Thomas Jefferson’s “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” based on the Maqasid al Sharia (Goals of Sharia).

As I have begun working on the creation of a Central Islamic Finance Council for the United States Islamic finance industry, some of my professional colleagues have been critical, sending me messages including the following:

“My initial reaction is that this is not a good fit for us. We are not in the midst of an environment in which Islamic finance would be a draw for us.”

“I note that the goal is to establish a world without interest, and you must realize that not everyone is going to buy into that ideal or value proposition.”

I chose to include these responses in this article because from all the feedback I received, responses mainly fell into two categories: “Initial reactions not good,” and “not our ideals or values....