The 2025 Islamic Finance Development Indicator (IFDI) assessed 140 countries, with the global average score declining to 11 due to new entrants scoring low in most indicators. The top 10 countries remained unchanged, led by Malaysia and the UAE, which excelled across all five indicators. Notable shifts include Bangladesh dropping out of the top 10 due to Islamic banking sector challenges, while Tanzania showed promise with Sukuk issuance and sector growth.
Using a contract-theoretic model, Khan compares two financial arrangements: the Fixed Return Scheme (FRS), which mirrors conventional debt, and the Variable Return Scheme (VRS), which represents profit-and-loss sharing (PLS) contracts such as Mudarabah or Musharakah. His analysis assumes a single lender allocating a fixed pool of funds across many independent projects, with symmetric information and costless observability.
In Islamic jurisprudence, money (mal) serves primarily as a medium of exchange, a store of value, and a unit of account. Classical jurists such as al-Ghazālī and Ibn Taymīyah stressed that money must not be used for speculative ends or to generate guaranteed returns (riba), nor should it expose transacting parties to undue uncertainty (gharar) or resemble gambling (maysir). Extending these timeless principles into the digital age, a Shariah-compliant CBDC must preserve the objectives of Islamic law (Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah) by fostering economic justice, preventing harm, and promoting communal welfare.
The transition toward sustainability and ethical banking is both timely and necessary. However, its success depends on more than rhetoric or superficial commitments. Without substantive institutional and regulatory reform, the expectations imposed on banks may exceed their structural capacities—threatening financial stability and the long-term viability of ethical finance.
The banks’ ESG commitment can be in the form of adopting ESG framework in their banking operation and business strategy, incorporating ESG in credit assessment, and integrating ESG commitment in their banking products. In the case of Islamic banks, incorporating the environmental pillar can be adopted in the form of promoting green financing and integrating environmental risks in the banking operation. At the policy level, the financial authority is required to have an ESG framework to be implemented in the banking industry.
Financial crises are often linked to unsustainable booms in financial and business cycles. Research shows that credit and house price cycles are closely tied to output cycles. From an Islamic perspective, synchronizing financial and business cycles can promote stability. A Shari’ah-compliant system without interest rates can align the financial cycle with the real economy, bolstering stability.
Lack of awareness about Zakat rules is also an important barrier. A great majority of people are not aware of treatment of real estate, financial assets, receivables and debts. It is important to raise awareness and urgency about Zakat. It is a religious obligation and its effective mobilization and disbursement can improve social welfare of masses. Hence, it is critical to raise awareness using public broadcast media, awareness seminars, mosque sermons and other ways of engagement. A hotline and availability of scholar at district office can help the community in Zakat assessment as well.
Al Baraka Forum for Islamic Economy in collaboration with the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Development (ICCD) hosted the 2nd Al Baraka Regional Conference, in partnership with Al Baraka Bank Pakistan, to shed light on the crucial role of home remittances in Pakistan and their impact on sustainable development.
Islamic Economics Project 