Significance of Al-Isra and Al-Miraj

Taken from readingislam.com

Q: Could you please detail for me the significance of the night of Al-Isra and Al-Miraj? What does it commemorate and is there anything specific that we should do on this night?

Answered by counselor: Shahul Hameed

Salam, Thank you very much for your question.

When and How

Allah says in the Quran what means:
*{Glory be to Him Who made His servant to go on a night from the Sacred Mosque to the remote mosque of which We have blessed the precincts, so that We may show to him some of Our signs; surely He is the Hearing, the Seeing.}* (Al-Israa' 17:1)

There is no doubt that Al-Isra (the night journey) followed by Al-Miraj (the heavenly ascension) was one of the miracles in the life of our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).

According to the most accepted view, it happened on the 27th of Rajab, the seventh month of the Hijri calendar, in the tenth year of Muhammad's prophethood.

It is reported in Hadith literature, that the Messenger of Allah was carried from the Sacred Mosque in Makkah to the "Farthest Mosque" (Al-Masjid al-Aqsa) in Jerusalem on a creature called Al-Buraq in the company of the archangel Gabriel (peace be upon him). There he led a congregational prayer of the prophets of God.

Then Gabriel took him to the heavens where he met the prophets Adam, John, Jesus, Idris, Aaron and Moses (peace be on them all). In the seventh heaven, he met Abraham (peace be on him).He was then brought to the Divine Presence. The details of this encounter are beautifully detailed in the beginning of surat An-Najm (52).

Prayer: God-given Gift

During this time, Allah ordered for his nation fifty daily Prayers. But on the Prophet's return, he was told by Prophet Moses (peace be on him) that his followers could not perform fifty Prayers. Thus, he went back and eventually it was reduced to five daily Prayers. After this, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) returned to Makkah on the same night itself.

Therefore, Muslims should be thankful to Allah for this gift. They should take care of it and never neglect it. It is the thing that allows the Muslim to communicate with the creator five times as day.Time and Space Are Not Bound for Allah

One major lesson of that miraculous event, was that space and time which are bound by laws of nature for humans, are not so bound for Allah. On that night prophet Muhammad bridged time and space and this world, traveling to the heavens by Allah's will.

I believe that for those who study philosophy the abstract as well as the symbolic implications of the event might be very stimulating indeed. The gap between the reality of this life and that of the life to come simply diminished. This is illustrated by the Prophet's encounter with other prophets who were long since dead as far as we normally think of it but who, in reality, live as beings in a different form somewhere else.

The implications of the night journey cannot be overstated. The miraculous nature of the Prophet's journey established his divine-stated legitimacy as the seal of all prophets. Allah brought him to Him to show us his true worth in the sight of Allah.

All religious traditions share the concept of miracles, that is, something that defies logic, nature, or the established constitution and course of things.

We will limit our discussion to legitimate miracles from Allah, which are by definition the only true miracles. When the forces of disbelief are strong, typically the prophetic miracles that oppose them are stronger.

Prophet Moses was given several miracles, which included his staff that turned into a massive snake and culminated in his parting of the Red Sea, as a divine response to the extreme infidelity of Pharaoh.

Similarly, Prophet Jesus was given even the power to raise the dead, in order to establish his legitimacy before the Jews who would ultimately condemn him to death for blasphemy.

Nevertheless, his miracles were undeniable by their nature, and it was only the obstinacy and arrogance of the people to whom he was sent that enabled them to deny him.

Muhammad's night journey was obviously not easy for the pagan Makkans to believe. Nevertheless, the Prophet proved it logically by describing the approaching caravans that he overtook on his miraculous return.

Thus, this particular prophetic miracle not only established the Prophet's eminence for Muslims as discussed above, but it also helped to prove his prophethood to the non-believers of his time.

Celebrating the Event

As far as the Muslims are concerned, there is no particular celebration, fast or prayer to commemorate Al-Isra and Al-Miraj. But in some places, the Muslims themselves have started to have commemorative functions, where the story of the night journey is told in poetry or lectures.

