The New World Order of Islam — Page 90
New World Order 90 have been the case had he merely kept the money locked up in his house or in a bank. Even in the case of Muslim women, although Islam permits them to wear ornaments, it discourages the expenditure of large amounts of money for this purpose. Thirdly, Islam forbids the lending of money on interest. The institution of interest also results in accumulating wealth in comparatively fewer hands. It enables people with established custom and connections to go on multiplying their wealth practically without limit to the detriment of the rest of the community. Those of you, who are engaged in agriculture, can realise full well how a portion of the earnings of a peasant finds its way into the coffers of the money-lender. Under an economic system which could have made provision for agricultural credit on some basis other than that of interest, the peasantry in this country would have been very much more prosperous than it is today. Under the system now prevalent once a peasant is compelled to borrow, all his savings are absorbed by interest on the loan, and even after he has repaid the amount of the loan, many times over in the shape of interest, the original loan still remains due from him. Interest is, therefore, a curse which like a leech goes on sucking the blood of the poor. If the world desires economic peace, interest must be abolished, so that wealth is not permitted by this means to be monopolized by a small section of