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Ownership effects of fractional reserve banking: an Islamic perspective

Ahamed Kameel Mydin Meera and Moussa Larbani (Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Malaysia)

Humanomics

ISSN: 0828-8666

Article publication date: 22 May 2009

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to show that fractional reserve banking (FRB) has implications for the ownership structure of assets in the economy that violates the Islamic principles of ownership.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a theoretical paper that looks into the works of Islamic scholars on the issue of ownership that are based on Qur'an principles and the traditions of the Prophet, and evaluates the FRB from that perspective.

Findings

The conclusion of the paper is that money creation through FRB is creation of purchasing power out of nothing which brings about unjust ownership transfers of assets, from the economy to the bank effectively paid for by the whole economy through inflation. This transfer of ownership is not based on human effort by taking on legitimate risks and neither with the knowledge nor the consent of the initial owners. This violates the ownership principles in Islam and is tantamount to theft. It also has the elements of riba. Islamic governments should therefore not create fiat money since this is equivalent to taking assets of the people, rich and poor alike, forcefully without compensation.

Research limitations/implications

Empirical investigations into how bank loans along the years have changed the asset ownership structure in economies may shed further light.

Practical implications

It is, therefore, important that Shariah scholars render a fatwa on both the fiat money and the FRB system. Such a fatwa is urgent and pertinent before Islamic banking and finance, that operate under these systems, takes a course that may prove difficult to reverse later. The Islamic economics and finance cannot be founded upon a money system that is fundamentally equivalent to theft and riba.

Originality/value

The paper shows how the operations of Islamic banking and finance within the fiat money, FRB system are invalid from the Islamic perspective.

Keywords

Citation

Kameel Mydin Meera, A. and Larbani, M. (2009), "Ownership effects of fractional reserve banking: an Islamic perspective", Humanomics, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 101-116. https://doi.org/10.1108/08288660910964175

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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