Rethinking the Narrative: Islam and the Great Threat to the Western Neoliberal Status Quo

Decades of Western vilification incessantly target Islam. Let's face it: it's about money, not religion.

Since the end of the Cold War, where Communism was cited as the great evil the capitalistic West had to defend itself from; the antithesis of the “American dream” and way of life, a new enemy was found.

There are many theories abounding about this. Was an increasingly military-based economy such as that of the US, actively looking for its next target? Or was it more insidious than that? As Ronald Regan’s wave of neoliberalism began in earnest, the last stalwart of Communism in Europe fell, literally, as the Berlin wall tumbled down. Magaret Thatcher took the mantle of neoliberalism for Europe and what followed was an era of unreined greed and destruction of the earth for the benefit of the very few.

Neoliberalism is illogical. It requires unrelenting, limitless growth using limited resources. Once in place, it cannot be turned back; in other words, once the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, or once the earth has been stripped bare, there is no way to reverse the trend through neoliberalism itself. The system can only be demolished from the outside; its very nature cannot be cured within.

We are stuck within that very system now with those at the top end of the neoliberal pyramid, recognising and speaking up – quite loudly in some instances – about the fact that the earth is in danger, that climate change is real and that we must act to reverse the trend. The problem however lies in the fact that those at the top, the ones who burn the most oil and gas and pollute the world far greater than entire states, do not actually want to do anything about the dying earth. The psychological dysfunction embedded in neoliberalism is the hallmark of its masters – i.e. those who profit from it the most. They know it’s illogical to trash the very life system that gives them life, but they’ll do it anyway in the pursuit of money. More and more money; money that sits on their computer screens and that they will never and can never spend. Money they hoard for themselves while entire populations starve. It is an extraordinary and terrifying mindset to have and unfortunately, it is the mindset that is ruling the world. Those at the tip of the hierarchy will not let anything stand in their way in the pursuit of hoarding money, even the destruction of the very life forces that keep them alive.

We have seen this attitude play out brazenly over the past few years. The profiteers of neoliberalism have no shame, and have no long-term vision. Everything is about how to make money in the here and now and everything is up for sale. In the UK, ruled by charlatans; neoliberals pretending to be men of the people interested in the common good over selfish money-hoarding – this has played out most acutely. The destruction of the UK’s trading and economic ability was slashed by the very few million and billionaires, who sought a Brexit to avoid having to pay taxes – i.e. to ensure they could hoard the money they would never spend. The treatment of the opposition leader, Jeremy Corbyn, a man with mild socialist ideals, was a masterclass in fascist propaganda. A lifelong anti-racism campaigner, the ruling neoliberal class – including the Conservative party MPs themselves and owners of the media – convinced the nation that the man was an Anti-Semite. Even more extraordinarily, the UK population was then told to believe that the man was a Czech spy and a Russian state puppet due to his choice of hat – which they readily accepted at the behest of their neoliberal masters – when in actual fact, it was those same neoliberal masters, in this case the Conservative Government members themselves, who were taking large ‘donations’ from Putin-backed Russian oligarchs, placing them in the House of Lords and attending their parties.

It is clear from the extremes displayed, that nothing can be allowed to stand in the way of neoliberalist ideology. Cue, the demonisation of Islam.

It is impossible to find a positive news story involving Islam or Muslim countries in the English-speaking world. Islam is now synonymous with ‘terrorism’. Muslims are synonymous with ‘Arabs’ who, of course, must be terrorists. All Muslim men are seen only as oppressors of women.

One astounding example of this was the jurors’ comments on Adnan Syed, a young man found guilty of murdering his former girlfriend, when they had given the verdict that he should be imprisoned for a crime they had no evidence at all that he committed. One juror claimed that Adnan spoke Arabic and another that in Arabic culture “men rule, not women”. Another said, “I know in some cultures women are second-class citizens and maybe that’s what it was. I don’t know. He just wanted control and she wouldn’t give it to him.” Adnan was not an Arab. He did not speak Arabic. He was an American, living in America. He had never harmed nor oppressed a woman. But his Muslim name was enough to create such strong stereotypes that the 17-year-old was sentenced to life in prison without any convincing evidence as to his guilt.

