The Art of RF (Riba-Free) Islamic Banking and Finance: Tools and Techniques for Community-Based Banking, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 12 Putting the RF Finance Movement and Discipline Together A Step-by-Step Application of the RF Finance Procedure

This chapter is designed to give the reader an integrated view of how the different concepts and disciplines discussed in the book so far are applied in the unique financing process used in RF financing at LARIBA–Bank of Whittier. It is important to stress that what this book is presenting and advocating is a movement; we call it the RF Movement. The goal of this movement is to invite people of all faiths and beliefs to a new lifestyle; we call it the RF lifestyle. It is based simply on:

• Living within one’s means.
• Redefining happiness and satisfaction in life to make happiness measured and felt not in terms of appearance and looks—as is promulgated in advertising campaigns which are designed to sell more and to entice people to consume more—but in terms of real things based on living humbly, helping those who need help and making a difference in the lifestyle of the community at large.
• Abstaining from thinking about borrowing money as a rental process of money at a price called interest rate. This includes the use of credit cards as a source of renting money to extinguish consumptive instincts promoted by slick advertising campaigns. Credit cards, which were first introduced to market as “charge cards,” should be used as charge cards to facilitate the purchase of consumer needs and the settlement of consumer obligations with the commitment to pay off the ...