An Update on Religion, Investments, and the Internet
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I wrote a post yesterday on Religion, Investments, and the Internet. The post received quite a bit of flack – mainly because I made the stupid mistake of calling specialized Islamic Investments a ‘marketing gimmick’. I stand corrected.
Here is something on Islamic Banking.
A few clarifications from MoneyControl as well. The site (Islamic Investment Opportunities) is a microsite created in associate with Parsoli, which is also running a campaign on the Islamic TV Channels. The previous article in no way was looking to deface MoneyControl. As it stands, MoneyControl is quite a useful aggregation portal.
Islamic Investments is big business (and useful business at that) in the eyes of many. As I stated in the post Yesterday as well, Islam has separate rules related to Investments and Finance. (more and that can be read here)
So in a sense, business wise, it can be profitable from a macro economic perspective because technically it is enabling investors who wouldn’t have invested otherwise.
From the point of view of looking at society as it is currently structured, my views stand corrected. From an objective perspective – a perspective that negates the presence of religion – im not so sure. However, im aware that the way things currently stand, and with the boundaries that have been developed for all of us, my view holds no significance. Here is a paper that lends some criticism - http://www.jstor.org/pss/194707
Here is something from Wikipedia -
Its popularity notwithstanding, critics of Islamic economics have not been sparing. It has been attacked for its alleged “incoherence, incompleteness, impracticality, and irrelevance;” driven by “cultural identity” rather than problem solving. Others have dismissed it as “a hodgepodge of populist and socialist ideas,” in theory and “nothing more than inefficient state control of the economy and some almost equally ineffective redistribution policies,” in practice.
In a political and regional context where Islamist and ulema claim to have an opinion about everything, it is striking how little they have to say about this most central of human activities, beyond repetitious pieties about how their model is neither capitalist nor socialist.
If you haven’t bored yourself out yet, then here is something that noted Philosopher and Spiritual Guru – J. Krishnamurthy has said about the topic of religion and belief. I have quoted this because I believe that fundamentally, investing in an Islamic Fund is a matter of belief. (Not the perfect editorial environment and audience for this topic, but since we have decided to plunge into the topic anyway, why not take a broad consideration of the matter?)
He says – “… is belief Religion? The Christians believe in one way, the Hindus in another, the Moslems in another, the Buddhists in still another and they all consider themselves very religious people; they all have their temples, gods, symbols, beliefs. And is that Religion? … You believe because your father and your grandfather believe; … If you have wiped the window clean – which means that you have actually stopped performing ceremonies, given up all beliefs, ceased to follow any leader or guru – then you mind, like the window, is clean, polished, and you can see out of it very clearly. When the mind is swept clean of image, of ritual, of belief, of symbol, of all words, mantrams and repetitions and of all fear, then what you will see will be the real, the timeless, the everlasting”
The following extract is taken from the book ‘This Matter of Culture’ (2001 Edition, Pg. 37)
I don’t need to dwell on how the following extract is relevant to the topic being discussed. It is quite clear. The threads that bind belief, thought, mind, and investments.
So there you have it – an economic, as well as Philosophical Justification. The point is not to make a point but to keep in mind things beyond the way Society as it currently functions – sees them. I completely understand why Islamic Investments would function well in a market that is not completely efficient and where cultural nuances play an important part in the sale and distribution of products and services.
Sadly enough, life isn’t lived on blogs, or within books for that matter. Second Life, anyone? 
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This is called putting one’s foot in one’s mouth. Don’t just read something shallow and write without using your grey cells.
Hi,
I read both your posts. Thanks for the update too. Being a muslim, we always are in a confusion that in today’s world we have to have a right balance of religion and worldly matters. In terms of investments we have to be careful as to where you are investing, what the company deals with, how is it earning the profits and so on; in short – Shariah compliant. On the other note, interests are Haram.
I have heard of Parsoli and they have been tapping the Muslim audience, have received emails from them. Also saw their tie-up with MoneyControl on CNBC. This is a very good initiative taken up by them to cater to the muslim segment.
What we still need from them is more transparency in terms of how and where the Islamic Innvestments are done. Muslims will be more than happy to take it up.
Some more awareness among the target segment needs to be made about the product.
@ Sudhir – what is shallow? The previous post or this one. As i see it, with this post there should be no dispute. It covers all the possible arguments that can be raised. If you have a problem with this post then i suggest YOU use your grey cells a bit more. If there was a problem with the previous post – as i have explicitly stated. I stand corrected – and i have no shame in saying so. I even went to the level of calling myself stupid
– so its a learning process. And if i can call myself stupid i do believe that the gyaan coming from you is quite unnecessary. Your comments are appreciated if they add value.
@ S Khan – i too strongly feel that more transparency is required. (Hope you have subscribed to WATBlog feeds)