I uppsatsen beskrivs hur islamiska banker fungerar och hur de klarar de funktioner som banker i moderna västerländska marknadsekonomier fyller. Syftet är att undersöka om islamiska banker kan få större betydelse än att förbli nischbanker. Slutsatsen är att de islamiska bankernas roll begränsas av att man har högre kostnader än sina konventionella motsvarigheter, och att fortsatt expansion är beroende på prestation och effektivitet. Som nischbank möter de en växande marknad, men för att utgöra en reell konkurrent till konventionella banker krävs ytterligare utveckling och effektivisering..

The concept of a Sharia compliant financial system has been a frequently discussed topic among scholars, bankers and media since the 1960th. It origins from the prohibition of interest, Riba, which is stated in the Quran. Islamic banking is spread across the Muslim world and also exists in some western countries. This paper will try to create an image of what Islamic banking is in theory and in practice. This will be done by looking into the different methods of interest free banking, the Quran and the annual reports of four Islamic banks in different countries.

The concept of a Sharia compliant financial system has been a frequently discussed topic among scholars, bankers and media since the 1960th. It origins from the prohibition of interest, Riba, which is stated in the Quran. Islamic banking is spread across the Muslim world and also exists in some western countries. This paper will try to create an image of what Islamic banking is in theory and in practice. This will be done by looking into the different methods of interest free banking, the Quran and the annual reports of four Islamic banks in different countries.