Heriot-Watt University

This study examines the foundation and principles of Islamic banking, then provides an in-depth study of the Jordan Islamic Bank (J.I.B.), which operates and competes in a non-Islamic system. Despite difficulties which arise from the J.I.B.'s operational environment, the overall efficiency of the bank has improved during the last five years (the bank's ability to allocate the available financial resources increased from 65% in 1983 to 73.8% in 1987). The bank's performance has followed a similar trend (the earning assets to total assets ratio increased from 57.4% in 1983 to 63.2% in 1987).