Introduction

The issue of riba, ¹ or interest, is crucial for both Islamic and non-Islamic countries. Western economic systems use the interest rate to efficiently distribute financial resources for investment and/or consumption. In the entire economic system outside the Islamic countries, interest rates are practically a prerequisite, for the functioning of the economic system. Islamic economies, on the contrary, pursue an entirely different strategy for financing loans, which must be in accordance with Islamic laws and do not allow the activities of conventional Western banking systems in Islamic countries.