Sharia doesn't allow interest on loans. In the name of "tolerance," UK lenders are being told that they must respect Islamic law, and give Muslim students interest-free loans. But this simply means that Muslim students, unlike all other students from all other religions, will get a better deal on their loans. So for the sake of equality, lenders must treat students unequally.
And yet, when American legislators attempt to pass laws guarding the U.S. against Sharia, the world assures us that Sharia is simply a set of guidelines for Muslim living that couldn't possibly have an impact on non-Muslims.
Welcome to the real world.
Daily Mail--Muslim groups are calling for a separate student loan system because the interest due to be charged will conflict with rules of Sharia law.
The changes to tuition fees, which come into force next year, will see students charged higher rates of interest on the loans they take out to pay for university.
Until now they have paid the market rate of inflation but the reforms mean students who go on to earn more than £21,000 will have to pay interest of up to 3 per cent.
But in some interpretations of Sharia law, which is Islam's legal system and governs every aspect of Muslim life, loans are forbidden.
The National Union of Students has said it could be two years before an alternative system is worked out, leaving some Muslims fearing they cannot go on to further education.
The Federation of Student Islamic Societies told The Independent that the rate increase was a 'pressing issue'.
A spokesman said: 'Because the rate of interest is above the rate of inflation, it is quite blatant usury.'
Usury means the practice of lending money and charging the borrower interest, possibly at a very high rate.
Mohammed Ahmed-Sheikh, 17, says the changes will discourage him from applying to university next year.
'The fees are the reason I'm having doubts. I'm Muslim and loans are against my religion,' he told The Independent.
Ahmad Mitoubsi, 21, who graduated this year, added: 'We've just had to adapt to the British system or else I couldn't have gone to uni.' (Read more.)
Imagine that. Poor fella has to adapt to the system of the country he's living in! Will the Islamophobia never stop?
9 comments:
I think someone should start a cult that teaches that all non members of the cult should support and pay for all and any needs and desires of the cult members. And then in the name of religious tolerance force governments to impose the teachings of the cult on all governments.I bet it will be the fastest growing cult on the planet! :)
It's frustrating for the West when it wants to be tolerant to all religions even when it's impossible. The thing about Islam is that it's practically a religio-political system that governs just about everything, so when its adherents live in the West, which is under a secular system completely separate from religion, Muslims can't strictly follow both Islam and the West's rules (or perhaps it's at least very difficult -- I'm no expert on Islam). I find it annoying, personally, when things like this are taken to mean that the West is "intolerant" of Muslims, because it's obviously just a clash of two law systems.
The thing that worries me about this particular incident is that if a separate, Islamic system is put in place for student loans in which there's no interest, Islam might gain lots of converts from the U.K.'s university students for the better loan deals. Some people use religion for gain. Christianity started growing a lot more in the Roman Empire once Emperor Constantine started greatly favoring Christianity over all other religions. Another (more modern) example: around twenty or so Christians in Pakistan convert to Islam every week to gain safety.
The fact that Muslims are demanding special treatment for their religion seems to bother you a lot, David, so I have a question for you. Do you object to attempting to get young-earth creationism (science based on a highly literal interpretation of the biblical creation account) into school science classes, which is what some Christians are doing? It would be, after all, giving Christianity special status.
Seriously, if Sharia is so great, why don't they live in countries where Sharia is practiced and leave the rest of the free world alone?!?! We lived in Japan for six years and never once did I ever demand that the American law be enforced and in face we made sure that we did not break their laws and were respectful of their culture BUT it didn't mean we had to live by their customs NOR did we ever think to force them to change their laws to suit us.... we are sure glad to be back in the States... I wonder how many Sharia crying Muslims are hopping on planes to fly back to their home land?????
@GreekAsianPanda: How would that give Christians better status? There's a big difference between getting lower fees for one's religion and teaching creationism by inteligent design. The thing is, Christians can still be Christians no matter what the laws. We can teach creationism at home. We can teach abstinence at home. But we don't have to force others to comply to our believes. This is one of the key differences between Islam and Christianity. Islam propagates on subjugating the entire legal system under it's foot. Following Christ is a personal relationship where we are in the world but not of this world (John 15:19; John 14:17, 30; John 16:33; 2 Corinthians 1:12; 1 John 4:4).
Jesus said we would be persecuted for following him and that has been evident since the time of the apostles. Constantine may have established liberty for "Christians" but it only applied to Roman catholic church. Bible believers were still very much persecuted by the Catholic Church and then the Jesuits. These factions did not follow Jesus' teachings. Constantine did not favor Christianity over all religions. He just "instituted" The RCC. When we study Islam, we look at the teachings of Muhammad. When studying Christianity, study the teachings of Jesus.
GAP,
I've never heard believers even argue that public schools should teach that "all things were made through Jesus", but rather that they should simply offer the "other theory" relating to our origins.....namely Intelligent Design. This theory does not speak of a deity, per se, but offers the very solid arguement that the order and information in the Universe points to an intelligent originator. That's it. This is a reasonable request that would not give any religious system special status. One could believe it was aliens that spawned us.....the point is that the evidence points to an intelligent and purposeful originator.
@ Greek Asian Panda,
I am christian. I do not advocate the young-earth creationism into the secular school system. I rather their parent can teach their kids at home.
Anyway, I suspect the christian people who advocate the young earth creationism into the secular school system, so it tend that they believe USA is a christian nation.
So for Sharia, I reject Sharia into the USA's law system, even Ten Commandment into the USA's law system too.
This is what is going to happen. The young Islamic students will take the money. Then when payback time comes around in four years, they will suddenly get too religious to pay it back.
Almost like a virus... spreading decay wherever they go.
These viruses run away from their motherland to a foreign nation for better prospects and then want to turn their adopted nation into the wasteland like their motherland.
They never stop to think how very unfair it will be on those non-Muslim students who take loan for studies... just "I, Me and Myself"...
In Christ
Naren
Gap, why are you singling out creationism? You are building a fallacious Straw Man argument. A literal interpretation of Genesis is not one of the core doctrines of the faith. It's important, but not something Christians have as essential to salvation. Therefore, it is wrong to equate that belief with the special treatment Muslims want for Sharia Law.
Also, as others have said, creationism is not based solely on a literal interpretation of Genesis. It is also based on interpretations of scientific facts.
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