An Analysis of Islamic Banking in West : From Lagging to Leading

Abstract

The paper examines the unprecedented growth of Islamic banking and finance in the West with a focus on the United Kingdom. It captures the advancement of Islamic banking and finance in U.K over time It is observed that origin of Islamic finance in the UK can be traced back to early 1980s, however, real significant development was not made until the last decade of 20th century. The factors contributed to recent success of Islamic finance in UK include unprecedented Government support, fastest growing Muslim population, 9/11 factor, petro dollar wealth of Middle East etc. The future of Islamic finance in the UK seems bright thought not without serious challenges. The potential size of industry suggests that Islamic finance will continue to charm the West for a long time to come.