Ostensibly, Islam is demonised for being ‘backwards’; it is claimed that it is violent and it is oppressive to women. Whether those claims are true or not is not of issue here. What is of issue, however, is that those crying foul of Islam the loudest – America and notably, the ruling Republican Party – have far more draconian views in the name of Christianity. In 43 States in the US, child marriage is legal. Mass violence is an epidemic in the US; school shootings are a frequent occurrence and mass shootings in 2023 so far have exceeded the number of days this year. Last year, the Taliban officially gave more abortion rights to women than the US. In other words, it is not the religious practice that is the actual cause of such mass propaganda against it, for in many, many cases it is far better than the Christian tradition of even the US.

So, why so much hate towards Islam? Why do the neoliberal media pour millions and billions of dollars into a propaganda campaign designed to demonise an entire faith, one which makes up a quarter of the world’s population?

Money.

Islam’s economic system is the SINGLE BIGGEST THREAT to neoliberal ideology.

There are two main mechanisms on which neoliberal profiteering runs:

1). The growth of money from ‘nothing’ – e.g. interest

2). Intellectual Property (IP) rights

Let’s deal with each in turn.

The growth of money from ‘nothing’.

Riba

Riba is usually translated as interest in the English language. And it is banned. And not a little bit banned, massively banned. In fact, the Qur’an says:

“O believers, fear you God; and give up the riba that is outstanding, if you are believers. But if you do not, then take notice that God shall war with you, and His Messenger; yet if you repent, you shall have your principal, unwronging and unwronged.”

I mean, God will wage war on you if you engage in riba. That is no small thing.

The word riba actually means to “increase” or “to exceed.”

The main reason riba as interest (known as riba an-nasiyah) is prohibited in Islam is the concept that it makes the rich richer and the poor poorer. And this is something we see time and again in the Western world. Banks charge extortionate interest rates or give mortgages which lead to people paying far more than they actually bought their house for and – should they begin to fail to pay the interest - lose their homes entirely. There is an inequality in the dealings between the parties Islam does not permit. Everything should be done equitably and fairly. Interest is seen as perpetuating and often increasing the gap between rich and poor humans in society.

Islam prohibits any transaction that is seen as exploitative, and profiting from lending money is seen as exploitative.

Another facet of riba (known as riba-al-fadl) is the exchanging of like-for-like products – that no increase can be charged and that they should be exchanged exactly like for like. This concept to exchange or sale transactions in trade which effectively result in the charging of ‘interest’ through the exchange of the same commodity, but of a different quality or quantity. ‘A’ may give ‘B’ ten tons of hay now in exchange for ‘B’ giving ‘A’ eleven tons when the harvest has been completed.

The story of Jesus and the moneylenders was regarding this type of riba. In the Bible, Jesus expelled moneylenders from the Temple, upturning their tables in anger.

What the moneylenders were doing was exchanging silver half-shekel coins with no Roman images on them with pilgrims to Holy Jerusalem for their full silver shekel coins stamped with Roman images. Pilgrims did not want to taint their devotions with graven images and pagan representations as Judaism barred such images and the occupying Romans were idolatress persecutors.

In other words, the moneylenders exchanged a like commodity for a like commodity – silver for silver – that were both currencies and for twice the weight of their “imageless” shekels, reaping double the increase in value.

This type of riba is banned entirely in Islam but is a major facet in the neoliberal world via the mechanism of Forex trading. Forex is the exchange of currencies – the selling at a higher price of one currency for another currency – and taking profit from that. Not only is the idea ludicrous – as currency is not really a commodity but something that commodities are paid for with – but it also causes huge amounts of inequality as people’s hard-earned cash is devalued when they travel or trade, simply for someone else to make a quick buck. Currency trading often cripples countries, particularly poorer ones whose currency is forever being devalued. Considering currency is really an exchange for products and labour, this is a direct inequitable exchange of like for like.

