Shariah Compliant Finance

I ran into this fascinating blog called Shariah Finance Watch.  As you may be aware, a strict interpretation of the Koran prohibits lending at interest.  Much as the late medieval Church had to come up with ways to harmonize the needs of modern capitalism and the Bible's ban on usury, Islam is having to come up with instruments do not involve interest but still make something like modern finance possible.

It appears that quite a number of banks are now hot to become Shariah law compliant--which means contributing profits to Islamic charities.  While there are certainly Islamic charities that are not fronts for terrorism, there have been enough examples of such that have popped up the last few years to give me a queasy feeling about this.

The West seems to be committing slow suicide.