4. What's Next?

So, what’s next? Today, we see new business models aiming to develop alternatives, particularly to finance new ventures or embed complementary services into businesses that produce tangible economic output. These models advocate for creating a fairer system. Such efforts are part of the ‘alternative finance’ trend. The challenge is that, because the current system is based on fractional reserve banking, financial instruments built on this system cannot fully be alternative finance, or align with Islamic principles (sharia compliance). Muslims, or anyone who wants to invest transparently and share risk and rewards, are underserved today—this includes more than 2 billion people. Before going into opportunity areas, if you are interested in what the Islamic Sharia is, you can read the article below: Research Immersion: The History of the Prohibition of Interest (https://www.reviewofreligions.org/35116/the-history-of-the-prohibition-of-interest/) The good news is that there have always been alternatives to interest rates and, eventually, fractional reserve banking since the beginning of Islam. However, such alternatives require behavioural changes, tied back to humane principles. It demands honest inclusivity through tangible action rather than philosophical discussions and verbal communication. “The word has no wings, but it can fly a thousand miles. But the action is a deed, a seed that grows.” – Anonymous from the Eastern Lands