Islamic banking, Islamic finance, or Sharia-compliant finance is banking or financing activity that complies with Sharia and its practical application through the development of Islamic economics. Some of the modes of Islamic finance include mudarabah, wadiah (safekeeping), musharaka, murabahah (cost-plus), and ijara (leasing).
The Islamic Development Bank is a multilateral development finance institution that is focused on Islamic finance for infrastructure development and located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. There are 57 shareholding member states with the largest single shareholder being Saudi Arabia.
Islamic banking in Malaysia began in September 1963 when Perbadanan Wang Simpanan Bakal-Bakal Haji (PWSBH) was established. PWSBH was set up as an institution for Muslims to save for their Hajj expenses. In 1969, PWSBH merged with Pejabat Urusan Haji to form Lembaga Urusan dan Tabung Haji.
Sukuk is the Arabic name for financial certificates, also commonly referred to as "sharia compliant" bonds. Sukuk are defined by the AAOIFI as "securities of equal denomination representing individual ownership interests in a portfolio of eligible existing or future assets." The Fiqh academy of the OIC legitimized the use of sukuk in February 1988.
The Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) is an Islamic bank in Dubai, established in 1975 by Saeed Bin Ahmed Lootah. It is the first Islamic bank in the world to have incorporated the principles of Islam in all its practices and is the largest Islamic bank in the United Arab Emirates.
The Al Rajhi Bank is a Saudi Arabian bank and the world's largest Islamic bank by capital based on 2015 data.
Burj Bank Limited, formerly known as Dawood Islamic Bank Limited (DIBL), now merged into Al Baraka Bank, was Pakistan's sixth full-fledged Islamic commercial bank. The bank received its license from the State Bank of Pakistan in May 2006, and officially commenced its operations on Friday, April 27, 2007.
RHB Bank Berhad is a Malaysian bank based in Kuala Lumpur and founded in 1994. It is one of the largest banks in Malaysia.
CIMB Group Holdings Berhad is a Malaysian universal bank headquartered in Kuala Lumpur and operating in high growth economies in ASEAN. CIMB Group is an indigenous ASEAN investment bank. CIMB has a wide retail branch network with 1,080 branches across the region.
Kuwait Finance House (KFH) was established in the State of Kuwait, in 1977, as the first bank operating in accordance with the Islamic Shari'a rulings. KFH is listed in Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE), with a market capitalization of $8.2 billion as of May 2016. Assets total $55.52 billion and deposits amount to $34.97 billion
Dubai Banking Group is the global shari'a compliant financial investor of Dubai Group with assets valued at over USD 10 billion. The group was established in 2007 when Dubai Islamic Investment Group, founded in 2004, and Dubai Bank, founded in 2002, consolidated their activities to form Dubai Banking Group.
Sharjah Islamic Bank, formerly known as the National Bank of Sharjah, is a publicly listed Islamic bank headquartered in the emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. The bank was established in 1976 and in 2004 converted into a fully Shariah compliant bank. The bank provides Sharia-compliant products and services to serve individuals, companies, institutions, and investors.
A Sharia Board certifies Islamic financial products as being Sharia-compliant. Because compliance with Sharia law is the underlying reason for the existence of Islamic finance, Islamic banks should establish a Sharia Supervisory Board (SSB) to advise them on whether their products comply, and to ensure that their operations and activities comply with Sharia principles. There are also national Sharia boards in many Muslim majority countries that regulate Islamic financial institutions nationwide.
Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC. (IBBPLC.) is an Islamic banking company based in Bangladesh. It became incorporated on 13 March 1983 as a public limited company under the Companies Act 1913 and started operation on 30 March, the same year. IBBPLC maintains its own ATM Booths with a country-wide shared ATM network. IBBPLC has been the largest private banking network in Bangladesh. When IBBPLC was established, it was the first bank in Southeast Asia to provide banking service based on Shariah. The bank has been listed with both Dhaka Stock Exchange Ltd. and Chittagong Stock Exchange Ltd.
Banking or banking activity that complies with Sharia —known as Islamic banking and finance, or Sharia-compliant finance—has its own products, services and contracts that differ from conventional banking. Some of these include Mudharabah, Wadiah (safekeeping), Musharakah, Murabahah, Ijar (leasing), Hawala, Takaful, and Sukuk.
GFH Financial Group, previously known as Gulf Finance House, is an Islamic investment bank with headquarters in Bahrain Financial Harbour, Bahrain.
Al Baraka (Pakistan) Limited (ABPL) came into being as a result of the first merger in the Islamic Banking sector of Pakistan. The merger took place between the branch operations of Al Baraka Islamic Bank (AIB) Bahrain, Al Baraka Islamic Bank Pakistan (AIBP) and Emirates Global Islamic Bank (Pakistan), and thus from 1st November 2010, the operations of the merged entity began. The second merger took place in 2016 with Burj Bank Ltd. As of September 2016, the Bank has a national presence in Pakistan with a network of 191 branches in more than 97 cities across the country.
Rusni Hassan currently is a Professor and Dean at IIUM Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance, International Islamic University Malaysia. Previously, she was a Deputy Dean at the Institute, a Coordinator for Research and Publication and Course Coordinator for Islamic Law of Transactions and Islamic Banking and Takaful. She was a Research Committee for Review of Islamic Banking Laws, Central Bank of Malaysia and an examiner for Financial Planner Association of Malaysia. Presently she is the examiner for the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. She was a member of Shariah Advisory Council Bank Negara Malaysia and Shariah Advisor for Association of Islamic Banking Institutions Malaysia. She also served as Secretary for the Association of Shariah Advisors in Islamic Finance Malaysia for 8 years starting from 2012 until 2020.
Profit and Loss Sharing refers to Sharia-compliant forms of equity financing such as mudarabah and musharakah. These mechanisms comply with the religious prohibition on interest on loans that most Muslims subscribe to. Mudarabah (مضاربة) refers to "trustee finance" or passive partnership contract, while Musharakah refers to equity participation contract. Other sources include sukuk and direct equity investment as types of PLS.
The Islamic banking and finance movement that developed in the late 20th century as part of the revival of Islamic identity sought to create an alternative to conventional banking that complied with sharia (Islamic) law. Following sharia it banned from its practices riba (usury) – which it defined as any interest paid on all loans of money – and involvement in haram (forbidden) goods or services such as pork or alcohol. It also forbids gambling (maisir) and excessive risk.
