government. That is why we should rethink this concept. Money can only
be earned when one offers a service. That is why it is important to ask our-
selves every night before we go to bed how much money we earned for the
services we have offered. It is also important to respect that earned money,
which represents time—which is life. As is said in some proverbs, ‘‘Money
respects and stays with those who respect it.’’ Money is earned when we
offer a product or a service that is needed or when it is invested in a produc-
tive project that will make an economic difference in our communities by
increasing production, creating job opportunities and economic prosperity.
If we discipline ourselves to think this way, we will enjoy a new lifestyle that
is more productive and less consumptive. We will enjoy living within our
means without a heavy burden of debt. This lifestyle is the lifestyle de-
scribed at length in Chapter 2; the riba/ribit-free lifestyle.
Another important aspect of money over the years has been its purchas-
ing power and how much that power changes over the years. We all have
heard our grandparents tell us how cheap things once were. Members of my
generation remember that a gallon of gasoline in Texas in 1971 was
20 cents, compared to $2.50 in 2009. This is the same gallon, of the same
gas, in the same country, using the very same currency.
The question is, what is money? Is the money revealed in the original
Judeo-Christian-Islamic value system and described in Chapter 2 the same
as the money we use today? This chapter will focus on this very important
issue. This chapter will try, in the simplest terms, to familiarize the reader
with money, how it is printed, who decides how much should be printed,
and what parameters influence that decision.
What Is Money?
Money is the medium used for the exchange of goods and services. Money is
used as a measuring device for the success or failure of a venture that may
involve trading, manufacturing, servicing, or construction. The success or
failure of the investment is measured in terms of the return reaped at the end
of a certain period of time, which is called thereturn on investment.Opera-
tors, traders, and investors evaluate the success of their venture by the return
on investment. The level of return on investment differs from one locality to
another; it is a function of many parameters. A return on investment of
5 percent may be considered a great return in a country with no inflation;
however, a return on investment of 15 percent would be marginal in a coun-
try that suffers from 25 percent inflation. Riba-banks lend (rent) money to
entities at a rental rate called interest. If the interest rate charged on the
money is higher than the income generated from the project, to the extent
that the borrower cannot pay both the interest and the principal back, then
86 THE ART OF ISLAMIC BANKING AND FINANCE