Islamic Finance for Poverty Alleviation

Abstract

There is a direct relation between religion and economics. Islamic Finance links the pillars of Islamic faith with financial instruments to produce an ethics based approach to finance. The increasing occurrence of Islamic Financial Institutions worldwide lays the groundwork for Islamic Finance to become a viable ethics based alternative to conventional finance. This thesis outlines the modern origins of Islamic Finance, its distinguishing characteristics and approaches to poverty alleviation in the Middle East and North Africa using the instruments of Islamic Finance to conclude that development approaches under the scope of Islamic Finance are viable.