The author says: "Those who make no effort to understand Islam and its extensive intellectual history will never be able to embrace an intercultural attitude and instead, hatred and ignorance will be rife".

I always find these claims that Islam has an extensive intellectual history to be rather amusing. If they were true then why is it that there is a near-absence of intellectual activity in the Islamic world today? Why is it that the numer of Nobel Prize winners from an Islamic background could easily meet in my bathroom? (There are five that I can find - two from literature, one from chemistry, one from physics and one from economics.)

That small number is matched by the number of Australian-born Nobel Prize winners who are still alive! So while we often decry the anti-intellectual traits of the Australian culture and ethos, let's not forget that Australia has produced as many - actually more - Nobel Prize winners than the entire Islamic world with a population which is at least 60 times bigger than ours.

sneekeepete,

Dr. Sookhdeo emphasised that Islamic banking is of recent origin developed by the Pakistani, Abul Ala Mawdudi, the founder of the Islamists organisation Jamaat-e-Islami which is closely associated with terrorist organisations.

http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/3769

“Interest-free banking seems to be of very recent origin. The earliest references to the reorganisation of banking on the basis of profit sharing rather than interest are found in Anwar Qureshi (1946), Naiem Siddiqi (1948) and Mahmud Ahmad (1952) in the late forties, followed by a more elaborate exposition by Mawdudi in 1950 (1961).”
http://www.islamicbanking.nl/chap4.html .

Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo explained Islamic finance very clearly in his talk. He mentioned that Islamic scholars from Al azhar university, the chief centre of Sunni Islam learning, viewed normal banking practices (based on fixed interest payments) as being compatible with Islam. The word ‘riba’ is translated as ‘usury’ (profiteering by charging exorbitant rates of interest) and not ‘interest’.

As an example, the Islamic country of Oman does not permit Islamic banking.

So it is obvious that Islamic banking is of recent origin and is currently promoted by extremists with the aim of imposing sharia law world-wide.

Being a former Muslim, Dr. Sookhdeo is Muslim-friendly but weary of the Islamists’ agenda. He is worth listening to.
http://www.heritage.org/press/events/ev032409b.cfm

Sharia finance is a con - any interest payments are simply built into the principal, and the installments adjusted accordingly. It's an exercise in semantics. Not to mention it will increase the influence of Islam in the Western world - and the extremist Saudi Wahabbis will be at the forefront because they have the most money. We've all seen what Wahabbis espouse.

I enjoyed the article and all but one of the comments, that one being so negative, so biased as to be irrational. On the faith side, the Koran (various spellings exist) is as beautiful and as flawed as the Bible. Indeed there are those aspects which are identical and if you believe in one God, whatever his name, then they should be identical, at least in parts. But I have read a translated version and I enjoyed it as much as I did reading the Bible.
On the money lending side,if it works why knock it and it certainly works for those who adhere to it. The Jews have a similar concept as do many Vietnamese communities. That is why they are doing so well, compared to those who run to the big four banks

We already have something similar to Islamic banking in Australia. It is called venture capital and has been around for decades.

The islamic banks just copied it from the west as their ability to lend money was curtailed by silly religious laws.

Venture capital is not cheaper than borrowing money. Venture capitalists take larger risks and get their pound of flesh.

The Jews and the Vietnamese do better because they are extremely tight-knit communities. They stick together, maintain excellent networks, and help each other out without question. Their sense of community is something we could learn from - but wait, that's probably racist.