The twits at Mastercard need a lesson on what Shari'ah law is...

Rachel Lucas says it all...

Because regular debit cards just aren’t good enough for Islam:

MasterCard Worldwide and EonCap Islamic Bank (a member of Malaysia’s Eon Bank Group) have jointly launched what they are billing as the world’s first Islamic debit MasterCard—the EonCap Islamic Debit MasterCard.

The EonCap Islamic Debit MasterCard is basically a debit card with ATM functions as well. It also works on PayPass systems, which enables a person to swipe it on a terminal without the card leaving the cardholder’s hand. It is referred to as blending traditional purchasing power with modern technology and is Shari’ah compliant.

“It is designed to appeal to both Muslim and non-Muslim individuals who prefer better financial control as the card ensures that purchases are automatically deducted from the cardholder’s account and approved only if enough funds exist within the account. It helps track spending, comes with worldwide acceptance at more than 26 million locations and can be used at an ATM for e-banking,” says Fozia Amanulla, chief executive officer of Eoncap Islamic Bank.

“MasterCard is pleased to collaborate with Eoncap Islamic Bank in order to introduce this card to Malaysian consumers. The EonCap Islamic Debit MasterCard card is designed for individuals who prefer to spend what they have in their accounts, yet seek the same functionality and assurances of a credit card,” said Shuan Ghaidan, head of product sales and delivery, Asia-Pacific at MasterCard Worldwide.

I’m not a particularly intelligent person, nor a debit card expert nor a banker, so maybe I’m missing something but can someone please explain to me like I’m 4 years old exactly how the Islamic Debit Mastercard is different from every other debit card on the planet? Because my bank’s basic Infidel Debit Visa Card does precisely the same things. It’s like cash, only without other people’s germs on it.

And I would like very much to know in some detail how a debit card can be compliant with Shari’ah law. Does it send an electronic notification to your local imam if you buy womens’ clothing that doesn’t cover wrists and ankles? Do they monitor your account to ensure you regularly buy wife-beating implements? I shudder to think of the repercussions if you swipe it to pay for a package of pork weiners.

My friend Nicki has all these questions and others because she is smarter than me. One I didn’t think of is, “Does it assure no Jews are involved in the banking transactions?” I bet she pronounced that Joos in her head when she typed it. Also:

Here’s why I get this itchy, uncomfortable feeling. Electronic financial transactions have this tendency to be easy and convenient for threat financing. It is estimated that only $10,000 was needed to carry out the attacks on US embassies abroad.

Take for example eBay and PayPal. Terrorist could establish accounts, fictitiously sell merchandise on eBay and transfer small amounts of money, less than $3,000, via PayPal. These transactions spread across three or four accounts would be enough to fund another embassy-scale terrorist attack. This non-traditional means of transferring money is the most difficult to detect, monitor and trace.

And if confronted by law enforcement authorities about possible suspicious activities within their banks, are these “Sharia compliant” banks going to hide behind religious freedoms to withhold information about possible threat financing?

Excellent question and now I’m dying of curiosity about this thing. Maybe one of you can think of any other reasons they need Shari’ah-compliant debit cards that work exactly the same way as all other debit cards.

Also maybe someone (you know who you are) will make a funnier credit card image than I did. I went for the obvious, Islamic Rage-Boy, but surely there’s a better way. Just don’t provoke any outrage and get a fatwa called on me.