While the Prophet himself did not establish these practices, there are scholars who maintain that gatherings meant to remind the Muslims of the importance of Al-Miraj in the history of Islam, or to remind us of the importance of love for the Prophet and the significance of the city of Jerusalem, are permissible.

I hope this answers your question.

Salam.

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Some useful reading:

(1) Al-Isra and Al-Miraj: A Miraculous Journey - ReadingIslam.com

(2) The Glorious Night Journey & Miracle of Ascension (PDF) - Musharraf Hussain Al-Azhari

(3) Masjid Al-Aqsa - "The Farthest Mosque" - Ramadan4u

(4) Some Miracles Of The Prophet (SAW) - Ramadan4u

(5) Prophet Muhammad Leading Prophets on the Night of Al-Israa' - ReadingIslam.com

Pakistan batsman Yousuf opts out of Champions Trophy to observe Ramadan

Extracted from dailymail, UK, 15th July 2008

Pakistan middle order batsman Mohammad Yousuf has opted out of the Champions Trophy to observe the rules of fasting and prayer during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.



The 33-year-old has strictly followed the Muslim faith ever since he converted from Christianity in 2005 and has often stated that he would avoid playing during Ramadan, which this year runs from September 1 to September 30.

The tournament is scheduled to be held in Pakistan between September 11 to 28.The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which had delayed the announcement of the 30-man preliminary squad for the International Cricket Council tournament, has accepted Yousuf's request.

'We have received a request from Yousuf that he wants a Ramadan break,' said Shafqat Naghmi, PCB chief operating officer .

'The board respects his feelings and has decided to accept his request.'

Yousuf is Pakistan's most experienced batsman with 9,242 runs, including 15 centuries, from 269 one-day internationals.

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It is not uncommon to find brothers and sisters taking the month of Ramadan or the last 10 days of Ramadan off as holiday. Take a vacation for Allah - We take a break from our jobs for almost everything in life. Why not this time to focus on worshiping and thanking our Creator. If this is not possible at least take a few days off if you can. This can make it easier to stay awake at night to do extra Ibadah, not having to worry about getting to work the next day. It will also facilitate doing Itikaf. It was a practice of the Prophet to spend the last ten days and nights of Ramadan in the masjid for Itikaf. Allah's Messenger used to exert himself in devotion during the last ten nights to a greater extent than at any other time." (Muslim). Allah's peace and blessings be upon our beloved Prophet.

Anti-Islamic Lies Are Weakening My Belief

Taken from islamonline.net, 30/04/2008

Question: I have recently found a Christian website called Contender Ministries. This website expresses many misconceptions about Islam. I feel disgusted by these misconceptions, especially about jihad. According to the website there is much evidence in the Qur’an which encourages jihad (striving for Allah) (which they have misunderstood as a ‘holy war’) against non-Muslims. This website also talks about contradictions in the Qur’an. Of course I don’t believe there are contradictions in the Qur’an, but I hope you can improve my confidence in the Qur’an. My Christian friend has also read this website and he wants me to tell him whether the information on it is true or false. Your response will be much appreciated, and may peace be upon you.

Answered by: `Abdul-Lateef Abdullah

Wa `alaykum as-salam

There are a zillion websites now that make up all kinds of things about Islam. If we all quit our jobs and spent 24 hours a day responding to all of them we wouldn’t be able to answer all the charges waged against Islam. Most are simply nonsense and rely on peoples’ ignorance about Islam to form their arguments. This means interestingly, that we should be focusing on getting the right knowledge and information about Islam out instead of spending all of our time reacting to false accusations.

The thing they love to do most is to take Qur’anic ayat (verses) and Hadith (traditions of Prophet Muhammad) out of context. Every ayah and hadith was revealed or spoken in a particular context. For example, the ayats about jihad were almost always in reference to a particular group of people during the Prophet’s life, not any group in general. They love to use such ayats in general which is simply a false application and understanding of the Qur’an. They also use very loose and strange translations of the Qur’an. They like to read the Qur’an the way they read the Bible – without any knowledge of the Islamic methodology for understanding its revealed text. However, Allah has provided our noble scholars with knowledge of every ayat and hadith – why it was revealed, who and what were the circumstances involved, and so on. But they like to use their own methodology of understanding Islamic texts, which is wrong. Islam has its own methodology which must be followed and that methodology requires knowledge.

