Mahmood Ahmada) Any predetermined payment over and above the actual amount of
principal is prohibited.
b) The lender must share in the profits or losses arising out of the
enterprise for which the money was lent.
c) Making money from money is not acceptable in Islam.
d) Gharar (Uncertainty, Risk or Speculation) is also prohibited.
e) Investments should only support practices or products that are not
forbidden or even discouraged by Islam3. Methodology of the Study
A purposive random sampling was used to collect data on a series of
questions regarding Islamic banking practices. Data of the study was collected
from both primary and secondary sources. Two sets of the approved
questionnaire^5 were used in the survey, through interview method, among the
customers and bankers of selected Islamic and conventional banks in Dhaka
City. The study includes 4 (four) Islamic and 4 (four) conventional private
banks. The four Islamic banks are: Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL),
Al-Arafa Islami Bank Limited, Social Investment Limited and Al-Baraka Bank
Limited. The four conventional banks are National Bank Limited (NBL),
International Finance and Investment Corporation (IFIC) Limited, Arab
Bangladesh Bank Limited (ABBL) and City Bank Limited (CBL). These
banks were established in 1983, so we assume that the officers of these banks
and their customers know and understand the similarities and differences in
the banking practices of Islamic banks and conventional banks. Ten
questionnaires were pre-tested among five bank officers and five customers.
The final sample consists of twenty-five bank officers and customers of each
bank. As such, 200 bankers and 200 customers were interviewed (Table 3) to
record their opinions about some apparent similarities between Islamic and
conventional banks. Findings of the study were consulted with the available
literature and executives of the banks to confirm their reliability and
acceptability.