Dhaka, July 3 -- Dr Muhammad Umer Chapra's passing in late June marked the end of an era in modern economics, however for many people studying the subject, it also raised a difficult issue. A towering figure in Islamic finance, Chapra spent nearly six decades arguing that a financial system based upon interest rates would ultimately fail the communities it claimed to support. I am confident in saying that Chapra was a careful economist who happened to believe that the lack of ethical considerations in finance, essentially turns finance into a vehicle to transfer wealth upwards.

This year, looking at Bangladesh's banking data, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that Chapra was describing this scenario with such precision. Consider th...