Given the remarkable growth of Shariah-based banking in Pakistan and worldwide, the question does arise if Islamic banks contribute in the overall development of banking. The paper is an attempt to discover the role of Islamic banks towards the banking sector development in Pakistan. The study covers a period of 12 years (2006-2017) where the impact of Islamic banks in overall development of banking sector, is estimated by using deposits by Islamic banks as a percent of GDP. Deposits are an important parameter here since these reflect the resource mobilization by Islamic banks and their ability to marshal the deposits into activities that generate revenue for them. The study also makes use of variables e.g. financial sector’s development, growth of GDP and inflation. The role of Islamic banks towards the overall banking development is also estimated through penetration propensity of Islamic banks over the period of analysis. A regression analysis has been used to estimate the impact of the dependent variable across the explanatory ones. The research offers some managerial as well as policy implications along with an agenda for future research. Keywords: Islamic banks, Banking sector, Panel data, Financial sector development, Pakistan

This paper evaluates the effect of bank-specific variables in terms of Capital Adequacy (C), Asset quality (A), Management (M), Earnings (E) and Liquidity (L) commonly known as CAMEL approach, across bank profitability of Islamic banks from six Islamic countries namely; Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Kuwait, Oman, Pakistan and UAE over a period of 4 years (2014-2017) based on a quarterly data. The data on CAMEL variables has been collected on aggregate basis for Islamic banks from six of the Islamic countries. The study makes use of a panel data regression analysis. Results of the study state that the profitability of Islamic banks is positively influenced by the ‘MEL’ part of the CAMEL rating system namely: Management, Earnings and Liquidity, along with bank size and inflation. The study is expected to be useful both for policy makers, as well as the executives of Islamic banks across the globe. It is expected to contribute as to which factors determine the effect of CAMEL indicators across profitability of banks globally. Keywords: CAMEL, Profitability, Panel Data Analysis, Islamic banks.

The present study aims to evaluate the level of understanding of various Islamic banking (IB) concepts and categorises the factors that influence the adoption of Islamic banking services (IBS) in Brunei. The impact ofthe level of understanding, relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, observability, uncertainty, and service quality was examined through Rogers (2003) Diffusion of Innovation (DOI). Data was collected from 245 Bruneian bank customers through a self-administered survey questionnaire. The findings revealed that the level of understanding of various IB concepts was below average among the customers. The multiple regression analysis revealed that the level of understanding, perceived attributes of innovation, and service quality positively impact the adoption of IBS.
Keywords: Diffusion of innovation, adoption, Islamic banking,Brunei

Islamic finance has shown a tremendous growth in the last two decades particularly after Global Financial Crisis (2007-2009). Islamic finance has been proposed as an alternative to the conventional financial system as it is believed to have the ability to address issues associated with the existingsystem. As it is based on the divine principles of Sharī‘ah, the advocates propagate it not something just for Muslims but for the entire humanity. However, the current practices of Islamic finance, especially Islamic banks, are criticized on the grounds that the offered products merely comply with the legal requirements of Islamic law and fail to fulfill the main objectives of Islamic finance.This paper revisits the debate on the objectives of Sharī‘ah (Maqāsid al-Sharī‘ah). More precisely, this paper attempts to discuss the philosophical foundations of Maqāsid al-Sharī‘ah under Islamic law and explain their potential contribution towards the equitable financial system. The paper also highlights some of the reasons behind the negligence of Maqāsid al-Sharī‘ah in prevailing Islamic finance. The study concludes that only the fulfillment of legal requirements and reliance on replicating conventional debt-based instruments would lead to Islamic finance nowhere. More importantly, Islamic financial system would not be able to succeed unless the ethical values and objectives of Sharī‘ah are adhered to. The paper adds value in the existing literature by presenting new insights and an integrated analysis of the current Islamic financial practices and by proposing various suggestions to take the industry towards the fulfillment of Maqāsid al-Sharī‘ah.

Keywords: Maqāsid al-Sharī‘ah, Protection of Wealth, Islamic Finance, Islamic Banking, Form vs Substance.

This research analyzes the constraints in Islamic insurance (takaful) and its impact on performance of takaful operators/industry operating in Islamic countries. It is a qualitative research as it reviews a lots of literatures for identifying issues in a takaful industry of Islamic countries. The Content of twenty four relevant papers was analyzed. The constraints were categorized which is the contribution of this study. Market players by properly addressing the categorized constraints can bring significant growth in takaful sector. According to content analysis, there are following constraints in takaful industry of Islamic countries: takaful concept awareness, lack of education, different takaful models, lack of standardization, scarcity of human resources, real earnings management, corporate governance, technical efficiency, rural market, small penetration rate, inadequate technology capabilities, differences in culture, less number of sharia'h re-insurance, non-sharaih compliance risk, operating efficiency, human capital, income level of participants, and large size of takaful companies. This study highlights the constraints which can be considered by AAOIFI and IFSB for improving the standards of takaful industry operating at global level. Moreover, takaful operators can also get a view of all the constraints and can work on their policies for surviving with the above mentioned constraints for giving a better performance in the insurance market.

Keywords: Takaful Operators, Mudharabah Model, Wakala Model, Challenges of Takaful Operators, Islamic Insurance.