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Sharia Law and the root cause of poverty in Islamic countries

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As I have told you before, I was writing a research paper regarding why I think Sharia law in Bangladesh is a bad thing. It was recently published in the journal- https://works.hcommons.org/. Here is the main paper link-https://works.hcommons.org/records/ta3t7-njr27

I am pretty concerned with the recent rise of Jamaat e Islam and lots of muslim fundamentalists. Seems like they will win. Now this is going to be very devastating. Here’s a short overview according to the Bangladeshi perspective

  1. Riba prohibition- Interest is the backbone of the capitalistic economy, but Islam prohibits it (hint, hint, anti-semitism). But anyway, as a result, new businesses can not flourish, and it trickles down to daily life.

  2. Gender inequity- Afghanistan takes the cake with this one. Imagine forcing a woman to go back home again. Literally, the garment industry (which is the number one export in our country would shut down. It’s going to be a huge blow to the economy of Bangladesh.

  3. Inheritance law and legacy- This is a problem because you have to divide the capital. No concept of stocks and also no form of shareholding, causing not to form any advanced system to form.

  4. Sharia law interpretation- The problem with this is that Sharia law can be interpreted depending on the judge. So, good luck explaining to foreign investors Wahabi, Namazhabi rules that depend on the clerics.

Overall, it always bothered me why Islamic countries are so poor. But now I know. The problem is that Islam tries to control every fabric of modern society, and when the return on investment is judged by life after (no pun intended), there’s a lack of incentive to create wealth.

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