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The Prohibition of RIBA / RIBBIT in Judaism,
Catholicism, Protestant Christianity, and Islam |
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By: Dr. Yahia Abdul-Rahman |
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YARAHMAN@LARIBA.com; YARAHMAN@MSN.com |
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+1-626-818-0855 and +1-626-255-2181 |
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Founder of The LARIBA System |
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LARIBA – American Finance House (1987) |
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Bank of Whittier, NA (2003 / 1982) |
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LARIBA Egypt (2004) |
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www.LARIBA.com; www.WhittierBank.com; www.LARIBA.com.eg |
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ISNA Canada – May 17 - 18, 2007 |
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Prof. Rabbi Wolf |
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University of Judaism, Los Angeles,
California |
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Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky |
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N. Hollywood Temple 8906 Pico Ave, L.A., CA |
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Prof. John Goldingay |
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Prof. of Old & New Testament, Fuller
Seminary, |
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Pasadena, California |
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Prof. Christopher Kaczor |
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Department of Philosophy, Loyola Marymount
University, Los Angeles, California |
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Dr. Yahia Abdul-Rahman |
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LARIBA, Pasadena, California |
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1. Riba, which is Prohibited by The Islamic
Faith, has also been Prohibited in: |
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Judaism
– in the Torah, and |
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Christianity – in the Bible. |
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2. The Strict Codes of Prohibition were Relaxed
to a Lesser Extent in Judaism Especially with the non-Members of the Jewish
Community. |
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3. The Church – First the Protestant (John
Calvin) and then the Catholic (St. Thomas Aquinas) Conformed Itself To The
Secular Pattern And Provided A Theological Rationale For Charging Interest. |
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Islamic Jurisprudence – Shari’aa - Still Holds to The Original Position
Of Prohibiting the Act of Renting the Use of Money at a Price called Ribbit
in Judaism, Usury in Catholicism and Riba in Islam. It Applies to ALL. |
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The ONLY Loan is a Qard Hassan – No Interest. |
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Money is a Thing and One Cannot Charge for the
Use of Money. |
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A Tangible Asset Has to Change Hands in Order to
Participate in The Rewards or The Loss. |
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There are Efforts within the Islamic Finance
Movement to use “Heyal” or Ruses & Deceptive Practices to
Circumvent the Shari’aa Exactly as
was Done in other Abrahamic Faiths. |
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Riba-Free Financial Services Industry Presents
the Emerging Muslims of North America with An Historic Opportunity to Work
Together with Judeo-Christian N. America in order to Forge Ahead Towards
Building a Judeo-Christian-Islamic America that Offers ALL People of All
Faiths A New Riba-Free Life Style. |
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THREE PILLARS: |
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Money & Investments, Inheritance & Alms |
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Money, Investments and Dealings: |
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Money: Is A Measuring Device – A Thing – It
cannot be Rented Out At A Price Called INTEREST |
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RIBA, meaning Renting Money at a Price Called
Interest, is Prohibited. |
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Buying and Selling must involve a REAL property
and the Change of Title is Conditional on the absence of GHARAR or deception. |
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Price should be MARKED-TO-THE MARKET. |
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Sources: |
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The Qur’aan & Tradition of Prophet Muhammad. |
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Positions of Islamic Sources Are Strikingly Not
Much Different From the Original Sources in The Torah (Old Testament) |
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Examples From The Holy Qur’aan: Chap 2,3,4 &
30 |
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وَأَخْذِهِمُ
الرِّبَا
وَقَدْ
نُهُواْ عَنْه |
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يَا
أَيُّهَا
الَّذِينَ
آمَنُواْ
لاَ تَأْكُلُواْ
الرِّبَا
أَضْعَافًا
مُّضَاعَفَةً
وَاتَّقُواْ
اللّهَ
لَعَلَّكُمْ
تُفْلِحُون |
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الَّذِينَ
يَأْكُلُونَ
الرِّبَا
لاَ يَقُومُونَ
إِلاَّ
كَمَا
يَقُومُ
الَّذِي
يَتَخَبَّطُهُ
الشَّيْطَانُ
مِنَ الْمَس |
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وَأَحَلَّ
اللّهُ
الْبَيْعَ
وَحَرَّمَ
الرِّبَا بِأَنَّهُمْ
قَالُواْ :
إِنَّمَا
الْبَيْعُ
مِثْلُ
الرِّبَا ، |
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وَإِن
تُبْتُمْ
فَلَكُمْ
رُؤُوسُ
أَمْوَالِكُمْ
لاَ
تَظْلِمُونَ
وَلاَ
تُظْلَمُون |
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وَإِن
كَانَ ذُو
عُسْرَةٍ
فَنَظِرَةٌ
إِلَى
مَيْسَرَة ٍ |
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فَإِن
لَّمْ
تَفْعَلُوا
،
فَأْذَنُواْ
بِحَرْبٍ
مِّنَ
اللّهِ
وَرَسُولِهِ