There are many Muslim sites that refute these charges. I’m sorry I cannot take the time to respond to all of their charges. I would look at these sites as a start to finding the answers to your particular questions.

• Masud
• Muttaqun
• USC-MSA
• Sunnipath
• Ask About Islam

Wa `alaykum as-salam

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In addition to the answer provided by the Counsellor I'd like to add that we (the Muslims) are constantly being attacked by evil elements of today's society. In the UK, these same groups targeted Jews in the 1930's, followed by Afro-Caribbean community in the 1960's, followed by Asian communities in the 1970's, Romany Gypsies and Eastern Europeans in the 1980's and 90's - and following 9/11 their speciality is targeting Muslims in general. In the media, specially newspapers you read derogatory articles about Islam from people with little or no knowledge. When you try and contact them to correct their errors, the papers will not publish your comments. Unfortunately this is the sign of times we live in. The only way to fight this anti-Islamic hatred is to integrate further and take up prominent roles in society - we need more brothers and sisters in politics to represent the Muslim communities (from grass root levels to cabinet roles), we need more muslims as social workers (to protect our youngsters), more sisters as Doctors, GP's, more teachers to help our children - infact more of everything.

The Islamic Jurisprudence Council which met in Makkah in November 2007, under the chairmanship of Grand Mufti Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh, with 70 Muslim dignitaries and scholars encouraged Muslims in the West to participate in elections in non-Muslim countries and play an effective political role, especially if elections brought about public good or prevented social evils.

It said this was the only way for Muslims abroad to secure their rights. It also encouraged Muslims in the West to integrate into Western societies but cautioned them against adopting any Western habits that are contrary to the principles of Islam. Those who presented papers included Sheikh Muhammad ibn Abdullah Al-Subeyel, imam of the Grand Mosque. The Islamic Jurisprudence Council also emphasized that dialogue with non-Muslims supported by well-prepared media programs are essential in confronting anti-Islamic campaigns.

Most Muslim coverage 'negative'

Taken from BBC, Tuesday, 8 July 2008

Researchers looking at the way British Muslims are represented by the media say they have found that most coverage is negative in tone.



A Cardiff University team behind the study looked at nearly 1,000 newspaper articles from the past eight years.

Two-thirds focused on terrorism or cultural differences, and much of it used words such as militancy, radicalism and fundamentalist.

The research was commissioned by Channel Four's Dispatches.

Dr Paul Mason, a member of the team, said the team looked at three area.

They carried out a statistical analysis looking at types of stories and the way Muslims were described and the language used, the photographs used alongside the stories and they analysed the types of case studies used.

He said: "We looked at both nouns and adjectives and the way in which British Muslims were described.

"And we found the highest proportion of nouns used were about things like extremism, suicide bombers, militancy, radicalism - which accounted for over 35% of the adjectives used about British Muslims - fanatic, fundamentalist - those kinds of languages were used.

"And Islam was portrayed or constructed in the language as dangerous or backward or as a threat," he said.

The team found that since the attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United States and 7 July 2005 in London there had been an increase in stories about British Muslims and this peaked to more than 4,000 in 2006.

'Perceived threat'
Mr Mason added: "What you have to be careful of here is to watch the kind of generalisation of the very, very small number of people that are involved in political violence of any kind and the generalisation about Islam which is carried out by the newspapers.

"So following 9/11 and 7/7 of course there is a perceived threat from the public and the public are concerned about political violence.

"But it is wholly wrong to make what the newspapers do in the generalisation of those who carry out public violence to the whole of Islam and the whole of the British Muslim community."

He said there were concerns that journalists and editors may have sought to appeal to their own readership about some perceived threat to British unity or values.

You get these inaccurate stories about this threat of there is going to be more mosques than churches, which is a complete nonsense.

"There are roughly 900 mosques and there are 42,000 churches, so this is a ridiculous report."

The Channel Four documentary, It Shouldn't Happen To A Muslim, investigated whether the 7/7 London bombings and the fear of terrorism had fuelled a rise in violence, intolerance and hatred against British Muslims.

