Recently, The Supreme Court of Pakistan came out with a landmark decision declaring Riba/Interest on monies as Un-Islamic and urged a new order by 2001.
Did they really mean it or were they just playing the game,knowing full well that implementing an interest-free financial system is workable only in certain cases and definitely NOT in a global economy of today.
How would Pakistan, for example, who just went through the task of ignominously re-negotiating the debt with the lenders, mostly the West, will do when times comes again to re-negotiate the debt - this time the ‘term’ from interest to let’s say a stake in the project or venture. Would the West that measures profits in terms of interest received annually be willing to opt, instead, for a stake or a piece of the project; a project which at the end may or may not be worth anything. The West will say: Show me the return in interest or show me nothing at all.
Maybe the Supreme Court, in all its jurisprudence, wants the Pakis to wake up and smell the cofee. The World’s economy has become very interdependent and one who rocks the boat will be found rowing alone.