As a kid or a school boy, I had never thought much about other religions/castes, though I was brought up amidst really diverse people. Coming to think of it, I don’t think I can hope to even (seek to) meet such diverse people NOW. I was probably brought up secular unknowingly! It was in fact great that I never knew the 'second names' of anyone at school. It was always AR Suresh or KP Manikandan or R Gayathri, with most of us not knowing/caring what the initials stood for. We were 'natural' Periyarists, I guess ;) Similarly when I went to temples, usually accompanied by my mother, I hardly remember any 'human' form. Mostly it was the Pillaiyar, basically in the form of elephant, or Siva, aniconic representation for God in Shaiva philosophy. Since my sisters studied in a Christian convent, I came to know of Jesus as well. Islam was in some sense a pleasant surprise, though mostly our insight into Islam was burqa that only very few wore or the cap that some guys wore at their homes especially during some festivals. When I was doing graduation and my Tamil professor inadvertently sowed the seeds of non-existence of God, Islam acquired even more sense. I thought Islam is in fact atheism in the pure sense.
There can be only two beliefs. Either one believes that something beyond the power/will of humans, (is it 'unnatural' or is it supernatural? ;)), is dictating our course of life or one believes that there is a 'cause' for every event in life and nothing is unexplainable. I don’t believe in the former, so I don’t count :)) In the case of former, if we believe that 'supernatural' is indeed responsible, why should we give some sort of form to the same? Once we give form, why human form? Once we give human form, why male? All such inherent contradictions and loopholes led to the pantheon of zillion Gods in Hinduism, making it ridiculous. Even Christianity stumbled a bit, because the 'prophet' Jesus was taken as God by some people. On the other hand, Islam has remained strikingly simple, pure and powerful. To the point that they even resisted from creating a 'form', for the prophet Muhammad cartoon met with severe backlash.
I have come to believe that Islam is so profound that it is not at all surprising that people in the current environment of lower IQs and given 'posts' like mullah, ulema etc give their own version of Sharia. Though many idiots in India talk about Hinduism being a way of life, I think Islam should have made the first real effort towards religion as a way of life. While Ramayana and Mahabharata, the two epics of Hinduism, promote inequality 'religiously' to the point of perpetuating it in Indian society, I don’t think Hinduism has any 'code' for ethics or living which is FAIR. If 'formless' (rather Godless?) Islam surprised me, then Islamic banking was really an eye-opener.
Maybe courtesy my experiences till date have taught me that people are interested in us only if they get 'interest'. Of course, I do understand that a bank which does not know me, can lend me money only at an interest. Islamic banking which charges NO INTEREST is actually counter intuitive! The obvious ones or even the exceptional ones are not interesting. Ian Chappell talking about some of the good captains, listed out some non-so-obvious one like Mike Gatting and it does make it an interesting perspective. I did wonder how the hell can Islamic banking work. How can a Muslim lender, forget a bank, TRUST an unknown person lending money WITHOUT interest? Courtesy Depression, they are now trying to increase spending and one of the ways to increase spending is to cut down the interest rates. They have apparently brought it down to nearly 0% which is nothing but Islamic banking :)) Now they are wondering how Islamic banking has been functioning, as going by above link
Currently, close to USD 1 trillion is being managed by about 400-500 Islamic banks worldwide and by 2020, the figure is expected to touch USD 4 trillion.I think the key here is it is not just the lending rate that is 0% but also the fact that savings interest rate is 0%. So no matter how much ever money that you dump into the bank and for however long, it is not going to increase a bit, forget multiplying! It is better to spend it than to just lock it idle in some bank for months/years. If Islamic banks have trillions of US $s, then it means that they can spend that money, rather lend it in countries which pay interest and thus the money multiplies even further. Islamic banking promotes spending, obviously in a non-obvious way. Islam goes up further in my ratings :)
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