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Useful Info:

(1) It shouldn't Happen To A Muslim - Channel 4 (Some brief info and useful downloads related to the documentary)

(2) Islamophobia Watch - A very useful website documenting the war against Islam

Janaza namaaz (Funeral Prayer)

Taken from al-islam.edu.pk

The funeral prayer, called the Janaza Prayer, is necessary for all Muslims, males or females, and also for infants who have lived only for a few seconds. Taking part in this service is Farze-Kefayah. If some of the Muslims perform it, the remaining Muslims will not be held up for sin. It is, however, a duty of every member of the Muslim community to attend the funeral and burial service of the deceased. Those who take part in the prayer must perform ablution.

The Janaza shall be placed in front. The Imam shall stand near the breast of the deceased and facing it, and the people present will form themselves in close rows of three, five, seven, in odd numbers.

The Imam will open the prayer by reciting Allaho-Akber in a loud voice and the hands will be raised up to the ears and then placed as in prayer.

Then the following is recited:-
Subhanakal’la Humma wa ba Ham Daka wa Tabbarak A’snija wata’la Judduka wa Ja’lla Sanna’uaka wa la il’ha ghiroka.

Glory to Thee, O Allah, and Thine is the praise, and blessed is Thy name, and exalted is Thy Majesty, and there is none to be served besides Thee.

Now again Allaho-Akber is called out and the following is recited:-
Allahumma salli ‘ala Muhamadin wa ‘ala ali Muhammadin kama sallayta ‘ala Ibrahima wa ‘ala ali Ibrahima innaka Hamidu ’m-Majid. Allahumma barik ‘ala Muhamadin wa ‘ala ali Muhammadin kama barakta ‘ala Ibrahima wa ‘ala ali Ibrahima innaka Hamidu ’m-Majid.

“O Allah! Exalt Muhammad and the followers of Muhammad as Thou didst exalt Abraham and the followers of Abraham, for surely Thou art Praised and Magnified. O Allah! Bless Muhammad and the followers of Muhammad, as Thou didst bless Abraham and the followers of Abraham, for surely Thou art Praised and Magnified.”

Again the third time Allaho-Akber is recited and the following is read:-
Allahumma’ghfir li hayina wa mayyitina wa shahidna wa ghai’bna wa saghirina wa kabirina wa zakarina wa unsana. Alla humma man ahy-yaitahu minna fa-ahiyihi ‘ala’l-Islam wa man tawaffayta-tu mina fatawaffahu ‘ala’l-Iman.

“O Allah! Forgive our living and our dead and those of us who are present and hose who are absent and our little ones and our full grown ones and our men and our women. O Allah! Whom Thou keepest alive from amongst us, keep him alive in Islam, and whom Thou causest to die from amongst us, make him die in faith (in Thee).”

The fourth time again Allaho-Akber is recited and thereafter both Salaams are performed. This completes the funeral prayer for adults.

In the case of a minor male child the following is read after the third Takbir:-
Allahumma ’j’alho lana Faratan waj’alho lana Ajran wa zukharan waj’alho lana Sha Faan wa Mushaf Faan.

“O Allah! Make him for s a cause of recompense in the world to come and as one going before and a treasure and a reward.”

And in the case of a minor female child the following is likewise read:-
Allahumma ’j’alha lana Faratan waj’alha lana Ajan wa zukharan waj’alha lana Sha Faattan wa Mushaf Fa-Attan.

“O Allah! Make her for us a cause of recompense in the world to come and as one going before and a treasure and a reward.”

Useful reading:

Muslim Funeral Guide - UK Muslim Directory
(A basic guide for brothers and sister in the UK.)

Is Islam the Continuation of Christianity?

Taken from islamonline.net
07/Dec/2003

Question: The Muslim religion came after the Christian religion. Is it a continuation of the Christian religion? If so, why does it deny the 'main points' of the Christian religion? Like Christians believe that Jesus is God or the son of God.

Answered by Nabil Haroun

Thank you for your question.

