the users here aren't as wankerish as sites like Reddit
That's what most of us have found out. (Though there may be some rotten apples here too.)
Steem dollars accrue 10% interest, which poses a bit of a problem for me as a Muslim. We believe that taking interest payments and paying interest to others is impermissible
I would not be too worried about that. Interest on whatever on Steem is not equivalent to usury I'm sure. After all, when it's all decided on consensus of Steem witnesses, and because it is paid on deposited funds, it is likely not going to hurt those who use Steem.
Anyway, if you don't like gathering interest, don't keep SBD on your account, switch it to other cryptocurrencies as you get paid.
On the other hand, if you have any cryptocurrency (Steem, Bitcoin, Ether), the rising price inevitably means you will get an interest on your original investment whether you want it or not.
Usury is an entirely different thing. If I loan something to a friend, I don't personally expect an interest, but if someone wants to pay back extra, I'm not turning it down. I do however think unfairly collecting excessive interest rates on loans is bad for everyone and unethical behavior to say the least.
I think there's a difference between interest earned through a loan, where you loan somebody $100 and they have to pay back a certain amount in principal every month plus a percentage of what they haven't yet paid, which is clearly forbidden in Islam, and capital gains made from investment. The way I see it, a cryptocurrency is a commodity like any other, and it is absolutely fine to buy some because you believe the value will increase. If buying cryptocurrency was wrong for that reason, buying gold would be equally forbidden. Thanks for the help though!