A Growing Industry with an Unfinished Mission
The Islamic finance industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the global financial system, reaching double-digit growth and surpassing USD 5 trillion in assets in 2024. In many countries, Muslims are eagerly awaiting the establishment of Islamic banks and financial institutions, supported by the adoption of new laws and regulations. Yet alongside this anticipation, strong criticism persists.
Many Islamic finance institutions - and newcomers to the industry - appeal to the ethical side of Islamic finance, often contrasting it with conventional finance. At the same time, practitioners, experts, and informed Muslims increasingly argue that Islamic finance has not produced fundamentally new economic outcomes, but has instead repackaged conventional practices in a Sharia-compliant form.
Islamic banks and financial institutions are, by nature, financial intermediaries. They must fulfill fiduciary responsibilities and comply with regulatory requirements. However, this does not make reform impossible. Change can come from the customer side through awareness, learning, and disciplined practice that pushes institutions toward Maqasid al-Sharia - the higher objectives of public good. This is the first reason why Islamic finance needs you - and why you need it.
Islamic finance is often presented as a completed project, with standardized contracts, supervisory boards, and global frameworks. From the outside, the work appears done. From the inside, it is not. Islamic finance remains unfinished, and its future depends not only on scholars and institutions, but also on ordinary Muslims willing to understand it, practice it, question it, and impose customer discipline on industry behavior.
When Principles Exist but Outcomes Drift
At the level of principles, Islamic finance is clear. The prohibition of riba, asset-backing, risk-sharing, transparency, and ethical use of capital are well established. The problem lies not in these principles, but in where their enforcement quietly stops.
Over time, “no riba” has become avoidance of a term rather than avoidance of an outcome. “Asset-backed” has come to mean documentation rather than genuine exposure. “Risk-sharing” is celebrated in theory, while risk is shifted away from institutions in practice. “Transparency” is reduced to contracts few can renegotiate. “Ethical use” becomes regulatory compliance rather than responsibility for consequences.
This drift is structural, not accidental. Murabaha dominates because it guarantees margins and scales. Musharakah is praised but marginal because it introduces uncertainty. One preserves institutional certainty; the other redistributes risk. That asymmetry reveals where risk truly sits.
Sharia compliance was never meant to be a checklist. It was meant to reshape economic relationships - who bears risk, who absorbs loss, and who holds power. When institutions preserve certainty while households and entrepreneurs carry volatility, the form may be Islamic, but the outcome is familiar. The real question is not permissibility alone, but whether these instruments serve Muslim communities.
This is why literacy matters. Without informed users, the industry has little incentive to move beyond minimum compliance. Label-based understanding cannot distinguish real alignment from engineered certainty. Literacy is not an accessory to Islamic finance, it is its accountability mechanism.
Technology does not solve this. Artificial intelligence, blockchain, and tokenization merely accelerate existing incentives. Poor structures combined with advanced tools produce faster misalignment, not reform. The fault line is not innovation versus Sharia, but claims versus custody—promises versus settled ownership.
Learning Islamic Finance as a Religious and Moral Obligation
The second reason why Muslims need to learn Islamic finance is that today, numerous ways of earning and trading have emerged, both through traditional means and via the internet, not speaking of new tools like bitcoin, web3 and others. Engaging in economic activity without understanding its implications risks both livelihood and faith.
It is our duty as Muslims to research before earning, so that we do not regret it later—neither in this world nor on the Day of Judgment. As narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
"A time will come when one will not care how one gains one's money, legally or illegally" (al-Bukhari 2059).
Imam Tirmidhi (rahimahullah) recorded the following narration of ‘Umar (radiyallahu ‘anhu), who said:
“Only those who have the knowledge of [the rules of] Din may trade in our markets.” (at-Tirmidhi, 487).
Scholarly commentary on this report clarifies that its purpose is to ensure that a person knows what he takes and what he leaves - what is halal and what is haram - so that trade is not corrupted through forbidden means or deception. It also prevents leading others into usury unknowingly. In essence, this knowledge safeguards Muslim trade so that it remains Islamic, sound, and pure - free from fraud and injustice - allowing both Muslims and non-Muslims to have confidence in it. It safeguards not only transactions, but hearts and communities.
Conclusion
Learning Islamic finance is not optional. It is a responsibility. Informed Muslims are essential to pushing the industry beyond symbolic compliance toward genuine justice and risk alignment. At the same time, individual knowledge protects faith and livelihoods in a rapidly changing financial world. Islamic finance will ultimately reflect the level of understanding its community is willing to demand.
