8/6/2019 Islamic Finance Tenets as Crisis Moderator

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8/6/2019 Islamic Finance Tenets as Crisis Moderator

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(maslaha) of the financial and economical operations for all stakeholders. This principlestems out of the belief that God entrusted the World to Man who must manage it for the

best benefit of everyone (istikhlaf).This very brief comparison between the roots of the two financial systems seems tosupport the opinion saying that Islamic finance might be THE solution leading to a

sounder financial system. The problem with this line of reasoning is its aspect laHuntington that divides the world along cultural fronts; one party being better than theother and meant to replace its opponent. Moreover it blurs any possible perspective of dynamic relations between the two fields and it leaves submission and confrontationschemes as being the only possible models of interaction between Islamic and Westernfinance. Yet some links seem obvious. Islamic finance is already using westerntechniques while part of the decisions taken recently by the world regulators resemblessome rules of Islamic finance. In fact, Western financial technical know-how isundeniable while Islamic finance just proved that its ethic may shield the system from itsexcesses. Hence, cooperation and cross-fertilization appears as being the most logicalconfiguration between the two to ease the frequency and the consequences of financial

crisis.