Pakistan is the only country where a variety of Islamic banking products is available at one time, and more products are coming into the market, said speakers at a Meezan Bank branch opening ceremony on Monday.
Meezan Bank has opened another branch in Federal 'B' Area, Karachi, with the hope to sell more products among the middle class people.
Shariah Adviser to Meezan Bank, Dr Imran Usmani, and head of corporate and business development Najuml Hassan expressed their experiences while the President of the Bank, Irfan Siddiqui, formally inaugurated the branch.
Dr Usmani said it was difficult to assess at this early stage of the Islamic banking whether his team would be able to achieve the goal or not. "But we have succeeded, and now Meezan Bank offers a number of products based on Islamic banking," he said.
He said that Pakistan is the only country which offers a variety of Islamic banking products at a time, while other countries either have one or a few products. Different Muslim countries offer different products but Meezan offers a bunch of products.
A number of Quranic verses were read which carry instructions against interest (Riba) and the speakers said Riba was the only thing in Quran against which Allah and Prophet (SAW) have declared war.
Speakers said that Meezan Bank has also started auto financing. They expressed hope that rapid growth in Islamic banking is expected in near future. They said that Islamic banking is based on principles of Shariah.
The Meezan Bank is the only complete Islamic bank in Pakistan, which has so fare 12 branches across the country. Six out of the total are in Karachi.