Islamic Finance For Dummies

Chapter 21

Ten Economic Benefits of Following Islamic Principles

In This Chapter

Considering the needs of rich and poor alike

Avoiding issues that have compromised conventional markets

Encouraging thoughtful, responsible financial decisions

Lest you think that the Islamic financial industry exists only to fulfill religious obligations for the world’s Muslims, I devote this chapter to an overview of crucial ways in which Islamic principles have the potential to strengthen economies. I say potential here because the industry is so young. The concepts in this chapter are largely theoretical at this point; only time will tell how the industry’s potential economic impact plays out in reality.

I bring up some big concepts here, and I have a small amount of space to discuss them. If economics is your thing, I encourage you to look for additional resources that delve more deeply. You’re likely to find mostly articles at this point, but I expect that the bookshelves will soon become more populated with tomes about Islamic economics.

Reducing Economic Disparity

A key difference between conventional ...