Challenges faced (Cultural, perceptional and religious perspective ) Research Paper

Challenges faced (Cultural, perceptional and religious perspective ) and acceptance of Moslem Finance in western (Non Islamic C - Research Paper ExampleAlso discussed is the concern over Islamic finance allegedly encouraging terrorism, and why some western countries equate Islamic finance with supporting terrorism. Some implications be highlighted and recommendations are then made based on the research as to how to birth intercourse with such issues and overcome the barriers to making Islamic finance more acceptable in Western countries. Although well-nigh Islamic banks are concentrated in Muslim countries, they are as well as to be found in many non-Muslim countries, especially in Europe and the U.S.). In addition, some conventional banks shed also begun to cover Islamic financing schemes such as the HSBC Amanah division of HSBC Group established in 1998. Also, although several studies have been conducted on attitudes towards Islamic banking and the patronization of Islami c banks with reference to IFIs located in Muslim countries, some studies, albeit very fewer have also been conducted to gather the views and preferences of Western customers. A selection of these IFIs located in Western countries is also the focus of attention and the few studies referred to above are mentioned. General perceptions of Islamic finance It proved to be difficult to ascertain the perceptions of Westerners towards Islamic finance due to a lack of studies in this area. Most studies have examined customers from Muslim and other developing countries. To give an example of one significant take away, Erol & El-Bdour (1989) studied attitudes towards Islamic banking in Jordan. They used a nine-part question/statement instrument and showed that religious motivation was not such an grave factor as a fast and efficient service, reputation and image, and confidentiality. Nonetheless, a general sensation of Islamic banks and their methods was evident. Sudin et al. (1994) conduct ed a more extensive study among both Muslims and non-Muslims in Malaysia. The three most important criteria for non-Muslims were firstly, friendliness of staff, secondly a fast and efficient service, and thirdly the banks image and reputation. Another study on Malaysian customers showed that although most of them did not have a complete understanding of Islamic fiscal products, they did not differentiate between products from Islamic and conventional banks (Hamid & Nordin, 2001). In another study, Gerrard & Cunningham (1997) surveyed the attitude towards Islamic banking among Singaporeans where Muslims are in a minority. It was found that non-Muslims were generally lacking in awareness of Islamic banking. Furthermore, whereas Muslims were mainly propel by religious reasons besides profitability, and had little lodge in in getting a high interest rate on savings, it was the opposite situation for non-Muslims. It is a similar situation in Turkey (Okumus, 2005). all the same in non -Muslim countries like India where Muslims form a significant proportion of the countrys population, awareness of IFIs was petty(a) at the turn of the present century (Munawar & Llewellyn, 2002 188). Less than half of the 720 persons interviewed knew that they even existed. This general finding of non-Muslims beingness more motivated by reasons other than religious ones could be the case in Western countries as well among non-Muslims that do use Islamic finance. However, during the past decade there has probably been an increasing awareness