Letter to the Governor of the Bank of England

Below is the text of a letter by Islamic Party Leader David Musa Pidcock to the Governor of the Bank of England, Eddie George, dated 10 May 1999 and published in Common Sense issue 28.

Letter to Eddie George

Ref: Our meeting at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, April 29th

Subject: Islamic Banking/Banking without interest

Dear Mr. George,

I was delighted to have the opportunity of presenting you with a copy of Napoleon & Islam, at the meeting sponsored by C.O.F (Citizen Organizing Foundation). I hope it will prove useful in understanding the growing attraction of Islam and Islamic banking - that is to say ethical and interest free banking - to people like myself. People from a European background with a Judeo-Christian upbringing, people who have come to realize that Archbishop William Temple was absolutely correct in pointing out, in 1942, that:

"The trend towards war is inherent in the internal economy of the modern nation. The essential evil in the ordering of European life has been the inversion of the proper relations between finance, production and consumption…"

Following all that has happened during the intervening 57 years, with Kosovo the latest, but perhaps not the last, in a long list of brutal genocidal conflicts. Needless to say, his analysis is still valid and is one that we continue to ignore at our peril.

The present Balkan crisis can be traced directly to the high interest rate policies of the Bundesbank in the early 1980's, which caused - according to Economics Professor John Hotson, of the University of Waterloo, in Canada and others equally enlightened - the mini depression in Germany which led directly to the repatriation of 750,000 Yugoslav "Guest Workers" which, in turn, caused the classic confrontation in which: "fear of the future became hatred of the stranger."

It is the dominance of an inherently unstable, unregulated, debt-based, fractional-reserve monetary system which is at the heart of most, if not all acts of war, genocide and the recurring evils of peacetime such as: "the nullity of dole existence" and, amongst many others: "starvation in the midst of abundance."

Bonaparte clearly recognized that all these problems were related to interest, the apotheosis of purchasing power, and the marauding rapacity of bankers. As did many other eminent military figures. One of the less famous military men was Lt.-Colonel J. Creagh Scott D.S.O., O.B.E. who, in 1937, included the following in an address to the Bon-Accord Congregational Church, in Aberdeen:-

"If a father withholds from his children food and clothing which he either possessed or may acquire, and allows them to suffer from the diseases which may result from under-nutrition and neglect, he is treated as a criminal; but when this is done on a national scale, when millions are deprived of the food and raiment which we either possess or can produce, and when our men are reduced to the nullity of dole-existence, and our women to the nullity of illegal practices, we flatter ourselves upon our moral and economic sanity…If we were sane, we should never rest till we discovered why consumption is never permitted to consume production; until, in short, we finance consumption…For the ONLY effective service that can be given is to clear the road between production and consumption of the thieves and fools that now infest it. In the present position of things, social service may well become a cloak to hide our moral cowardice…"

The book, Napoleon & Islam, is based on official French and Arab documents, which was originally published in France in 1914, but, unfortunately, to the best of our knowledge, was never distributed. In the Foreword to this first English translation, I have made mention of the fact that Napoleon clearly realized that war was (and still is) an inevitable consequence for any society (Muslim or Non-Muslim) which allows its economy to be driven by interest and compound interest with the resulting economic cancer and financial AIDS (Acquired Investment Deficiency Syndrome). Having viewed the graph of France's National Debt (the inevitable result of governments borrowing at interest) Napoleon remarked:

'It is amazing that this monster interest has not devoured the whole of humanity. It would have done so, long ago, had not bankruptcy and revolution acted as counter poisons'.

A monster indeed, for, no matter how small the initial rate or percentage of interest might be, it inevitably and inexorably becomes an exponential monster devouring everything and anything in its path, as is evident from Britain's current National Debt. Most British people are completely ignorant of the fact that they are still paying interest on the loans to William of Orange; they are also ignorant of how that original debt of £1.2 million pounds was encouraged to persist and tumesce into the present PSBR monster of circa: £300,000,000,000 which is currently costing them in the region of £30,000,000,000 per-annum in interest charges - being equal to the total expenditure on housing, education and law & order - a monstrous imposture by any measure of economic prudence. Speaking of which: Do you think Gordon Brown is aware of this fact?

In your letter to Neil Jameson, dated 16 April, you state:

"On Islamic Banking, the problem that I have always had in this area is in understanding the precise nature of the facilities that are sought or that institutions would wish to offer. The generic description seems to be interpreted in different ways in different countries and by different interested groups within this country."

This disunity is inevitable. For the simple reason that, like your predecessor Montagu Norman - a Eugenicist, Theosophist and, according to his step-son Peregrine Worsthorne, an Arch-Nazi sympathizer, who, Winston Churchill threatened to hang for treason - the 'Islamic Experts' have also accepted, without question, the baseless, anti-Islamic views of Thomas Robert Malthus, and latter-day Race-Hygiene advocates such as Avrel Harriman, Fritz Thyssen, George Bush, Henry Kissinger, et al – who claim that we live in a world of scarcity. Proof of this brainwashing can be seen in every school curriculum. For example, the following was the expected answer for the Combined Humanities GCSE Economics course work 1993/94: "There will never be sufficient goods and services to meet everyone's needs – because they are scarce. As a result of which we have to find some way of rationing out what is available."

