The Prophet motive: Indonesia's Muslims seek stake in growing economy

The article looks at Indonesian Muslim efforts to make Islamic economic institutions major players in the nation's economy. Recently, there have been movements to create community credit banks in rural settings and to create numerous private banks. A number of corporations are considering opening their own Islamic banks that deal with equity participation rather than with interest. Increased access to capital, it is believed by numerous Muslim leaders, can allow Muslim businessmen to prosper as their ethnic Chinese compatriots do. Indonesian government officials are currently grappling with the question of where exactly the Islamic banks will be able to draw in the funds that they will need so that they might be able to supply the loans essential to their operation.