An interview with Sheikh Saleh Kamel: 'Islam has a complete economic theory' (Special advertising section)

Sheikh Saleh Kamel, president of the Dallah AlBaraka group, also serves on the board of a research center at King Abdulaziz University named after Saleh Abdullah Kamel. The AlBaraka president previously held a post at the Saudi finance ministry. The group he heads holds 38 major world companies. While the ban on interest is often the most popularly identifiable feature of Islamic banking, the religion, Kamel explains, offers a full economic outlook. Zaka, the taxes and alms system, is one that could help end recession, unemployment, and inflation in the modern economic framework. The zaka system, Kamel states, encourages job creation and investments. In fact some production activity is completely free of zaka charges. Taxes are not on just personal income, but also on all economic activity. Tax is on principal, principal plus production, or purely on production. The uniform tax rate encourages well-planned ventures. While conventional tax systems encourage high costs, the Is