I would go even further than this. Riba in loans and contracts is easily seen. But riba goes further. One example is the buy-to-let market. This is more accurately summed up as one party, Party A paying a small percentage down-payment on a property – say 10% - then renting it out to someone else, Party B without putting any more money into the property. The money from the renter goes to paying the remaining balance of the mortgage – 90%. In other words, Party B pays 90% of the mortgage whilst Party A pays 10%, yet Party A ends up with the house.

This is clearly exploitative and exceeds equitable dealings.

Neoliberalim thrives of this exploitation, which has caused such wealth inequality and unequal sharing of the Earth’s resources, so that just 80 people have more wealth than half the world. Those 80 neoliberals will no doubt do whatever it takes to keep their positions – and demonising a fair economic system such as the Islamic system is high among them.

It’s also a facet of neoliberalism, that it is full of a plethora of financial ‘products’ and terms; derivatives, options, bonds etc, all with their sub-levels and terminology. They are often confusing to the layman and some make little sense. Their intention seems to be to confuse – to present a ‘product’ as something solid and tangible when really it is just another form of speculation – a making of money out of no real thing. Islam bans that too, the Qur’an saying:

“Those who devour riba shall not rise on Judgment Day, except as one rises whom Satan has battered with the touch of madness. That is because they say: Indeed, selling is just like riba – while Allah has made selling lawful and has prohibited riba. So when an admonition comes to one from his Lord, and he quits riba, then to him belongs what was formerly gained. And his affair henceforth rests with Allah. But whoever returns to riba – then these are the Companions of the Fire of Hell. They shall abide therein forever.”

Intellectual Property (IP) rights

Turning to the second of neoliberal mechanisms is the idea of intellectual property rights – that is, that an “idea” of a person has full protection and cannot be copied for a period of time, giving that person a monopoly over that idea and the profits that amount from it.

This is clearly exploitative on many levels.

The first is the concept of a patent, which is problematic. Unlike copyright – which is an automatic right and which protects original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works when made - a patent is a registered right that gives the owner the exclusive right to features and processes of inventions. That means, unlike copyright which belongs to the actual creator of the product made, a patent is given to the first person who gets to the patent office and reigsters it. This means that someone is able to steal the idea of another and – due to greater resources perhaps – register it as their own and profit from it.

Another problem is with patent trolls – people or companies who patent smaller components – for example, the design of a screw or nail – to claim patent infringements when an inventor makes a product which happens to include a similar design of that nail/screw, to win court judgments for profit and to stifle competition.

Patents are exploitative and stifle innovation and competition. Again, it is usually the poorer who suffer. Pharmaceutical companies patent drugs which can be easily be made by others – and sell them at excessively high mark-up costs to the poorest who need them the most. Poorer people are also more likely to be victims of patent trolls – as to reinvent and re-register patents over small components found to infringe someone else’s patents – is costly, labourious and a time sink. As such, many excellent and innovative products – many of which can improve humankind’s condition and are positive for the world – simply do not get to be made and sold.

As mentioned above, copyright is different. Copyright refers to an actual product – for example, a book. The contents of that book have been written down and that book is the product of one person’s labours. To copy the contents of that book and pass it off as your own is plagiarism – it is a lie and unfair because you did not write the book. However, there is nothing stopping you from trading that book.

As such, Islam bans some form of IP law, namely patents. It thus stops monopolies – such as Big Pharma and Big Tech – occuring, and allows poorer countries to produce their own versions of the same product at a much lower price, which evens the playing field considerably.

Of course, neoliberalism exists in patent law. All the big names you can think of: Apple, Tesla, Google, Boeing, Pfizer, AstraZeneca – all rely on patent law and the stifling of competition. Without it, they would not have made their billions and taken far more of their fair share of the earth. Why would they want a fairer system to be in place, preventing their non-stop profiteering?

To conclude, when reading between the lines and actually examining Islamic doctrine properly, it is clear to see that it provides an extremely equitable and fair economic system and strictly prohibits exploitative practices that leave one party far worse off than the other in transactions. This is opposite to the world we live in today, where a very few exploit the rest of us daily, profiting from us in the form of riba an nasiyah, riba al fadl and through excessive profits from patents.

As such Islamic theology provides the single biggest threat to neoliberal supremacy and threatens the profits of the super-rich.

No wonder then, that they seek to destroy it.