I always believed religion was incompatible with a society rooted in addressing material reality, although I know we have have religious users and wanted to hear people's takes.
I always believed religion was incompatible with a society rooted in addressing material reality, although I know we have have religious users and wanted to hear people's takes.
Damn, that's fascinating thanks so much for the reply. I am ashamed to admit that I don't know nearly enough about Indonesia as I should so I hadn't come across Tjokroaminoto before. Good point on the nitpick - I was seriously sleep deprived when I wrote that last reply.
Obviously my angle on this is matter really clear but I know that if I sat down with a reasonably devout Muslim and we had at least an hour to chat about Riba, its nature and the intent of its prohibition, and to really hash it out we'd come to an understanding about how my position on the extraction of surplus value under capitalism is actually in line with a legitimate interpretation of the islamic prohibition on Riba.
Am I confident that I'd be able to get the other person to the point of being convinced my position is the right one? Nope lol.
But to walk away from a conversation really deeply analysing the economic circumstances we face from a Marxist perspective and having had one person make a solid case for why this is in line with the spirit of Islamic law would be a major victory imo.
Hey I'm glad that you find this interesting! I'm not really subject area expert on Islam or Islamic finance; just picked up a few things here and there from studies and from work. Honestly a bit surprised that I have this much to say about it, especially from the angle of Marxism.
And don't worry about convincing your hypothetical Muslim interlocutor about the truth of the immortal science or whatever; even if they're not convinced into immediately converting to secular communism, if they truly are arguing in good faith and with intellectual curiousity, they'll probably arrive at some general position about their own religious belief and practice that would lead them to do some good in the world.
Go get some sleep!