، |
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The Christian Bible Comprises: |
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The Jewish Scriptures, which Christians
traditionally refer to as the Old Testament, and |
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Then some writings that come from the period of
Jesus and just afterwards, referred to as the |
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New Testament: |
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Mathew |
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Mark |
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Luke |
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John |
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LOANS & LENDING |
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Qur’aanic Language (Arabic): |
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“Quard” is derived from the verb “To Bite.” |
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To Prevent the Implied bite of Interest the ONLY
Loan in Islam is “Quard Hassan” or “Good Loan” without Interest. |
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Torah Language (Hebrew): |
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“Neshek”, “Neshah” meaning to lend in Hebrew and
“Noshem” meaning Lenders – Used For Lending in General to the General
Public. |
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“Lawah” Used for Lending to Friends & Family
Members NOT Commercial (Focused on By Protestants) |
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THE PEOPLE OF THE FAITH: |
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Qur’aanic Language (Arabic): |
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“Ummah” is the People of the Muslim Faith. |
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In ALL Islamic Teachings THERE NO SUPERIORITY
over other Nations Except through “Taqwa”; i.e. Revering God-Allah and
Following His Scriptures & The Model of All God’s Prophets As
Manifested by The Life Style of Prophet Muhammad (s). |
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God-Allah Does NOT Differentiate Between Prophet
or People. There is No SUPERIORITY OF A PROPHET or A NATION OVER ANOTHER. |
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DISCRIMINATION IS A SIN. |
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Torah Language (Hebrew): |
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“Ami”
–My People (of Moses) – People of the Jewish Faith - THE FAMILY OF ISRAEL /
(Jacob.) |
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PROHIBITION OF USURY: Original Catholic Prohibition of Interest was Changed Slowly
by Replacing Interest with the Word Usury or the Price of Using Money. |
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“To take Interest / Usury for money lent is
unjust in itself, because this is to sell what does not exist, and this
evidently leads to inequality which is contrary to justice.” Prohibition of
RIBA!!! |
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DEFINITION OF USURY: |
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CONTEMPORARY – EXCESSIVE INTEREST! |
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ORIGINAL DEFINITION: The Catholic Church |
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The Price of the Use Of The Thing is called
USURY. |
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Two
Rights: Right To Sell Title &
Right To Sell Use |
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Fungibles: Wheat or Apple: You can Transfer
its Title By Selling – Giving the RIGHT TO Own |
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You cannot Charge for the Use of It; Using
It Destroys It. |
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Non-Fungibles: Real Estate: Here TITLE can
Be Transferred for a Price in a Buy
/ Sell Agreement: |
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Moveable & Immoveable |
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One can Charge for the Right To Use – Called
USURY!!! |
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HOWEVER, One Cannot Charge for the Right to Use
Money – Because Money is A Thing!!!!! |
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To take usury for money lent is unjust in
itself, because this is to sell what does not exist, and this evidently
leads to inequality which is contrary to justice (Original Teachings of |
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The Old & New Testament) |
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NOT MUCH DIFFERENT from Islam’s Position on RIBA |
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Through the First Millennium (CE): |
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The Christian Church affirmed the Old Testament
principle: |
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Lending On Interest Was Disapproved, |
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On The Continuing Presupposition That Lending
Was An Aspect Of Care For The Needy. |
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In Practice Lending On Interest Was Tolerated As
Long As Rates Were Not Judged Excessive (Now Called Usury.) |
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Where Christians Refused To Engage In Commercial
Lending, Jewish Moneylenders Were Able To Fill The Vacuum On The Basis Of
The Deuteronomy Permission To Charge Interest To Foreigners. |
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In The Second Millennium: |
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Commerce Began To Develop In New Ways And The
Practice Of Lending On Interest Became Prevalent, Initially Despite The
Church’s Opposition. |
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In Due Course, However, The Church Conformed
Itself To The Secular Pattern And Provided A Theological Rationale For It. |
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In Fifteenth Century Italy: |
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Public Pawnshops Developed With Franciscan’s
