Islamic banking aims at poverty alleviation, social justice

President Mamnoon Hussain on Monday said the real objective of Islamic banking is to ensure social justice and poverty alleviation, and urged upon the banking sector to reach out to the poor to maximize the benefits of Islamic banking. The President expressed satisfaction over the growing popularity of Islamic banking in Pakistan and said responsibility lied on the country's banks to become role models for the world by devising a system of judicious distribution of wealth.

Addressing at a round-table conference on 'Potential of Islamic banking', the President stressed the need for further improvement in the system of Islamic banking so as to ensure the trickledown effect of welfare to grassroots level. This was the third round-table conference on the topic of Islamic banking organized by Pakistan Observer Group which was attended by heads of leading banks and corpo- rate leaders. President Mamnoon lauded the efforts of State Bank of Pakistan for setting up a committee to assess the far-reaching benefits of Islamic banking for the masses. He urged upon the Islamic banks to conform to the real spirit of Islamic banking by providing capital to customers on the basis of Musharaka and Mudaraba mode of financing.

The President also called upon the Islamic banks to implement the same system while dealing in the sectors of commerce, trade, agriculture, imports and exports and micro-finance. He mentioned the statement of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah at the inauguration of State Bank of Pakistan saying that the economic system of West would not prove beneficial for the development and prosperity of the people of Pakistan.

Rather, the Quaid emphasized on formulating an economic system based on the universal teachings of Islam that promotes equity and social justice among the people, the President added. President Mamnoon Hussain said that being a Muslim, a Pakistani and a follower of the Quaid-e-Azam, he was greatly interested in the subject of Islamic banking and had a keen eye on the progress and the research related to this sector. He expressed satisfaction that the policies of the Government of Pakistan in this regard were in the right direction and the concerned ministry and departments were diligently working towards this end.