Let me first correct your statement that “Islam is a continuation of Christianity”. On the contrary, it can be proved that Islam came to correct the deviations of Christianity away from the original message, which was basically Islam. It is by which all Prophets were sent, starting with Adam to the seal of prophets, Muhammad, peace be upon them all.

This can be verified through a careful unbiased reading of the Bible itself. The Bible is a collection of human books documenting the traditions of the Israelites and early Christians. Hence, they are not the word of God. Yet, whatever attributed therein to either Moses or Jesus can be shown to directly nullify the major beliefs advocated by the Christian Churches.

God – in the Bible - is “One” according to the following examples:
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is One Lord.” (Deuteronomy 6:4)

“Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord He is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.” (Deuteronomy 4:39)

“And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is One Lord: (Mark 12:29)

“Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve. (Matthews 4:10)

Regarding the so-called “divine sonship” of Jesus, Jesus himself referred to God as “Father”, i.e. Guardian, Provider, Cherisher … etc. for all people, including Jesus:

“And he said unto them: ‘When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.’” (Luke 11:2)

“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” (Matthews 5: 9)

“That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret Himself shall reward thee openly.” (Matthews 6:4)

“Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them: ‘I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.’” (John 20:17)

Jesus even repeatedly – in the Bible - referred to himself as the “son of Man”:

“And Jesus saith unto him: ‘The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the son of Man hath not where to lay his head.’” (Matthews 8:20)

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of Man be lifted up.” (John 3:14)

Actually, the claimed “original sin and atonement” contradicts the Bible:

“The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers. Every man shall be put to death for his own sin.” (Deuteronomy 24:16)

“But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.” (Jeremiah 31:30)

“The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.” (Ezkiel 18:20)

It is a fact that children are born sinless, so the “original sin” cannot be inherited:

“But Jesus said: ‘Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.’” (Matthews 19:14)

Why then should God – unjustly - sacrifice his “alleged” son to die on the cross and be raised from among the dead, for the salvation of all humanity? Here again we are faced with a contradiction to the sayings of Jesus:

“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” (Matthews 7:1-2)

It was Paul, not Jesus, who advocated these claims, against the original teachings of Jesus:

“Then was Saul [Paul] certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus. And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.” (Acts 9:19-20)

“And some said: ‘What will this babbler [Paul] say?’ Other some: ‘He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.’” (Acts 17:18)

“Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my [Paul’s] gospel.” (2 Timothy 2:8)

To conclude, Islam accepts and is the completed final version of the previous messages originally revealed to Moses and Jesus, as well as Abraham, Noah …etc.

In the Qur’an, Allah Almighty says what means:
*{Surely the religion in the providence of Allah is Islam. And in no way did the ones to whom the Book brought differ [among themselves] except even after the knowledge came to them, being inequitable among themselves. And whoever disbelieves in the signs of Allah, then surely Allah is Swift in the reckoning.}* (Aal `Imran 3:19)

Thus, Islam is the final message to remain preserved intact to the end-of-time. Allah also says what means:
*{Surely We, Ever We, have been sending down the Remembrance, and surely We are indeed Preservers of it.}* (Qur’an Al-Hijr 15:9)

I hope my answer is satisfactory.

Salam.

Useful reading:
(1) Unity of Divine Revelations

(2) Islam and Christianity; Common Grounds…

(3) From the Same God, Why Are They Different?

(4) Is Jesus God?

Halal money (Current state of Islamic Banking in UK)

This is an interesting article taken from The Guardain, June 11 2008
By Nesrine Malik

Islamic banking appeals to Muslims who take their religion literally, but it misses the bigger picture

Adapting to life in Britain can be a complicated business for a practising Muslim, as I discovered when I moved here a few years ago. In some ways I was lucky, managing to slot in the five daily prayers awkwardly (and often belatedly), between meetings and professional commitments.

Fasting during Ramadan turned out to be a non-issue, while alcohol and pork were easily avoided in my remarkably tolerant and politically correct business and social circle.

