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They’re not trying to fool God, they’re trying to fool you into going along with it. They don’t care what God thinks and may not even believe in Him at all, but unless they can convince you of the loophole they’re stuck with the rules themselves.

The bit that isn't rules-lawyered away is that the risk is shared. For the deal to be compliant with the religious law, the lender must accept the same risk as the borrower, equally.

So I guess in this case if the house burns down and the insurance only pays 50% of the agreed value then the lender only receives 50% of their agreed repayment.

Isn’t there still risk for a lender in a typical interest-bearing loan? That the borrower will default?

Usually an interest-paying loan is backed by a guarantee, so the lender can pursue the borrower for repayment by claims on other assets.

Do you love it when people use religion to create rules like this as though people can be fooled into thinking they /know/ the mind of god?