Islamic Banking and capitalism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Islamic Banking and capitalism - Research Paper Example First, globalization is commonly seen as an integration of developed and less-developed countries leading to a homogenization of sorts. For instance, the emergence of a middle-class in China and India is often mentioned as an example of globalization homogenizing the world, as is the global reach of brands such as Nike and Ford. Globalization has also lead to the increasing mobility of the population. This in turn, has sometimes not created homogenization, but differentiation. An example of this would be the development of Islamic finance—financial organizations that are based on Islamic principles rather than capitalist or Western financial models. Analysts generally identify the first of these as â€Å"a savings bank based on profit-sharing in the Egyptian town of Mit Ghamr in 1963.† (Ariff, 1988, p. 42) Many significant Islamic financial institutions then developed in the 1970s such as the Dubai Islamic Bank, the Faisal Islamic Bank of Sudan and the Baharain Islamic Bank. More recently, with the widespread immigration of Muslims to the United States banks such as the Devon Bank in Chicago have developed. Its website describes it in this way: â€Å"Devon Bank offers Islamic financing services designed to avoid conventional interest common in traditional banking products.† (http://www.devonbank.com/Islamic/) The emergence of Islamic financial services corporations is an example of globalization leading to leading to more differentiation rather than homogenization. Throughout the world, and particularly in the United States, it is a new and a different development for there to be financial institutions that offer financial services based on Sharia law (and of course compliant with the legal requirements of their host countries. Devon Bank makes this plain on its homepage: â€Å"Our products are created to meet your needs by a staff versed in both U.S. and Islamic legal requirements, and then submitted