Dr M Bakri Musa's article entitled 'Free market as an Islamic tradition' (Nov 29) is a rather futile attempt to market American right-wing economics to Muslims. As both Cheah CK ('US should practice what it preaches', Dec 3) and Muslim Student ('Islam discourages free trade', Dec 4) have pointed out, free trade as advocated by the Republican right-wingers is secularly hypocritical as well as non-Islamic.

I wish to add that free trade and free market do not fit into any religion that teaches compassion, human dignity and equality.

In the free market, workers are hired and fired by capitalists guided by profits, without regard for other human factors like the family and parental responsibilities of workers. There is no protection for the weak against the strongly entrenched elite and capitalists, and it is immoral in the sense that it allows the free production and marketing of arms, weapons, alcohol, tobacco products, sexist entertainment and gambling, all of which are harmful to humans.

Surely, the doctrine of the free market in its absolute sense contradicts the essential messages of all great religions which teach compassion, human dignity, protection for the weak, concern with both bodily and psychological health, socio-economic justice and mutual help.