Islamic banks and financial institutions constitute an increasingly important segment of the financial sector of a number of Muslim countries. In November of 2010 there was approximately $895 billion deposited in Islamic banks1 while total assets of the Islamic financial system throughout the world were estimated to be around 1.3 trillion dollars and both the banks and other Islamic financial instruments are expected to continue growing at an annual rate of 10 - 20%. The size and growth of these Islamic banks and financial institutions has important ramifications for the societies, economies and politics of the regions in which they are located.