Ithmaar Bank And Bahrain Islamic Bank Customer’s Awareness Toward Shariah Principles

Abstract

This survey aims to assess the level of awareness on Shariah principles from the customers of the Ithmaar Bank B.S.C. and the Bahrain Islamic Bank. With the recent development of Islamic finance over the past decades this kind of study assumes a certain importance as it comes as a picture of the profile of customers dealing with Islamic banks, how is their level of awareness on Shariah principles behind the financial products they are consuming. A survey questionnaire was distributed to 90 respondents split equally into 45 respondents from the Ithmaar Bank B.S.C. and 45 respondents from the Bahrain Islamic Bank. The results from the answers of the respondents on the survey questionnaires show that the customers of the Ithmaar Bank B.S.C. and the Bahrain Islamic Bank have a satisfactory level of awareness. The level of awareness from the customers of the Bahrain Islamic Bank is slightly higher than the customers of the Ithmaar Bank B.S.C. Both of these banks’ customers present a different level of awareness on each Shariah principles, the Maysir getting the highest degree of awareness, the Gharar getting the lowest and the Riba getting a medium degree of awareness. This study is expected to benefit both the management of the Ithmaar Bank B.S.C. and the Bahrain Islamic Bank and every stakeholder in Islamic banking industry.