Primate of Anglican Communion, Nigeria, Most Revd. Nicholas Okoh, has described the introduction of Islamic banking by the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, as a religious oppressive instrument and a tool for social coercion of the poor to convert to Islam.
Okoh, who spoke to newsmen, yesterday, at Agbarha-Otor, Ughelli North Local Government Area, Delta State, said it was a follow up to demands by Boko Haram for the application of Sharia all over the country.
He said: “In 10 years from now, it would have grown and matured to what it is intended to be- a religious oppressive instrument and tool for social coercion of the poor to convert to Islam. It is heavily skewed to put other non-interest banking at disadvantage.
I’m still confused.
Does this mean that Islamic banking doesn’t pay interest or that it doesn’t charge interest? If the former, then non-Islamic banking has a distinct advantage.
If the latter, then it basically means that Islamic banking offers interest-free loans. What is to prevent Christians offering similar assistance to those who desire it?
There are always going to be arguments about whether material assistance leads to conversion (witness the charges by some about Untouchable conversions to Christianity in India), but telling any religious group that they can’t conduct their affairs in the way they see most fitting seems dangerous.
If the banking is being used to fund illegal activities, they are other laws that can be brought into play to address that problem.
Comment No. 1 seems quite sensible. It’s a bit hard from the post to know what the objection is. However, it seems that the problem may be that the Government of Nigeria is offering Sha’aria banking to Muslims, but that Christians would not have the same advantage through government institutions.