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Title: Religion and profits
Review: An excellent scholarly book. Great detail and very in depth analysis. Inevitable conclusion is the impossibility of molding an economic system out of a moral philosophy, not just Islam. That is where the problem with traditional Islamic thought arises, for most of its adherents, Islam is not just a set of moral principles but a way of life, dictating every aspect of it. Unavoidably, there was much effort by Islamists to set up a distinct system of banking and economy based on pure Islamic traditions. Prof. Kuran delves into the history of these movements, but he does more than that, he puts all this in cultural and political context. At the end, he bravely expands more on the general failure of Islamic culture and tradition to bring wealth and prosperity to the masses that follow it. Writing is very formal, not the easiest read and surley apporpriate only for the truly intersted in the general topic, but it was well worth it for this reader.
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