Interest Free Banking Case Study

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CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1. INTRODUCTION Interest-free banking since its start has been one of the most controversial institutions and it operates in most countries in the Middle East like Bahrain, Kuwait and in many countries in Asia and Europe. Pakistan, Iran and Sudan have ?Islamized? their whole banking system while others like Bahrain, Turkey, Malaysia and Jordan have adopted a heterogeneous banking system in which one or more Interest-free banks compete with Western commercial banks. Interest-free banking is so far the fastest-growing segment of the international banking, receiving wide acceptance from Muslims and non-Muslims (Iqbal and Molynex, 2005). The General Secretariat of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) defines ?An Islamic bank as a financial institution whose statutes, rules and procedures expressly state its commitment to the principle of Islamic sharia,…show more content…
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY Despite being an evolving industry, Islamic finance has enjoyed a steady and consistent horizontal as well as the vertical growth since the concept was put into practice some 40 years ago (Ahmad 2000). Islamic banking system is based on the concept of Interest-free banking. According to the Hassan (2008) Interest-free banking refers to a system of banking or banking activity consistent with the principles of Islamic Sharia law and its practical application through the development of Islamic economy. Islamic banking has the same purpose as conventional banking except that it operates under the Islamic rules of Sharia, known as Fiqh Al-Muamalat (Islamic rules on transactions). Interest-free banking has only been since the 1960?s that banks have offered Islamic financial products and services. One of the key basic principles of Interest-free banking is the absence of Riba (narrowly interpreted as interest), which refers the charging or addition of interest on the loan. In Islam, interest rates are sources of injustice and financial and moral

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