Different jurisprudence views on Islamic banking : the role of the Mathahib in Islamic banking

Fatawa Question

[Question One] : Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh, I hope you and your family are doing well, and that you had a safe trip back to the US since we have last talked. Further do I want to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation for the nice conversation we had on the phone back then. While you were in Germany, I was in Saudi-Arabia (Jeddah) doing a project with the Boston Consulting Group, which was very fortunate for me Alhamdulilah, because inter alia this also gave me the chance to visit the Islamic Development Bank and meet some of the scholars over there (incl. Salman Syed Ali and Sami Suwailem). I also had the possibility to meet Rafiq Al-Masri at the University in Jeddah. As you might remember, I am currently doing some research on the market potential for Islamic financial products in Germany. If you happen to have a couple of minutes to spare, I would be most grateful if I could again bother you with a small question which concerns the research I am currently doing : While doing my analysis, I wondered how the different views of the different Mathahib (مذاهب) are accounted for in Islamic banking, for so far I have not come across products which are labelled as „permissibe by the Imam Malik school, but not by the school of Imam Shafii”. My questions in this context would be : to what extent do the Mathahib play a role in the products that are on offer today ? Do banks consider this when they offer Islamic products in one country or the other ? That is, would Islamic financial products be different in different regions of the Islamic world according to the Mathhab that is predominantly followed ? Or is the main focus on providing “Sharia-compliant” solutions no matter which Mathhab ? I hope that the question is not too ambiguous, and I would be most grateful if you could help me in this. At the same time, please feel free to ignore my request in case you are too busy at the moment. Further, if you feel that me calling you would be less stressful and time-consuming for you, I would be happy to call you any time you deem appropriate. [Question Two] : Thank you very much for your kind response ! Alhamdulilah both my mum and my uncle are in the best of conditions. Currently they are both in Jordan, where at present almost the whole family from my mother’s side (that is, all descendants of Ali Tantawi Ra7imahu Allah) is assembled. As to my grandfather, he too is fine Alhamdulilah. I am spending a lot of time with him these days, and I will surely convey your Salam to him inshallah (today) ! In fact, I had told him yesterday already that I had contacted you again for some help, and he instructed me to express his sincere Salam and appreciation to you the next time we talk ! Jazakumullahu Khayran also for your comprehensive response, that was very helpful! I am extremely sorry to exploit your generous offer for further help, but I would be very grateful if you could help me in another two quick questions : The first one is : Turkish Alevites, who count as Muslims in the official government statistics, constitute approximately 15 % of the “Muslim” population in Germany. I was told by some of them that Alevites do not know the prohibition of Riba. To your knowledge, is that correct ? I am asking this because that would have serious implications for the market potential of Islamic financial products in Germany (that is, If 15 % of the population that is deemed Muslim in fact does not have any problem with dealing conventional banks even where alternatives are available). The second one concerns another finding of my research so far : one of the major impediments to the growth of the Islamic finance (retail) industry seems to be that people (especially in non-Muslim countries) do not really know what it is all about, and what Islamic economics is supposed to be (that is the result of some empirical studies in Malaysia, Singapore, UK, and even Jordan). In Germany this problem is amplified, since there is almost no “popular” literature dealing with this subject. While there are some minor publications, they are written for professionals and not for the general public. Therefore, I have in mind to publish a book in German which in layman language explains what it is that constitutes Islamic economics, finance and banking. To your knowledge, are there any English or Arabic books which go into that direction ? In case there are proper English or Arabic books which serve this purpose, I would simply do a translation. Or else, I would do a simplification of some of the available literature. As said, the target reader would be the average German citizen (both Muslim and Non-Muslim), who has no clue about economics and who is not able to make use of the literature that is available in English already. The text would have to really easy, very basic and interesting at the same time. The end of this whole undertaking would be to make people understand the basic concepts of Islamic economic thinking and how an Islamic bank can work without employing interest. Jazakumullahu Khayra al-Jaza’ for all your efforts !

Fatwa

Click hereto view more

Publication Date

2007-07-15

Main Subjects

Economics & Business Administration
Islamic Studies

No. of Pages

4

Data Type

Fatawa

Language

English

Record ID

BIM-787640

• APA
• MLA
• AMA