Support To Offer Loans To The Poor On Interest But More Cheaply Than Those
Offered By Regular Moneylenders, Charging A Very Low Interest Designed
Simply To Cover Expenses. |
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In 1516 The Fifth Lateran Council Approved These
Practices. |
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As Years Went By These Pawnshops Began Also To
Lend For Commercial Purposes At Higher Rates. |
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John Calvin – 16th Century:
PROTESTANT |
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Removed The Ban On Lending At Interest, With
Safeguards That Predictably Were Conveniently Forgotten |
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Feeling
Unbound By The Course Of Discussion Within The Medieval Church And |
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Perceiving That The Old Testament Was Concerned With Caring For The Poor And Not With
Commercial Loans |
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St. Thomas Aquinas: CATHOLIC |
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In Due Course The Roman CATHOLIC CHURCH Also
Removed Its Ban On Lending At Interest |
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As The Capitalist World Developed, It Lost The
Idea That The Point About Lending Is To Be Caring Towards The Needy. |
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In Victorian Britain: |
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Attempted Revival Through development of the
Co-operative and the Building Society movements. In effect the customers of the Co-op were the shareholders,
while building societies worked by attracting safe investments from people
who hoped eventually to buy a house and lending the money to people who
were already in a position to do so. |
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Until A Generation Ago Anglican Clergy in
England Were Encouraged to Retire As They had nowhere else to go. When the church wanted to introduce
compulsory retirement it had to solve this problem by lending them the
money to buy a house—on interest (but a very low rate!). |
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THE OLD TESTAMENT |
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Teachings of Prophet Moses (s) |
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The Source: ORIGINAL TORAH |
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Exodus, chapter 22, and verses 24 – 26 |
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24. “When you lend money to any of my people (AMI),
to the poor among you, you shall not be to him as a creditor, nor shall you
impose upon him any interest. |
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25. If you take your neighbor’s [night] garment
a s a pledge (collateral), you shall return it to him by nightfall. |
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26. For that is his only covering; it is his
garment for his skin. In what shall he sleep? And it shall come t pass,
that if he cries our unto Me, I will hear it, for I am compassionate.” |
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LENDING:
The General Jewish Biblical Attitude |
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The Law is Based on the Important Word is “AMI”-
my people – verse number 24. |
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God specifically regards those in need of loans
as being His special people, to whom He is very close. |
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The lender should regard it as an honor to
assist one of God’s people, and must conduct his/her affairs accordingly |
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The phrase “ you shall not be to him as a
creditor” is interpreted to mean that the lender is prohibited from
reminding the borrower of his dependent status in any way. |
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The Borrower is Beloved of God, and the Lender
Must Bear this in Mind. |
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Even a Facial Gesture on the Lender’s Part Can
Constitute a Violation of This Prohibition. |
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The Torah: |
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Rejects the Entire Notion of a LOAN as a
Transaction that brings Benefit to the Lender. |
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Rabbinical Interpretation |
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Lender is Prohibited from Charging Interest, and |
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The Borrower is Prohibited from Offering to Pay
Interest. |
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Halacha (Rabbinical Law): |
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A Person who Either Lends, or Voluntarily
Borrows on Interest is Disqualified from being a Witness in Court. |
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Interest Can Include Considerations Aside from
Cash (Bava Metzia, Chapter 5, Mishna 2): |
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Gestures by which the Creditor Realizes
Benefit from the Loan He/She Extended, and are Defined as “Interest” by
Rabbinical Definition: |
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** It is prohibited to allow one’s creditor
to live in and utilize one’s home or workplace rent-free. |
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** It is even prohibited for the debtor to
offer space to his creditor at a discounted rent.. |
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The Permissibility of Lending with Interest to
People Who Are Not Part of the Jewish Community - Talmud (Bava Metzia 70b – 71a) , and the
Post-Talmudic Rabbis |
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1. Moses Maimonidies, (Laws of Loans, chapter 5,
law 2): |
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It Is Permissible For A Jew To Charge Interest
Of A Non-Jew ONLY When And In The Amount Necessary To Provide Himself With
A Basic Living. |
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It Is Prohibited For A Jew To Charge A Usurious
