Islamic Finance In The UAE

From the very beginning, the UAE has been at the forefront of the Islamic Finance. The first Islamic commercial bank globally was established in the UAE during 1975, under the vision and patronage of the country’s leadership, to provide the UAE community with Shari’ah-compliant financial solutions. It showcased how a modern financial institution could set compliance with Shari’ah as its primary objective while providing innovative Shari’ah compliant financial products and services.

Today, the UAE has a well-established Islamic financial industry, comprising Islamic banks, Islamic banking windows, Islamic finance companies and Islamic insurance (Takaful) companies. There are six fully-fledged local Islamic banks and two foreign Islamic banks licensed to operate in the UAE. In addition, fifteen conventional banks have also established Islamic banking windows, increasing their diversity and market outreach. There are also nine Islamic finance companies in the UAE and twelve Islamic insurance (Takaful) companies.

Some of the significant developments of the UAE Islamic finance industry are provided in the timeline below.