At least $500 billion in assets around the world are managed in accordance with Sharia, or Islamic law, and the sector is growing at more than 10% per year. In spirit, Islamic finance seeks to promote social justice by banning exploitative practices. In reality, this boils down to a set of prohibitions — on paying interest, on gambling with derivatives and options, and on investing in firms that make pornography or pork. No one can say for sure how many of the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims will demand Sharia-compliant financial products, but if even a fraction do, the world’s largest banks will be happy to oblige.
Read Forbes.com special report
God And Mammon (Prophets, profits and prohibitions)
Don’t Call It Interest (Structuring sharia-compliant financial products)
A Distant Mirror (Lessons from the past)
Legal Lip Service (Can Islam Be Capitalist?)
Managed By God (Muslim Mutual Funds)
Making Money In The Middle East
VIDEO
Faith-Based Finance : The bright future of Islamic banking.
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