Islamic banking continues to be the largest segment of the IFSI, constituting 70.21% of the total global IFSI assets in 2023, while Sukuk outstanding and Islamic funds collectively represented 29.08%, and the Islamic insurance segment represented 0.71%. The regional distribution of global Islamic finance assets reveals a pronounced concentration in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which accounts for 52.50%.
When a common person tries to form an opinion about Islamic banking, he hears cliché sayings about Islamic banking, such as ‘Currently, Islamic banking and finance are not truly Islamic’, ‘It is only changing of conventional terms into Islamic terms’ and ‘Islamic banking is an oxymoron as banking cannot be Islamic’. This brief article discusses some points that will help in better understanding Islamic finance and Islamic banking in particular.
Islamic Economics Project 