Methods of Argumentation among Pakistani and Egyptian Scholars on Contemporary Islamic Banking: A Comparative and Analytical Study

مروجہ اسلامی بینکاری پر پاکستانی اور مصری علماء کے مناہجِ استدلال: تقابلی و تجزیاتی مطالعہ

Abstract

This article examines the methods of argumentation employed by Pakistani and Egyptian scholars in their discussions of contemporary Islamic banking. Instead of treating the debate as a simple disagreement between approval and rejection, the study argues that the deeper point of divergence lies in the methodological principles through which scholars interpret riba, modern banking contracts, institutional practice, economic substance, public need, and the objectives of Shariah. In the Pakistani context, the supportive and reformist approach associated with Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani combines textual evidence, classical juristic contracts, institutional Shariah governance, and gradual transition from interest-based finance toward Shariah-compliant alternatives. Critical Pakistani voices, however, examine Islamic banking through maqasid al-Shariah, economic substance, and the critique of capitalist financial logic, questioning whether current products sufficiently embody risk-sharing, social justice, and genuine transformation. In the Egyptian context, Ahmad Ali al-Salus represents a textual and usuli approach that strongly emphasizes the prohibition of riba and warns against legal stratagems, while Abdul Rahman Yousri Ahmad represents a maqasid-oriented and developmental approach that evaluates finance in relation to welfare, productive investment, and human development. Certain fatwas of Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah also illustrate an institutional fatwa method that considers public need, legal characterization, and the realities of modern state finance. The article concludes that meaningful scholarly dialogue on Islamic banking requires explicit attention to methodology: contract form, economic substance, maqasid, necessity, custom, institutional governance, and consequences must be studied together. A balanced approach should preserve the categorical prohibition of riba while promoting authentic contracts, transparent Shariah governance, social finance, and a gradual movement from formal compliance to genuine maqasid-based financial reform.