Indian Muslim organization calls US to adopt “Islamic interest free economic system”

India’s top Muslim organization, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) called US and European countries to adopt “Islamic Interest Free Economic System” for recovering from present debt crisis. “The debt crisis engulfing the USA and European countries is a major cause of concern for the economy of the world and it gives us an opportunity to rethink about the prevalent financial and monetary system and corrective steps wherever required, including structural changes, otherwise the situation may further worsen,” said Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Umari, President Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, in a statement issued here on Friday. Maulana Omari further explained that the prevalent financial and monetary system is fraught with structural weaknesses wherein deficit financing is covered with printing of bank notes and interest based debts. The effects are cascading and the economy becomes further weak. The case of the USA is more dangerous because sovereign bonds, documents purchased by foreign governments, considering its economy to be stable are more than 50 per cent of its total bonds. 'Any failure of the financial system of the US government will badly affect a number of other countries, including our country India. The lavish living standards in the US far beyond its means, its huge financial commitments to Israel, the various wars, including those in Iraq and Afghanistan it has involved itself, and similar factors have eroded its capital base leading to the present situation.' This is a natural consequence of interest based capitalist system and it calls for consideration of an alternative economic system. Islam offers the ethical interest free economic system, which is an option for the world, Maulana Omari concluded.