Time to enact an Islamic banking law.

Over the last four decades, the Islamic finance industry has witnessed impressive growth and tremendous success across the globe, thanks to its unique features like asset-based transactions, profit and loss sharing investment mechanism, risk-sharing tendency, linkage with real assets, and welfare-oriented activities.

According to Islamic finance and the securities market outlook, a publication of Standard Chartered, 'the global Islamic finance industry currently boasts assets of around $2.2 trillion'. Experts anticipate this figure could grow to $4.94 trillion by 2025, fuelled by capital inflows into Islamic exchange-traded fund (ETF) products.

Islamic finance has become a phenomenon in a number of countries with a relatively small Muslim population. London is the hub of Islamic finance outside the Muslim world. Moreover, the United Kingdom has accommodated Islamic financial transactions through legislation, with the Finance Act introducing provisions for the tax treatment of products conforming to Shariah law.

Hong Kong has become the Islamic finance gateway to China. Governments in a number of other countries, including France, Germany, Japan, Singapore and South Korea, have also taken measures to promote Islamic finance.

In line with global trends, the Islamic banking sector in Bangladesh has also been witnessing robust growth due to policy support from regulators and strong public demand; dominating about one-third of the total banking sector here. Currently, ten full-fledged Islamic banks are operating with 1,679 branches out of 10,942 branches in the banking sector.

Besides, several non-banking ?nancial institutions are offering Islamic ?nancial services, with more interested in providing Islamic ?nance services. In addition, 24 Islamic banking branches of 11 conventional commercial banks and 511 Islamic banking windows of 14 conventional commercial banks provide Islamic financial services across the country.

Islamic Banking System (IBS) refers to financial services in accordance with Islamic Shariah. The Shariah compliance function is the only unique feature of IBS, which also promotes, fosters and develops the application of Shariah principles in the economy and offers contemporary financial services in conformity with Islamic jurisprudence.

Shariah bans interest, products with excessive uncertainty, gambling, speculations, short sales, as well as the financing of illicit activities harmful to society, which are strictly prohibited...