Rate. |
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2. The Great Rabbis of Medieval France and
Germany: |
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Were More Permissive under Circumstances in
which Jews |
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were Barred from Most Professions, and Jewish |
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communities were Singled out for Taxation Above
the |
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Ordinary Rates. (Commentary of Tosafot to Bava
Metzia |
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70b) |
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The Sixteenth Century Life Style: Less Agrarian & More Commercial |
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Problem: |
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More Demand for Commercial Loans & Less
Demand for Personal Loans (Prohibited by the Torah) |
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Solution: |
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“Heter Iska” Document Developed by Rabbis in
Poland and Eastern Europe |
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This document Attempted to Transform the
Lender-Borrower Relationship into an Investment Relationship…SAME CONCEPT
AS MUSHARAKA or JV. |
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“Heter Iska” Document – Musharakah |
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The Provider of Capital (loan) Becomes a Partner
in the Venture that the Borrower will be Engaging In. |
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The Provider will Share a Specified Percentage
of the Realized Profits with the Borrower. |
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Refined To Help Insure That The lender/investor
would not be exposing himself to an unacceptable level of risk, |
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To Ascertain That Some measure of return would
be contractually guaranteed. |
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This Technical Redefinition Of The Loan As An
Investment |
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Allowed Jewish Commercial Enterprises To Succeed |
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Without Violating The Laws Of Interest. The
“Heter |
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Iska” is
in Common Use to This Day! |
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INTEREST-FREE LOAN SOCIETIES |
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Available in All Jewish Communities to Preserve
both the Spirit and the Letter of the Laws of Interest. |
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Often Administered by the Local Jewish
Federations or Other Community-wide Organizations |
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These Societies are Considered the True |
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Embodiments of the Words of the Torah. |
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THE BIBLE |
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Old Testament |
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New Testament |
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Teaching of Jesus (s) in Protestant Evangelical
Church |
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The Christian Bible Comprises: |
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The
Jewish Scriptures, which Christians traditionally refer to as the Old
Testament, and |
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Then some writings that come from the period of
Jesus and just afterwards, referred to as the |
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New Testament: |
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Mathew |
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Mark |
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Luke |
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John |
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THE NEW TESTAMENT: |
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Confirms The Stance Of The Old Without Adding To
It. |
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EVANGELICAL PROTESTANT CHRISTIANS: |
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ALL PEOPLE |
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Moses’ Teaching as “Law”. |
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Jesus’ Teaching Was More Radical Than Moses’. |
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Moses’ Teaching About Loving One’s Neighbor
Offers No Exemption If One’s Neighbor Is One’s Enemy And |
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Specifically Requires One To Help One’s Enemy
(Exodus 23:4-5). |
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It Would Also Imply That One Should Not Hold
Back From Lending Because The Needy Person Was One’s Enemy. |
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New Additions to The Jewish Law: |
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Debtors would seek to work their way back to
solvency By indentured labor — the equivalent to getting a job, rather than
the norm of being self-employed. |
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People who are Doing well are Expected to Lend
Freely to the needy and to accept payment in the form of Labor, or of the
Eventual Repayment of the Debt in Money that the Person had Earned thru
Labor. |
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3. A THIRD PASSAGE IN MOSES’ TEACHING: |
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(Deuteronomy 23:19-20 [23:20-21 in Hebrew
Bibles]). |
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Makes Explicit That People Must Not Impose
Interest On Any Form Of Loan, In Money Or In Kind. |
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That Passage Also Makes Explicit That Israelites
Are Permitted To Impose Interest In Lending To A Foreigner, Someone Who Is
Not A Member Of The Family. This Is
