Islamic finance has seen remarkable growth over the past couple of decades. Its principles have gained traction not only in Muslim-majority nations but also in non-Muslim countries.

However, despite its growing popularity and an industry worth an estimated $4 trillion, questions persist regarding the authenticity of Islamic finance. For example, whilst Islamic banks adhere to Sharia, there are concerns about whether they genuinely uphold the spirit of Sharia or merely fulfil the legal requirements. This raises fundamental questions about the ethical and moral dimensions of Islamic finance.

In our seventh episode, we spoke to Harris Irfan. Harris is CEO of Cordoba Capital Markets and the former co-founder of Deutsche Bank's Islamic finance team.  He is also the author of "Heaven's Bankers: Inside the Hidden World of Islamic Finance".

In this episode, we spoke about several topics including:

• Harris' involvement in landmark Islamic finance transactions
• Why it is difficult to adopt a more wholesome Islamic finance system
• The state of Islamic finance in the UK
• Harris' thoughts on Bitcoin

Intro theme song-'Tales of the Arabian Nights' composed by StudioKolomna via Pixabay