406 chapter nine
the wider and deeper the spread of Islamic economic practice, the
higher the chance of growth and survival of Islamic economics and
banking. This is not to say that Islamic financial institutions need
not pay attention to their performance, in reliance of supporting reli-
gious factor among the consumers. Poor performance, if persistent,
drives customers away; Islam does not encourage laziness even in
the name of religion. The above points related to the problems and
criticism of the operations of Islamic banking and financial institu-
tions need not be stressed further.
(b) The politically strong Islamic state. A politically strong Islamic
state nationally and internationally provides the most needed financial
and logistic support to Islamic financial and economic institutions
for their establishment and continuity. On the international level,
the strength of such a state implies less reliance on outside economies
that may not be particularly sympathetic to a neighbouring Islamic
economic system or ideology. An Islamic economic system can hardly
be envisaged in an economy that is relying heavily on financial dona-
tion and economic support from the non-Islamic community. Depend-
ence on such outside help makes the system dependent on external
forces and hence vulnerable to non-Islamic influences.
(c) The lack of hostility from the political machinery to Islam inter-
nally, through national governments, and externally, through inter-
national pressure. Internal hostility of the state to Islamic economic
ideas emanates from the concern, or the fear, that Islamic forces
wish to Islamise the state and take over governments. In the light
of this objective, which is hardly made secret by Muslim religious
societies, existing governments that do not apply Islamic policies to
their systems, economically and otherwise, and lean instead towards
a Western alternative, grow concerned and become inclined to oppose
the application of Islamic ideas to the affairs of the state beyond
that of the pure practice of worship. International pressure has the
same direction, especially when a neighbouring Islamic regime is
suspected of having a direct or indirect influence on the political
mode of the country. Resistance to the regime, and with it the Islamic
economics, becomes the norm rather than the exception.
(d) The adaptability of Islam to new changes in society technologi-
cally and otherwise. It adds to the complexity of the question that
the world has become globalised and globalization seems to be