Islamic banks in pakistan and their products

Article 38(f) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan provides: “The

State shall …. Eliminate riba as early as possible.”  And this provision has led to the making of Islamic banking in Pakistan based on the principle of riba free banking. Riba can be defined as ‘an increase’ in a debt contract. In other words, in a debt contract, the exchange must not be a greater amount due to the borrower. The principle in debt contract in Islam is based on the principle of equality or at least on the principle of similarity.

However, the abstractness of capitalist money poses serious threat to the principle of equality. Both on the grounds of the existence of the issuing state of the capitalist money and that the abstract money can only be defined in monetary exchange ex-post and therefore even in the medium term such as five to ten years monetary exchange/ debt cannot be ascertained a priory that it is based on the principle of equality. For further discussion as to the nature of money in Islam versus Capitalism visit: http://capitalistmoney.blogspot.com

Following is the list of Stand Alone Islamic banks in Pakistan:

Meezan Bank Ltd

http://www.meezanbank.com

Al Baraka Bank Ltd

http://www.albaraka.com.pk/

Burj Bank Ltd

http://burjbankltd.com/

Dubai Islamic Bank Ltd

http://www.dib.ae/en/index.htm

BankIslami Pakistan

http://www.bankislami.com.pk/

In addition to the above stand alone Islamic banks, there are other conventional banks that have Islamic bank branches and windows through which Islamic mode of financing occurs. Please visit the list of private banks in Pakistan.

Following are some products offered by Islamic banks

            Musharakah

            Mudarabah

            Diminishing Musharakah

            Murabaha

            Salam

            Istisna

            Istijrar

            Ijarah

            Ijarah wa Iqtina
            Sukuk