[Grennios]

There's just too much to read through so I'm going to put my two-dirhems in for whatever they're worth...

Gold is not the solution - just say no to gold [edit: at least say no to the kind that is held on speculation and not actually in your purse in the form of coins].

The problem I have with the current system is that it simply is not as easy as one would like to believe to break free from. Not only is usury infused in every commodity, indentured slavery, raping of resources and an insatiable appetite for stuff, stuff and more stuff is everywhere - in our homes, on our backs, in our water... Even if you want to break-free by moving out into the country and create a Muslim colony in the middle of a country (much like the hutterites do), you still need to work within the system that is there... purchasing the land, purchasing the materials to build with, the tools and equipment to build with... the clothes to wear, the dishes and silverware... Almost everything, even the water we drink, is tied to money.

From the food we eat to the clothes on our backs... there is some form of injustice sewn into every seam or there is the sweat and tears of someone so remote to us, we can't even imagine them at the other end of a basket of strawberries.

How do we remove all that? On an individual level, we can strive for half-measure solutions by striving not to take or give interest but that will only be superficial since there will be some kind of interest and other injustice built into everything we purchase. We can even try to live minimalist lives, knowing no matter what we buy it will be tainted and trying to keep it to a minimum. The question is... on a global and individual level, what can be done to at least break free from this monster of a machine - there must be some space that is uncorrupt - where? What does it look like? How would it work? How inclusive would it be?... it is not so far-fetched to conceive of the current financial system (in its entirety) as the workings of the shaytan or a dajjal for me.

Struggling to live in line with the Qur'an not just for ourselves but for all of humanity - that is the problem we need to find a solution to. The solution seems easier to comprehend and visualize than the current mechanism we've all had a hand in created and sustaining.