Page 79 - CMA Journal (Mar-Apr 2026)

The Iranian government's declaration that they do not Pakistan during the
recognize any superpower other than Allah has reignited the last fty years has
memory of early Muslims during the days of the Prophet and grow n i t s we a l t h
after, when they demolished both the Persian and Roman substantially. Even the
empires. Success or defeat in war is Allah's prerogative as beggars in Karachi
ordained in the Quran. Belief in and establishment of Islamic seem to be healthy
values and submission to Allah's will is the essence of an and properly clad.
Islamic society and country. Saylani food services
for the poor are also
After the Ottomans sided with Germany in the First World commendable. But
War, the Ottoman Empire was dismembered into small banking in Pakistan
vassal states subservient to western nations, and now to the
h a s fo l l owe d t h e
US. Even Pakistan appears to be dependent on the IMF for conventional western Jalal Ahmed Khan, FCMA
nancial support. If China were to source just 15% of its total model and missing the Former Executive Director ICMA
agricultural imports of USD 204 billion (2025) from Pakistan, very ethics and values
the country would have no current account de cit.
of an Islamic society.
Banking is a tool for managing Table 1:
wealth in a country. The concept of
wealth itself, accumulated over
centuries of human life, is Allah's
gift to an individual, community or
a society which passes on from one
generation to another. It is not only
wealth, but power and fame too,
that are Allah's gifts that need to be
used to serve the people. The
wealth of the Roman empire was
passed on to the European
countries and increased manifold
after the Industrial revolution. The
concept of stock exchange has The Islamic concept is that the banking sector as a whole
facilitated ownership transfer. In Ayat-ul-Kursi, Allah states should serve as a Modaraba that collects money from where
that He has knowledge of the present and future and
it is in excess, for safety and return and lends to industry,
bestows on mankind new knowledge as needed in each new
agriculture and trade for investment purposes. The returns
era. The Malthusian theory of population that human
on investment are passed on to the depositors after
population will exceed the resources of the earth has proven
false. New knowledge about crops, poultry meat and other retaining some for bank shareholders.
food sources has always kept pace with the growing human
Rs 2,528 billion out of total Rs 5,743 billion, representing 44%
population which is nearing 8 billion.
of liquid assets, have been invested in Treasury Bonds. The

ICMA’s Chartered Management Accountant, Mar-Apr 2026 77