An Example Of A Number Of Obligations That Did Not Apply To Foreigners. |
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This exemption has been of considerable
influence in encouraging Jewish people to be involved in the commercial
world. |
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“You shall not charge interest on loans to
another Israelite, interest on money, interest on provisions, interest on
anything that is lent. On loans to
a foreigner you may charge interest, but on loans to another Israelite you
may not charge interest” (Deuteronomy 23:19-20 [23:20-21 in Hebrew
Bibles]). |
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Beyond Moses’ Teachings – New Testament: |
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Proverbs 28:8 promises that someone who makes a
profit by lending at interest “gathers it for another who is kind to the
poor”—i.e., they will not see the profit themselves. It is a personal experience of something
that the prophet Habakkuk envisages for the leading world power of its day. |
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Psalm 15 asks the question, “LORD, who may abide
in your tent?”—i.e., stay in your presence. Its answer includes the general requirement of a life of
integrity and truthfulness, and also some concrete expectations such as
avoiding slander, keeping oaths, refusing bribes — and not lending money at
interest. |
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The prophet Ezekiel speaks in similar terms in
listing obligations that people should fulfill if they wish God to treat
them as righteous, such as not worshiping by means of images, defiling
their neighbors’ wives, robbing people—or lending at interest (Ezekiel
18:8, 13, 17). |
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Beyond Moses’ Teachings – New Testament: |
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Similar Issues Are Raised By Jesus’ “Sermon On
The Mount”. |
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In More Commercial Contexts And In A Competitive
Situation People Might Charge Interest On Commercial Loans Without
Infringing The Principle Underlying This Teaching. |
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THE NEW TESTAMENT Refers To Lending On Interest
Only In The Context Of A Parable, About A Man Entrusting His Assets To His
Servants (Matthew 25:27; Luke 19:23). |
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JESUS Does Urge His Followers To Lend To Whoever
Asks For A Loan (Matthew 5:42) And Makes Explicit That This Applies Even To
Enemies And Applies Even If You Do Not Expect To Gain In Any Way From The
Act (Luke 6:34-35). |
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MACCABAEUS, A JEWISH WORK From About The Same
Period, Which Some Christians Came To Treat As Near-canonical, Claims That
When People Start Conforming Their Lives To Moses’ Teaching, Even If They
Are By Nature Greedy They Start Lending To The Needy Without Charging
Interest (2:8). |
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THE BIBLE – Teaching of Jesus |
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Old Testament |
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New Testament |
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The Catholic Church Position On Usury / Interest |
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The Church Maintains That Usury Is Wrong; But
Does Not Hold And Never Did Hold That All Charging Whatsoever Of Amounts
Beyond The Principal Is Wrong. |
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This Continuity In Condemning Usury Is Reflected
In The First Universal Compendium Of Catholic Teaching In Over 400 Years,
The Catechism Of The Catholic Church Written With The Input Of All The
Bishops Of The Catholic Church And Published By The Authority Of John Paul
II. |
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The Christian Bible Comprises: |
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The
Jewish Scriptures, which Christians traditionally refer to as the Old
Testament, and |
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Then some writings that come from the period of
Jesus and just afterwards, referred to as the |
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New Testament: |
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Mathew |
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Mark |
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Luke |
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John |
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Condemned by: |
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St. Ambrose (d.397), St. Jerome (d.420), St.
Augustine (d.430), and Pope St. Leo the Great (d.461) characteristically in
connection with taking advantage of the poor. |
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Bishops condemned usury at the Council of
Elivira (305 or 306), the council of Arles (314), and the First Council of
Nicea (325). |
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Several popes including Alexander III, Gregory
IX, Urban III, Innocent III, and Clement V. |
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Canon 13 of the Second Lateran Council
(A. D. 1139) reads: |
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“Furthermore,
we condemn that practice accounted despicable and blameworthy by divine and
human laws, denounced by Scripture in the old and new Testaments, namely,
the ferocious greed of usurers; and we sever them from every comfort of the
church, forbidding any archbishop or bishop, or an abbot of any order
whatever or anyone in clerical orders, to dare to receive usurers, unless
they do so with extreme caution; but let them be held infamous throughout
their whole lives and, unless they repent, be deprived of a Christian
burial “ |
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Thomas Aquinas 1225-1274 writes in his most
famous work, the Summa Theologiae, says that ‘to make money by usury is
exceedingly unnatural.’” |
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John Finnis In His Book Aquinas Notes That St.
