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 banking/finance include Mudarabah, Wadiah (safekeeping), Musharaka, Murabahah (cost-plus), and Ijara (leasing).
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.
Mashreq is the oldest privately owned bank in the United Arab Emirates and one of the oldest banking institutions in the Middle East. Founded as the Bank of Oman in 1967, it now offers online banking and e-commerce.
FGB was the third largest bank by assets in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), until it merged with the National Bank of Abu Dhabi in December 2016 to form First Abu Dhabi Bank, creating the largest bank by assets in the UAE. Established in 1979, FGB is headquartered in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. FGB offers a wide range of financial services in the wholesale, consumer, and treasury banking sectors, including Islamic banking and bancassurance solutions for businesses and consumers via a network of branches across the UAE. Internationally, FGB has a branch in Singapore - that includes global wealth management services and a branch in Qatar, representative offices in London, India, Hong Kong, and Seoul, South Korea, and a subsidiary in Libya.
Al Rayan Bank PLC is a commercial bank in the United Kingdom, established in August 2004 to offer Sharia compliant financial service products to customers of any faith. The Bank serves its Premier and Commercial customers through Relationship Managers based in London. Retail customers are served through the Bank's Digital Banking and Telephone Banking services.
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.
Murabaḥah, murabaḥa, or murâbaḥah was originally a term of fiqh for a sales contract where the buyer and seller agree on the markup (profit) or "cost-plus" price for the item(s) being sold. In recent decades it has become a term for a very common form of Islamic financing, where the price is marked up in exchange for allowing the buyer to pay over time—for example with monthly payments. Murabaha financing is similar to a rent-to-own arrangement in the non-Muslim world, with the intermediary retaining ownership of the item being sold until the loan is paid in full. There are also Islamic investment funds and sukuk that use murabahah contracts.
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.
Noor Bank was established in January 2008, in Dubai - United Arab Emirates.
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.
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.
The Soneri Bank Limited is a Pakistani bank based in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Its head office is located in the PNSC Building. It is a mid-sized bank having about over 400+ branches country-wide. Soneri Bank started its operation in the year 1992.
The economic policies proposed under the banner of "Islamisation" in Pakistan include executive decrees on Zakāt (poor-due), Ushr (tithe), judicial changes that helped to halt land redistribution to the poor, and perhaps most importantly, elimination of riba. Perhaps the foremost exponent of Islamisation among Pakistan's rulers—General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq—advanced a programme in 1978 to bring Pakistan law in line with the principles of Sharia law.
Aster DM Healthcare Limited is a publicly-traded multinational for-profit hospital conglomerate healthcare company founded by Azad Moopen in 1987. The company has its corporate headquarters in Dubai, UAE, and is registered in Bangalore, India. Aster DM Healthcare currently operates hospitals, medical centres, diagnostic centres, laboratories and pharmacies in six GCC countries and India. The corporation works in a variety of economic sectors through its brands Aster, Medcare, and Access.
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.
Ijarah,, is a term of fiqh and product in Islamic banking and finance. In traditional fiqh, it means a contract for the hiring of persons or renting/leasing of the services or the “usufruct” of a property, generally for a fixed period and price. In hiring, the employer is called musta’jir, while the employee is called ajir. Ijarah need not lead to purchase. In conventional leasing an "operating lease" does not end in a change of ownership, nor does the type of ijarah known as al-ijarah (tashghiliyah).
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.
Islamic banking and finance — the industry built around avoiding interest and other financial practices found in violation of sharia — has been both praised and criticized by observers.
Wahed is an American financial technology and services company based in New York City, New York. In July 2019, the company launched the first exchange-traded fund in the United States that was compliant with Sharia law. Wahed operates in 130 countries and has offices in Washington D.C, New York, London and Dubai. According to Bloomberg, it has a valuation of $300 million.
Sharjah Award for Voluntary Work (SAVW) is an award bestowed by the government of the United Arab Emirates to recognize the contributions of the works of volunteers in both public and private sectors. It is the first of its kind in the UAE and the Arab world bestowed annually by the sovereign ruler of the Emirate of Sharjah. It is administered by the Sharjah Award for Voluntary Work's board of trustees.