The so-called Islamic "experts" have be brainwashed into accepting views contrary to God's promises, in His Qur'an, to provide for whoever and whatever He has created. They tend to forget that:

"What Allah out of His Mercy Does bestow on mankind None can withhold: What He does withhold, None can grant." (not even the IMF)

"Kill not your children for fear of want: We shall Provide sustenance for them. It is a great sin. Nor come nigh to adultery: For it is an indecent deed And an evil way. Nor take life which Allah Has made sacred except for just cause…Come not nigh to the orphan's property except to improve it…" Surah17:V31/34

Other mistakes include their uncritical acceptance of orthodox economics based, as it is, on a lamentable series of false assumptions. Hence their unavailing attempts to build a financial edifice worthy of the epithet Islamic, which, by its very nature is hostile to anything inequitable. This automatically rules out all forms of interest and anything involving fraud which further rules out the prevailing system of fractional reserve banking. It is for this, and other glaring contradictions, that Muslims find it difficult to look upon banking as a servant of the people, but rather as their master. Under Islamic rules - which call for equity in all things – the Statutes of Fraud Amendment Act, of 1828, is another obstacle to establishing Islamic banking in this country. This bears out the augury of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, who said that it would be impossible to unite his followers in error. Though money is not fecund, Calvin, justified charging interest for it on the basis that if you could have rent for land, you could have rent for money. His lethal legacy is now testing Muslim bankers, economists, and businesspeople alike, as well as ordinary believers faced with renting or embracing a 25 year Death-Grip or, to use its original Norman French appellation - a Mort-Gage. Like their predecessors, the Muslims have now started to fall for the sophistry, blandishments and compromises which led to the ruination of Christendom and the expulsion of the Jews from the Holy Land.

The Muslims, Christians, and Jews, should take notice of what John Ruskin, had to say when debating the subject of usury during the latter half of the 19th century. Following the mix up over an attack he made on the Bishop of Manchester - not Bishop Manchester for his justification of usury - he penned the following:

"By diocese my Lord; not name, please observe; and for this very simple reason: that I have already a fairly accurate knowledge of the divinity of the old schools of Cantebury, York, and Oxford; but look to your Lordship as the authoritative exponent of the more advanced school of Manchester, with which I am not yet familiar…

"What do I mean by usury? I trust your Lordship will at once acquit me of wishing to attach any other significance to the word than that which it was fully intended to convey on every occasion of its use by Moses, by David by Christ, and by the Doctors of the Christian Church, down to the 17th century…

"It is neither justified by its defenders only in its mildness, nor condemned by its accusers only in its severity. Usury (or its commercial euphemism interest) in any degree is asserted by the Church to be sinful; just as theft and adultery are asserted to be sinful, though neither may have been accompanied with violence; and although the theft may have been on the most splendid scale, and the fornication of the most Courtly refinement…

"So also, in modern days [1879], through the voice of the Bank of England in Parliament, M.P. J.C. Hubbard [who] declares 'a loan without interest to be a monster, and a loan made below the current rate of interest to be a monster in its degree, [on the other hand] the increase of dividends above the current rate is not, as far as I am aware, shunned by shareholders with an equally religious horror?"

(On The Old Road, Vol III)

A careful, unbiased perusal of the history of the abuse of money shows that the 600 years - which the Jews call their "Golden Period" – happened in Spain under the Islamic Caliphate; 600 years of unprecedented peace amongst Jews, Muslims and Christians which came to an abrupt and bloody end with the Spanish Inquisition. The clue to understanding the secret of this "Golden Age" (and in re-establishing one like it) is that references to the role played by interest during that period are conspicuous by their absence. Particularly from the most important chronicle of that time – The Al-Muqaddimah of Ibn Khaldun.

The Muqaddimah is the introduction to a comprehensive history of the world written in 1377 AD, by the great Arab scholar, economist and historian Ibn Khaldun: "So complete is it, however, in its almost encyclopedic detailing of the general problems in the philosophy of history and sociology, that it has become best known as a self-contained work in its own right. Among writings of the age, it is unique for the breadth and freshness of its analytical insights, for it essays a total view of mankind and the forms of social organization. As a summing up of the achievements of historical Islam it is a work considered to be far in advance of similar studies eventually undertaken in Europe…"

'This Muqaddimah' said Hugh Trevor-Roper - 'is only part of Khaldun's great work: it is the introduction to his history of the world. But it is by far the greatest of his works, for it contains his "new science", his philosophy of history.' (Sunday Times)

'Ibn Khaldun', said Arnold Toynbee, 'has succeeded in drawing conclusions which are of living interest for us today. They have a real bearing on our current problems, practical and theoretical. It would, indeed, be no exageration to say that this is the most comprehensive and illuminating analysis of how human affairs work that has been made anywhere.' (The Observer)

Contrary to popular belief, we are not against banks. It is our belief that if banks did not exist we would have to invent them. However, we do share William Pitt's view that:

"Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it"

And the First Baron Acton's views, like those of Napoleon, that:

"the issue which has swept down the centuries and will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks"

I very much welcome your call for more dialogue on the subject of Islamic Banking and have, amongst our list of close associates, someone who, having worked in one of the large discount houses, has a great deal of knowledge about the functioning of conventional banks and banking and the way money markets operate - including the operations of central banks. He is now a Muslim, and I believe that amongst all those currently claiming to understand what does and does not constitute "Halal Investment" and "Islamic Banking" that he is one of the few that really could design a system that would meet all the necessary requirements – secular and religious.