Thomas Aquinas (Oxford University Press, 1998) : |
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Did not view money making as inherently wrong. |
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It is wrong to make money simply for the sake of
making money, as if money were the final end. |
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Nothing objectionable with making money to
sustaining a household, helping the poor, or for public benefit |
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Trading is not wrong in itself. The price of an item is fixed by the
market demand for the product so long as both buyer and seller are aware of
the product’s merits and defects. A
seller may not, however, take advantage of the need of a buyer. |
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St. Thomas Aquinas Ruled That Charging Interest
On A Loan Is Wrong. |
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Aquinas assumes that money is a sterile,
non-fungible commodity. LENDERS CANNOT CHARGE INTEREST ON LENDING |
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EXCEPTIONS: (Finnis) |
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Aquinas did not believe that in all
circumstances the lender must extend a loan and receive ONLY exactly the
same amount in return over and above the original amount of the loan. |
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Aquinas Believed that the Lender May Require: |
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Indemnity protection or insurance against loss
or damage. |
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Be repaid for expenses incurred in making the
transaction Like Late-Payment or Extensions. |
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Noonan notes: The contemporary Catholic Church
does not abide by this teaching: |
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“By 1750, then, the scholastic theory and
the counter-theory, approaching the same problem form different theoretical
viewpoints, agree in approving the common practice: of demanding interest
on loans.” |
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As Time Went On, The Majority Of Respected
Catholic Theologians Approved Of Taking Interest On Loans. |
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The Holy Office Did Not Condemn These Opinions
And Confessors Were Not Obliged To Disturb Those Involved In The Practice. |
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In 1917 Canon Law Required Catholic
Institutions, Such As Hospitals, Schools, Or Universities To Invest Their
Assets Profitably: |
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There Has Undoubtedly Been A Change Between The
Ancient Teachings Of The Fathers And The Contemporary Catholic Tradition. |
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Is This Change A Simple Contradiction And
Repudiation Of Past Belief?
Perhaps. |
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Another Way Of Characterizing The Change, Namely
As A Development Of Catholic Doctrine. |
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What Rate Of Interest Should Be Charged On A
Loan? To Whom Should One Loan? |
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At What Level of Interest to Becomes Usury? |
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Should Individuals In Need Be Offered Special
Opportunities Or, As Some Would Call It, A Preferential Option? |
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These questions, the Church Suggests can be
answered as in (Matthew 25: 30-42) Come… inherit the kingdom prepared for
you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me
food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you
welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me,
I was in prison and you came to me.'
Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see thee
hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and
welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick or in
prison and visit thee?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to
you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to
me.' |
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1. Riba, which is Prohibited by The Islamic
Faith, has also been Prohibited in: |
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Judaism
– in the Torah, and |
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Christianity – in the Bible. |
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2. The Strict Codes of Prohibition were Relaxed
to a Lesser Extent in Judaism Especially with the non-Members of the Jewish
Community. |
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3. The Church – First the Protestant (John
Calvin) and then the Catholic (St. Thomas Aquinas) Conformed Itself To The
Secular Pattern And Provided A Theological Rationale For Charging Interest. |
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Islamic Jurisprudence – Shari’aa - Still Holds to The Original Position
Of Prohibiting the Act of Renting the Use of Money at a Price called Ribbit
in Judaism, Usury in Catholicism and Riba in Islam. It Applies to ALL. |
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The ONLY Loan is a Qard Hassan – No Interest. |
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Money is a Thing and One Cannot Charge for the
Use of Money. |
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A Tangible Asset Has to Change Hands in Order to
Participate in The Rewards or The Loss. |
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There are Efforts within the Islamic Finance
Movement to use “Heyal” or Ruses & Deceptive Practices to
Circumvent the Shari’aa Exactly as
was Done in other Abrahamic Faiths. |
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Riba-Free Financial Services Presents the
Emerging Muslims of North America with An Historic Opportunity to Work
Together with Judeo-Christian N. America in order to Forge Ahead Towards
Building a Judeo-Christian-Islamic America that Offers ALL People of All
Faiths A New Riba-Free Life Style. |
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THANK
YOU |
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www.LARIBA.com |
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www.WhittierBank.com |
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Dr.
Yahia Abdul-Rahman |
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YARAHMAN@MSN.com |
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YARAHMAN@LARIBA.com |
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+1-626-818-0855, +1-626–255–2181 |
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