The global financial crisis: Some suggestions for reform of the global financial architecture in the light of Islamic finance

The article argues that the primary cause of the current subprime mortgage crisis in the United States is the absence of adequate market discipline in the financial system. This tends to promote excessive lending, high leverage, speculation, and an unsustainable rise in asset prices. Unwinding later on gives rise to a vicious cycle of selling that feeds on itself and leads to a steep decline in asset prices followed by financial crisis and economic slowdown. The solution lies in introducing risk sharing along with the availability of credit for primarily the purchase of real goods and services that Islamic finance aims at introducing. This can help inject greater discipline into the system and, thereby, substantially reduce financial instability. Since the introduction of greater discipline into the financial system may deprive the subprime borrowers of credit, the article also discusses the need for finding ways of satisfying their genuine credit needs. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.