The Context of Social and Politics on Being a Center of Islamic Finance in Europe (Evidence from the United Kingdom)

Abstract

This paper aims to describe qualitatively based on texts, documents, or literature that describes the development of Islamic banking in England. The study of Britain is always interesting to discuss because it is a secular country in the Western European region, where socially and politically, many people are anti-Islamic. But in a very long history, there is much evidence to show that many factors of Islam are closely related to England. The analysis uses the historical approach, and it was found that the rapid development of Islamic banks in the UK reached a total asset of 0.3% of the global Islamic banking market. It was due to the British Government's political support, which was severe in issuing non-discriminatory regulations. However, one cannot forget that historically, the social context of Islam had had a long history in England since the 16th century, when the British Empire, especially in the era of Queen Elizabeth, had contact with the Islamic world and became the forerunner of Islam entering British soil until now. Thus, the context of the British social and political order did indeed play a role in facilitating the growth of Islamic banking in England.