To attach the term Halal or Islamic to any function or activity means that it is designed to be pleasing to the Almighty, and, as such, is considered to be an act of worship. As John Ruskin pointed out. To try and devise tricky "ways round" any divine injunction - be it in the realms of finance or otherwise – cannot, and will not, stand.

To solve the: "recurring deficiencies of effective demand" which always lead to war. The obvious solution to the problem is for the Treasury to provide all the money required to satisfy the spending requirements of all our people by extending the aggregate known as M0, at zero interest. The following extract, is from a letter, to one of our members, which shows that the Treasury knows well how to solve this particular problem, if it only chose to exercise its power:

"Government can, and does finance itself to a small extent by the issue of non-interest bearing money: this is the aggregate known as M0, the stock of which is currently some 19.1/2 billion. The size of the stock of M0 is limited by the demand for this form of money…The money that banks CREATE is either interest-bearing or renders some sort of service that costs banks money to provide"

Thus wrote Anthony Nelson, M.P, whilst acting as a spokesman for HM Treasury, on the 22nd February 1993. He failed to point out that he, like Norman Lamont, were both from N.M.Rothschild perhaps the greatest purveyors of government debt-finance the world has ever known. Purveyors of, in the words of Gilbert and Sullivan: "monumental loans to foreign thrones". Between 1817 & 1845 Britain's National Debt was cancelled and, to the best of our knowledge - The World Did Not Come To An End. Is it not time to cancel all debts in line with the Biblical Jubilee? Kondratiev's Curve, shows that depressions occur every 7 years, when people and communities have become choked with escalating debt and interest payments: confirming the wisdom of Jubilee which calls for a cancellation of all debts every 7th year. This is further confirmed in the Qur'an which states:

"Those who devour usury will not stand except as stands one whom Satan, by his touch, has driven to madness. That is because they say: 'Trade is like usury', But Allah has permitted trade but forbidden usury.

Those who after receiving admonition from their Lord, desist, shall be pardoned for the past; their case is for Allah (to judge); But those who repeat the offence are Companions Of The Fire: they will abide therein for ever. Allah will deprive usury of all blessing, But will give increase For deed of charity (and justice). For He loveth not Any ungrateful Sinner…O you who believe! Fear Allah, and give up what remains of your demands for usury – If you are indeed believers?

If you do not take notice of War from Allah and His Messenger. But if you repent you shall have your capital sums: Deal not unjustly and you shall not be dealt with unjustly. If the debtor is in difficulty, grant him time until it is easy for him to repay. But if you remit it by way of charity that is best for you if you did but realize"

(Qur'an. Surah: 2 Al Baqarah or The Heifer: Verses 275 - 280)

The Qur'an tells us to: "expect war from Allah and His Messenger." It is a promise binding on Allah: The seeds of all future wars were sown at Versailles in 1919, and ratified in perpetuity at Bretton Woods in 1944. These wars, like all their predecessors, will be caused by the congenital fault in our hideous monetary system - based as it is on interest and compound interest. And nowhere better is this deadly fault defined than in an article published by Silvio Gessell, on the eve of the Armistice in 1918. In 'Zeitung am Mitag' a German language newspaper he stated:-

"In spite of the holy promises of people to banish war once and for all, in spite of the cry of millions 'never again war' in spite of all the hopes for a better future I have this to say: - 'If the present monetary system based on interest and compound interest, remains in operation, I dare to predict today that it will take less than 25 years until we have a new and even worse war. I can foresee the coming development clearly. The present degree of technological advancement will quickly result in a record performance of industry. The build up of capital will be fast in spite of the enormous losses during the war, and through the oversupply [of money] the interest rate will be lowered [until the money speculators refuse to lower their rates any further] Money will then be hoarded [causing predictable deflation], economic activities will diminish and increasing numbers of unemployed persons will roam the streets… within these discontented masses, wild, revolutionary ideas will arise and with it also the poisonous plant called 'Super Nationalism' will proliferate. No country will understand the other, and the end can only be war again."

From the foregoing it is clear that we view the prospect of having access to Halal (war-free) funds to be the subject of primary importance. Furthermore, we know that what we are seeking is not only desirable but represents a viable alternative to the existing monetary system. It can only be objected to on the basis that it represents a competitive challenge to the existing order which, according to John D. Rockfeller, views any form of competition as "a mortal sin."

Looking forward to your comments with interest, I remain

Yours sincerely,