One of my biggest problems, though, revolved around the Islamic prohibition on paying or receiving interest. I shunned credit cards and loans (with some difficulty) and when I was fortunate enough to earn interest, I duly disposed of it - not without a certain degree of smugness. To many of those who observe the religious prohibition on financial transactions involving interest, fundamental personal finance issues arise.

Interest is forbidden in Islam with the intention of preventing usury or riba - effectively selling money as a commodity to the needy and profiteering from the desperation of others. But the rejection of this fast and easy money is predicated on the affordability of liquidity. What became clear to me was that in a situation where my family would not immediately intervene to come between myself and starvation, credit presented an appealing safety net that could bridge the gap between itinerant student jobs and sporadic transfers of cash from benevolent uncles.

The Islamic finance market in Britain has expanded significantly over the last few years and has now even been integrated into the mandatory tests required for those who practice in financial services. Islamic mortgages - previously the preserve of such institutions as the United Bank of Kuwait - are now being offered by several high street banks such as Lloyds TSB and HSBC.

Islamic mortgages - the jewel in the crown of faith-based financial products - are priced very similarly to non-Islamic mortgages that charge interest, but with the interest disguised as "rent yield". They require a larger deposit (usually around 30%) but the remainder of the value of the property is not loaned out to the mortgagee. The bank buys the house outright and charges "rent" instead of interest.

Muslims can now even take out an "Islamic" personal loan where, by sleight, of hand the client borrows money in a six-step process which must be finalised on the same day to "minimise the risk of price movement". In the days when the value of money lay in the very material from which it was created - such as gold - it was reasonable that repaying a loan in gold, when the value of gold had gone down, would involve an additional payment to recompense. In today's economy however, all credit transactions involve risk due to the volatility of everything from currencies to inflation. Therefore, the interest charged by lenders today need not necessarily be considered as usury: the lender is merely underwriting the risk of the borrower's inability to repay the loan while making a marginal profit from the investment.

A specialist in sharia-compliant mortgages commented to the BBC that "No one says that Islam is an easy religion to follow, but we believe that the rewards of being a Muslim are great as well.

Halal food costs more money than regular food, yet nobody thinks twice about buying halal meat. Why would you think twice about doing Islamic banking?"

To any customer who is not merely willing to line the pockets of those who are adept at clever nomenclature and circular investment (rubber-stamped, naturally, by a sheikh in the Islamic finance department of some far-flung university), it becomes clear upon closer investigation that most Islamic products are not in fact - pardon the conflation - kosher: they effectively charge interest under a different mask.

Despite that, British Muslims have been eager to assuage their consciences by subscribing to these financial products. The "Islamic" current account is one of the easiest pickings for high street banks. By not paying any interest it manages to attract clients' money while appearing to offer them some kind of special service. Most of so-called Islamic finance is in a similar vein - trying to dress up 21st century financing in 7th century terminology without any real change. It is unfortunate that clients of Islamic finance institutions, who only want to follow their faith, appear to be exploited this way. However, this preoccupation with interest misses the bigger picture. Without delving into the intricacies of the religious prohibition, the literalism with which the ban on interest is taken, and its superficial observance, is the source of the problem.

The spirit of the Quran is against abusive loan-shark type financing - which is neither unreasonable not impracticable, in fact there are echoes of the hazards of a usurious system in today's credit crunch, measures for tighter controls on lending and curbing the number of mortgages on the market in order to stem the bleed of subprime mortgages in essence mirror the basic premise for the prohibition of unreasonable interest. But when banks capitalise on either the literalist attitudes of Muslim clients or their ignorance this is a double whammy. It is difficult for me to accept that Islamic principles should be extrapolated to mean that all commerce must be limited to basic structures of finance, making no allowances for entrepreneurship, foresight and the right to take a flier on the potential of an individual, business or inspired initiative.

Taking a risk and earning commensurate reward on the either the perspicacity or audacity of the stake is the cornerstone of the globalised economy of opportunity in which we live. Some might argue that Islamic sharia based financial solutions would not exist if there were no demand and that profiteering from this market is not only acceptable but standard business practice. All the more reason for us consumers to remember the principle of "buyer beware" and employ our reason to distinguish between usurers and lenders - and this applies to borrowers both within the Islamic finance system and outside it.