Islamic economics and the Islamic subeconomy

The field of Islamic economics was nearly totally theoretical for a few decades before the movement beginning in the 1970's to set up Islamic banks in various parts of the world. In some countries such as Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, the religious tax is collected and distributed by the state. In addition to Islamic banks, there are investment houses, factories, publishing firms, and other ventures that are being run with practices strictly conforming to the shari`a . In the Islamic world and particularly in the urban centers of Muslim countries, these Islamic firms have developed into their own subeconomy. One needs to be completely against all forms of interest to be regarded an 'Islamic' economist. There are no ancient or modern models of a country in which there was no interest. Islamic economists seek to have participants in the economy face risks whereas the conventional mechanism of deposit insurance is designed to protect depositors from risk. Islamic economists hold that