Critical Muslim Intellectuals’ discourse and the issue of ‘Interest’ (ribā): Implications for Islamic accounting and banking

Abstract This article introduces and employs Critical Muslim Intellectuals’ (CMIs) methodological approaches and debates to discuss the issue of bank-interest/ ribā in Islam. It builds specifically on Fazlur Rahman's (Pakistan) methodology and debates and counters them with the traditionalists’ approaches to the issue of ribā . The paper highlights the displacement of CMIs’ discourses from mainstream Islamic accounting and banking literature and practices and argues that such displacement is hindering the emergence of genuine, innovative and critical debate on the issue of ribā in particular and Islamic accounting and banking in general . The paper elaborates on the need to incorporate the critical debates and thought of CMIs into the fields of Islamic accounting and banking if these fields wish to contribute to enhancing socio-economic justice and finding an alternative to their conventional, neoliberal counterparts.