Islamic banking has seen rapid growth during the last two decades as a
result of economic growth in the Islamic world, fuelled primarily by oil
wealth. The main issues of concern surrounding this growth are the
conceptual framework and viability of interest-free banking and the
assessment of its performance in the future. In a world where
conventional interest-based finance is the dominant framework, Islamic
banking faces many challenges. This book is the first to address
different Islamic banking issues from both the researchers and
practitioners' perspective across the world, reviewing their past
experiences of Islamic banks, to provide an objective assessment of
their success and failure, and to discuss the contemporary issues and
challenges confronting them. The Islamic banking system is not only
popular within Islamic banks itself, but is also popular within
international and other conventional banks. A majority of international
banks are adopting Islamic banking in order to serve their new clients
with their specific needs. Examples of such banks are Citibank and HSBC
which starts their Islamic operations worldwide to expand their
business.