Clerics bless govt for dropping pleas against Islamic banking system

• Ashrafi assures all-out support to the govt’s economic team.
• Prof Sajid Mir welcomes move as step in right direction.
• JUI-F takes credit for this key development.

KARACHI: Country’s renowned clerics Wednesday welcomed the government’s decision to withdraw its appeals, filed in the Supreme Court, against the Federal Shariat Court’s (FSC) direction to the government to switch to Islamic banking in a phased manner by December 2027.

Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Interfaith Harmony and Middle East Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi thanked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar for taking such a "bold step" towards abrogating the interest-based banking system in the country.

Earlier, in a press conference, FinMin Dar — with the permission of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and in consultation with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Jameel Ahmed — announced that the government will withdraw the SBP and National Bank of Pakistan's pleas against the FSC verdict."

Ashrafi, who is also the Chairman of the Pakistan Ulema Council, said the withdrawal of the petition from the apex court would pave the way for the establishment of an Islamic society in the light of the Quran and Sunnah.

“It was a long-standing desire of the people that the financial system of the country should be interest-free,” Ashrafi said talking to APP.

He said the elimination of Riba (interest) would give an unprecedented boost to Pakistan’s economy and take the country to new heights of economic development and prosperity.

Ashrafi assured his all-out support to the government’s economic team on the behalf of Ulema and Mashaykh to bring reforms in the banking system as per Islamic injunctions.

Meanwhile, Prof Sajid Mir, chief of Jamiat Ahle Hadith, said this step was highly praise-worthy.

“The government has finally realised its mistake, which is heartening to note, and has been received positively,” the Islamic scholar said adding that the government should establish a model Islamic bank under a public-private partnership arrangement.

A JUI-F spokesman in a statement gave all the credit for this development to Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman.

“This is a result of Maulana’s efforts. JUI-F lauds the decision. The nation deserves hearty congratulations for this,” the spokesman said.

He said that a non-interest-based economy was the key to Pakistan’s prosperity and progress.

“We will continue our efforts to implement the Islamic system while staying within the confines of the Constitution,” the JUI-F spokesman added.