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

Preface to the Second Edition

In 2009, John Wiley & Sons called me, stating that they were looking for an American to author a book on RF (riba-free) Islamic finance and banking because most books authored on the subject, until then, were in fact authored by authorities who live outside the United States. I welcomed the idea. The Art of Islamic Banking and Finance was published in 2010. I am thankful to all those readers who chose to buy the book and who were kind enough to critique and rate the book on Amazon.com.

We at the LARIBA RF Movement, are most indebted to God, the Lord of all people, for creating this opportunity to publish the book, to make it successful worldwide and to help popularize the RF Movement. This movement aims at inviting people of all religions, nations, and beliefs to live riba free. This RF lifestyle is a lifestyle that is free of debt, of overconsumption, of trying to use extravagance and “cool” looks to impress others, and of thinking that money can be rented at a price called interest by using credit cards, excessive borrowing, and the equity of one's home as a source of extra money to extinguish consumptive spasms created by slick advertising campaigns. The RF Movement is out to popularize a new RF lifestyle—a lifestyle that is free from the abuse of credit cards to consume more. It is a movement that promotes the goal of paying debt as soon as one possibly can. The movement also entices students, the leaders of the future, not to take the easy ...