AlRajh is an international Islamic bank operating locally to be called as "Glocal Bank"

What is it about?

Al-Rajhi Bank is an international bank operating in Malaysia. This is a fully Shariah compliant bank envisioned by the values set by the founder Seikh Sulaiman Al-Rajhi, a Muslim philanthropist from a small city Bukiriyah in QAssim region of Saudi Arabia. The bank is named after its founding father. The Shariah Board of the bank comprised of the experts ranged from Fiqh to Finance not just in banking, but the whole business Mission and Vision which clearly inculcate noble values - Just, Honor, and Respect- guided the bank's operation and growth till now. It's mission implied the highest principles which are integrity, pioneering, competitive, humility, and passionate. Al-Rajhi Bank employees are mostly Muslims. Since 60 per cent of its employees are Muslims, management expects them to be obedient to Allah which as a result are God fearing workers and this leads them to be automatically good employees. Yes, we definitely encourage our employees to have high discipline when it comes to getting the jobs done, said the management during the interview. Syura is just an Arabic word which means meeting, which is main source of bank governance and hence is a specific source of Islamic management systems since majority (60 per cent) are Muslims and bound to be adherent of faith. Leaders are also 60 per cent Muslims. Most executives and managers moved from conventional banking system to Al-Rajhi because they have the conscience. They want to change from conventional to Islamic banking.

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Photo by Ifrah Akhter on Unsplash

Photo by Ifrah Akhter on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This case study is not purely Islamic banking but is also a show case of human governance. Management believes and definitely encourages bank employees to have high level of discipline when it comes to getting the jobs done. Collective decision making style called as 'Syura' is just an Arabic word which means meeting and mutual discussion of problems to find better solution. No specific Islamic management system is required if majority of workers and leaders are not adherent of faith for name sake only, instead all are practicing Muslims. Most executives and managers moved from conventional banking system to Al-Rajhi because they have the conscience. They want to change from conventional to Islamic banking.

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