DEVELOPMENT OF ISLAMIC BANKING AND FINANCE: THE CONTRIBUTION OF AHMED ABDUL AZIZ AL NAJJAR

Authors : Adem Aman SHIBU, Abdelkader CHACHI

Pages : 223-235

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Publication Date : 2021-10-31

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :This paper aims to present and analyze the contributions of the "father of Islamic banking", Ahmed Abdul Aziz al Najjar to the development of Islamic economics and interest-free banking in the 20th century. His successful experiment of establishing the Mit Ghamr microfinance saving and investment bank in 1963 in Egypt is a good prototype model that has, since then, sown the seed of the spread of Islamic banking all over the globe. Many were the prominent pioneering scholars, who wrote, during the 20th Century, about the concept of interest-free banking. They contributed significantly to the theory of Islamic banking and the suggestion of elaborate and relevant financial instruments, that are based on Shari'ah (Islamic law). However, it was Ahmed al Najjar, who practically established a successful experiment in Egypt in the 1960s, that was ceased, not because it failed to achieve good results, but it was its success that paradoxically brought it to an end to the legal issue and political reasons. Al Najjar spent his entire life building, creating, establishing, supporting, educating, guiding, and supervising many Islamic banks and financial institutions in different parts of the Muslim World. He helped to establish Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah, Dubai Islamic Bank in the UAE, Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt, Faisal Islamic Bank of Sudan, Kuwait Finance House, Jordan Islamic Bank, and many others.
Keywords : Ahmed Abdul Aziz al Najjar, al Najjar, Mit Ghamr, Interest free Banking, Islamic Banking and Finance, Development of Islamic Banking