Islamic banking at the crossroads: theory versus practice

This paper examines the reasons for a widening gap between the conventional theory and current practice of Islamic banks. It finds fault at both the ends. ’No risk, no gain’ is inadequate as a general principle for organizing Islamic finance. It is also not always valid to say that Islam is averse to granting of a time value for money. The overuse of deferred contracts in Islamic finance threatens to violate the juristic principle of sadd al-dhara’i i.e. controlling the potential avenues for circumvention of the law. Some structural changes in Islamic financial arrangements are suggested to create a balance in the use of PLS and deferred contracts in Islamic banking.