3:130,4:161, 30:39 and perhaps most commonly in 2:275-280). It is also mentioned in many Hadith. Though it is believed that only the religion Islam has prohibited or discouraged it, but it is also prohibited or hardly discouraged through the Old Testament [1] (i.e., set of holy books granted to follow in Judaism and Christianity) which is cited here, “And in case your brother grows poor so he is financially weak alongside you, you must also sustain him. As an alien resident and a settler, he must keep alive with you. Do not take interest and usury from him, but you must be in fear of your God; and your brother must keep alive with you. You must not give your money on interest, and you must not give your food out on usury.”(Leviticus 25:35-37) While Muslims agree that Riba is prohibited, there is ...

Banking sector has immense important for the growth and economic development of a country. Pakistan has a growing economy and banking sector is playing a vital role in it. Being a Muslim nation our first priority should be Islamic Banking. Efforts for economy wide elimination of Riba started during 1970s and most of the significant and practical steps were taken in 1980. In 1980 initial steps were taken by the State Bank of Pakistan by changing the rules and regulation of the Banking sector. After that in 2001 first certificate had been issued to Meezan bank of Pakistan as a full fledge Islamic Bank. And present there are six full fledge Islamic Bank in Pakistan. (Meezan Bank, Albarka Islamic Bank, Dai Islamic Bank, Dawood Islamic Bank, burj Bank, Bank Islamic Pakistan). More efforts are needed to increase the share of Islamic bank in Pakistan.  Question is how much people are aware about the Islamic banking in our country?  The demand for Islamic banking in Pakistan i...