From the linked article: "Depending upon his religion, Mohamed Altoumaimi may not be allowed to go to money lenders for a loan once he graduates school and enters the working world."
Erm, that seems like a very strange statement, especially for a gifted student in Sweden. I'm taken aback by the unsubtlety of those social implications, but I'm also surprised that there aren't scores of corporate sponsors and philanthropic organizations that wouldn't jump through hoops to fund this young person's scholarship. He is obviously quite deserving.
[Edit: On second look, perhaps this observation is a bias of the quoted website, and not a general indictment of Swedes. If so, my apologies to our Scandinavian friends and my continued sincere skepticism of the quoted website.]
University is free in Sweden, whether or not you're a native, so that just reflects the ignorance and laziness of the writer.
Islam does indeed forbid charging interest on loans (just as Christianity did in Medieval times), but the Muslim world has many ways to work around that, most commonly charging a "fee" instead of interest.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090528/od_afp/swedeneducationoffbeatreply_20090528174259
ReplyDeleteLOL - this hit my blog today too!
ReplyDeleteShow off.
ReplyDeleteFrom the linked article: "Depending upon his religion, Mohamed Altoumaimi may not be allowed to go to money lenders for a loan once he graduates school and enters the working world."
ReplyDeleteErm, that seems like a very strange statement, especially for a gifted student in Sweden. I'm taken aback by the unsubtlety of those social implications, but I'm also surprised that there aren't scores of corporate sponsors and philanthropic organizations that wouldn't jump through hoops to fund this young person's scholarship. He is obviously quite deserving.
[Edit: On second look, perhaps this observation is a bias of the quoted website, and not a general indictment of Swedes. If so, my apologies to our Scandinavian friends and my continued sincere skepticism of the quoted website.]
Isn't this kind of Mathematical gift different from Daniel Tammet's feats? Or maybe different faces of genius?
ReplyDeleteRecitation seems a quite different skill from analysis and application to me.
ReplyDeleteUniversity is free in Sweden, whether or not you're a native, so that just reflects the ignorance and laziness of the writer.
ReplyDeleteIslam does indeed forbid charging interest on loans (just as Christianity did in Medieval times), but the Muslim world has many ways to work around that, most commonly charging a "fee" instead of interest.
Fee/interest. What is in a name? It's the same.
ReplyDeleteNot when you examine the legal implications of interest versus lending fee.
ReplyDeleteWith a fee you borrow $1,000, receive $900 and repay $1,000.
With interest you borrow $1,000, receive $1,000 and repay $1,111.11
Does that make sense?