Merrill Lynch, Lehman, AIG, HBOS? What's next? This article is a good read on one of the underlying factors causing the failures of these organizations. The main problem with the credit crunch is that it is driven by debt, debt-securities and derivatives/instruments. That is exactly the problem that perplexes me the most.
In my life, the one rule to do with finance that I follow is a wisdom that my father passed down very early to all his children, i.e. "Live your life free from debt." It is such that I dread using the credit card and makes sure that I can pay my bills on time - never borrow on credit. I know of several of my friends who live by this maxim too. One of them even bought her car in cash!
As I grew up, I realize that the wisdom was an actual wisdom that Islam promotes for its financial sector. Coupled with its prohibition on interest rates/usury, Muslims are discouraged to spend with what they do not have. That means, in financial terms, the practice of borrowing from the bank to buy equities/other financial instruments are frowned at. This is because of the interest rates of the bank for one and second, you do not have the underlying asset to pay off the debt in the case that the prices of these instruments fall, as we see it doing right now.
Of course, this does not extend to things like financing your business or car/home loans. The way Islamic finance deal with these matters is through either a shared-partnership schemes in the case of the business or in which they retain ownership until such a time you have fully paid the price of the car/home. Of course, this is from what little I've read. The actual process is slightly more complicated but basically the foundation is not debt-driven. Allah knows best...
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