BBC says: "Non-Muslims snap up Islamic accounts"

whambamboo

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6168800.stm

I suspect this is just some ultra-trendy friend of the journalist. The number of non-Muslims with these accounts is in all likelihood vanishingly small.

It makes good PC copy for the BBC though.

In Malaysia up to 25% of Islamic accounts are opened by non-Muslims.

Hmm, there might be other reasons for that, as Malaysia is an Islamic state (although 42% of the population is not Muslim), with racist laws providing advantages for the Malay (i.e. Muslim) population (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumiputra), and where the court ruled it illegal to convert from Islam to Christianity in the case of Lina Joy, and so people might not have easy access to non-Islamic bank accounts, so there's no evidence that these people are opening these accounts out of active choice.


Anyway, the account holder they quote says:

"I don't have much money, as I am just starting out on my career, but what I do have should not be used unethically," she says.

"I hate to think of arms going to some African country funded, however indirectly, from my account."

...

"I have a guarantee that my money will not be used to invest in arms or tobacco," she says.

...

The fact that Islamic bank accounts do not pay interest is not a problem to Ms Dellaway.

"I see giving up interest the same as recycling, visiting a farmers market or using the Red American Express card.

"Perhaps, though, if I had lots of money I would look at it differently and want interest."

!!!!

She seems to view it as a charitable act holding one of these accounts.

Of course it is not.

The bank might not invest in arms with her money, but there is nothing to stop them doing so with somebody elses. I.e. if the bank is going to fund $1 billion worth of arms trades, and $1 billion worth of renewable energy, then it's easy for them to say that her money is not going to arms dealers, but they haven't changed their investment plans at all, and the money is not specially designated, and if she's investing with HSBC, she's still swelling their coffers for them to do what they like with. They're obviously not going to be investing primarily in 'unethical' investments, so they are basically able to take her money and do what they like with it.

The banks love it, the HSBC spokesman says it's great - well he would: they aren't paying any interest - they've no need to provide a competitive product to investors, they must be loving it.

If she had any sense she'd find the highest paying bank possible and use the interest to fund her organic tofu farms or whatever it is she supports.

If you want ethical investment, find an ethical bank. The Co-Operative bank is the obvious one, although they lend a lot of money to the Labour party (http://5thnovember.blogspot.com/2006/12/labour-due-to-re-pay-6725000-of.html), who endorsed CIA kidnapping flights, invaded Iraq, introduced imprisonment without trial, and presided over the biggest destruction of rights in British history, so it's hard to see that they're all that ethical really.