OK. but the quotes above say Riba (usury). Now the word "usury" in modern english is regarded as outsized rates of interest, (usually reserved for loan sharks and credit cards). That's why the quaran quote above states "double or multiplied". Now if Arabic does not have this distinction between Interest and usury, its going to be hard to get a rock solid translation and gives wide latitude for interpretation.

And then there's this quote "As muslims, our main concern when it comes to financial transactions is to avoid Riba in any of its forms, despite the fact that the basic foundation of the world economics and finance today is that of riba and dealing in usury. " The use of the word "usury" is inflamitory in my opinion. Interest is a basic requirement to fulfill time value of money and opportunity cost. The use of the word usury in this context colors the author as a little out there.

Interest allows people access to money they would not ordinarily have and compensates the lender for lost opportunity. I would agree, the problem comes when the interest charged is excessive.