The internal challenges facing Islamic finance industry

Purpose: The paper aims to highlight the challenges facing Islamic finance industry and outline the prospectus of what constitutes a sound Islamic banking product in terms of both its Shariah control and product development methodology. Design/methodology/approach: The paper analytically addresses the internal challenges facing Islamic finance industry by highlighting, first, the deficiencies in the existing Shariah supervisory work and, then, the deficiencies in the product development methodology followed in Islamic banks. Findings: Islamic banking and finance is facing some internal challenges which require immediate action. Although facing the external challenges may be beyond the capacity of the industry players, Islamic banks have no excuse to overlook or turn a blind eye to their internal challenges which can be overcome by enacting Shariah governance for both products and Shariah control and reforming the methodology of product development. Originality/value: This paper highlights an issue that has not received the needed attention, and it proposes the necessary solutions to the problems it identifies.