February 27, 2009

The Islamic finance market is not severely hit by the global economic crisis like the conventional market as many Islamic finance products are structured in a more transparent way.This was stated by Dr Zaha Rina Zahari, co-author of the "Islamic Finance Encyclopedia", who said while there may be some impact, Islamic finance products are affected to a lesser extent compared to conventional products as they are backed by real assets.

According to Zaha Rina, the global Islamic financial services industry has experienced spectacular growth in the last four decades."This is driven in part by the greater awareness and understanding of Syariah-compliant instruments and a demand for an alternative market," she said.Islamic finance, she added, has become a US$1 trillion industry and was still growing at an average rate of 15 percent according to the Islamic Financial Services Board.