The West Should Promote Islamic Banking

This article was published in ISLAMICA magazine in Jan 2007. Two years later it’s relevance becomes more valuabe after current financial crisis. Admin

By Prof Rodney Wilson – Islamic banking, which implies the avoidance of interest, has become a substantial industry during the last four decades. One obvious question is whether its emergence further segregates Muslims from Western values and norms, creating a financial ghetto. An alternative view is that as increasing numbers of people in the West are dissatisfied or sceptical about the banking services they receive, and see them as exploitative or even unethical, the emergence of Islamic banking with its own distinctive morality results in Islam projecting a much more positive face. Many Western bankers view Islamic finance as a curiosity, and perhaps even a business opportunity, but seldom as a threat comparable to that from Muslim extremism. Indeed Islamic banking and finance can be regarded as a gentler side of Islam, and one in which those from the West can engage in dialogue with Muslims about.