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Islamic Banking: Our Democratic Dividend By Ma’aruf Tijjani I’m spurred to write on the recent unnecessary controversy about the establishment of a full pledged and operational Islamic bank in Nigeria as a response to the question furiously asked by one of the leaders of a prominent church in this country and his cohorts who are arrantly displaying their ignorance of what Islam is and in particular what Islamic banking is all about. This ‘leading’ church leader and perhaps many of his likes in the Nigerian Christendom were infuriated in asking “why Islamic banking?”. There is a very simple answer to this simple question. However in my attempt to give this answer we shall bring to limelight many other answers albeit not consciously asked by the believers of what I may call Nigeria’s version of Christianity, whenever anything that affects the Muslims arise. The first premise in answering this small question is that of democracy which I suppose, was cooked and served to us, to be seen and understood as a system of government BY the people and FOR the people. Thus, if democracy is to fulfill this lofty definition and even yield some dividends, if it truly is a government OF the people which is BY us and FOR us, I don’t see any reason so obscure that the Muslims are being challenged when they want to put in practice what they have been yearning for. The issue of establishing an Islamic bank is simply a question of choice based on the fundamentals of our faith. Faith in our religion is a very serious issue and in fact very indispensable to the practice of our religion. It has to do with Iman which is supposed to be very deep, irrevocable and uncompromising. So, in this democracy premise, the establishment on an Islamic bank is a Muslims’ right and not a favour or privilege. The Christians suffering from Islamophorbia need not to bother themselves as the issue is purely for the Muslims and for general good of entire humanity. It is regrettable that the doctrine of Islam as a religion was the same ever since the first human being was created by God. Thus, it was the religion of Prophets Adam (and his wife Hauwa (eve), Nuh (Noa), Ibrahim (Abraham), Isma’il (Ismael), Yusuf (Joseph), Suleiman (Solomon), Yunus (Jonah), Musa (Moses), Isa (Jesus) and Muhammad (SAW) May the peace and blessings of Allah be Upon them all; yet this religion has been and is still as rightly pointed out by Mallam Aliyu Dauda, “the most misunderstood religion!” This is the reason why in Nigeria anything Islam is contemptuously disregarded, vilified, unnecessarily feared and baselessly opposed by those who have little (and in fact are ignorant) knowledge of the religion and who want to deny the Muslims even their basic democratic rights. It is to be noted that Islamic banking, this time around has come to stay because I see it as our greatest dividend of democracy endowed on us by God the Almighty. Even the big names in the Nigerian econometrics like the former Nigeria’s minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonja Iweala, a woman I respect for her African Mind and intelligence, who is a managing Director in the “world bank” has given her full weight to the idea of Islamic banking when she said the system “is ok”. She did not make this remark out of coercion but on account of her vast experience on what Islamic banking entails. For the sake of clarity, we need to be reminded that the suffocating social and economic mess the entire world is experiencing today which include economic meltdown, insecurity, unnecessary conflicts, wars, hunger, famine horrible health, jaundicing political and economic strangulations, moral decadence, political confusion, murders, rapes, ganstarism etc are all the by-product of a five letter word- USURY. It is a common knowledge that usury is abhorred by all religions and in fact God Almighty has said in the holy Quran that He will declare war on the promoters and consumers of usury! Therefore, Islamic banking is, if rightly understood is a universal solution to the over one thousand and one biting and scorching problems bedeviling humanity today because it is the safest banking system before God and any rational human justice for its total rejection of exploitation which is the cornerstone of usury in capitalist concept. The stoic nature of the Muslims today which accounts for the pernicious attitude and general ignorance or misunderstanding of Islam by non Muslims is also one area that we need to wake up from our deep slumber. In Nigeria, silence is sometimes misconstrued as stupidity or cowardice. If not, I hasten to say that the Nigerian Muslims have over the years been noted for an enduring tolerance. In the actual fact, the Muslims have enough reasons to say that they are the ones being Christianized rather than the case now, when at the slightest instance, the Christians fear and claim that they will be Islamised! My reason for saying this is that we have been making so many sacrifices in this country when a lot of what we are subjected to, is a negation of the requirements of our faith and our shari’ah. One, accepting the idea or principle of secularism in Nigerian state is threatening to our faith because it amounts to some degree of shirkah (apostasy) I e associating partners to God almighty. This is because secularism is fundamentally and clearly a Christian doctrine. The Muslims tolerated it because actions are judged according to intentions and we take it to be immaterial to our faith. Secondly, the Muslims are compelled to observe Sunday as a rest day when they have nothing spiritually to attend to as compared to Friday when they go out for Friday congregational prayers. We have been denied a work-free Fridays and were forced to accept Sunday as same thinking that we don’t deserve a no-work Friday. We tolerated this because we can forge ahead and that working on Fridays doesn’t make it impossible for us to hold our congregational prayers. This is another spiritual national sacrifice. Thirdly, the Muslims who are in overwhelming majority were forced to cope with the deletion of the literal Arabic inscription on our currencies because of the symbolic nature of Arabic with Islam. Even the colonial adventurists who were the main preachers of Christianity in the early days of colonialism considered it pertinent show a great mark of respect by writing in Arabic on the English currencies (pound) of various denominations and the Nigerian naira because the bulk majority of the users of the currency are Muslims and biased to Arabic rather than their own English. Alas! Our ‘dark Europeans’ saw it unfit to keep the Arabic inscriptions on our currencies in the pretext that the people have now become “literate” to read English writing better than the Arabic letters. This is another big national sacrifice by the Muslims. The central bank need to revisit the reversal of this please in the spirit of fairness. Thirdly, in almost all undertakings, the religion of Islam is facing relegation. Political, social and economic plans in this country mostly disregard the very nature of Islamic shari’ah. During elections, at work places, in luxurious buses, schools, hospitals (where we accept the cross as symbol of health), business and other economic activities our religion is never given serious consideration. Go to any Muslim dominated city in Nigeria today including those that have declared the administration of the shari’ah legal system and see how almost-naked women who are without the slightest hesitation saying they are “Christians” are openly parading themselves in sexually provocative dresses. Marketing, advertisement and other business practices all leave out our religion as a factor in their designs even if the product is intended for Muslim market. The curriculum and syllabuses of the entire education system is against most of the Islamic practices but the Muslims were able to condone all these so that we can coexist peacefully. On the final note, I want to assure those Christians who are yet to come to terms with the idea of Islamic banking in Nigeria that it is no longer time for threats of disintegration or ‘setting the country on fire’ . it is now time to prove that you are true believers of the Teachings of the Bible which clearly prohibits the promotion and consumption of monies from usury. Rather than wasting time in vain and void arguments you should feel free to establish Christian bank guided by the true teachings of the Bible which the Muslims will be glad to see and perhaps maintain accounts with. Islamic bank is for the Muslims and the willing non Muslims and it is an issue of no retreat because the system is being practiced in over 100 countries of the world including England! If deemed worthwhile, the Nigerian Muslim community would be glad to engage in national debate about Islamic banking with anybody or group who think he has the stuff to prove the illegality or unconstitutionality of the Islamic Banking |