Usury, moral economy and Islamic banking: a critical examination of ideal notions and business practice with reference to Kuwait (Ph.D. Dissertation)

This thesis discusses the changes in the religious perception of usury, and analyzes the local as well as international circumstances that generated a suitable environment for the establishment and growth of Islamic banking are analyzed. Structural changes have liberalized international financial environment since the 1980s, which facilitated the acceptance of Islamic banks by Western banks. The thesis takes Kuwait as a case study in which Islamic financial institutions pose a real threat to conventional banking.