The current economic meltdown could be the new beginning for Islamic finance. This was the message conveyed by the Deputy Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, Dato’ Mohd Razif Abd. Kadir in his luncheon talk to the delegates of the International Shari’ah Scholars Dialogue (ISSD) and the members of ISRA’s Council of Scholars (COS). In his speech he also highlighted that the financial industry all around world is seriously looking at what is termed as “Responsibility Banking” – a banking system that ensure that everyone involved have a strong sense of responsibility – as an alternative to the current financial system. Dato’ Razif Abd. Kadir then related responsibility banking to Shari`ah based banking because Shari`ah requires accountability not only to the industry and community that it served, but also the accountability to the Al-Mighty.
