Islamic banking is highly lucrative. No surprise then that it is now attracting the likes of Citibank. When banks make money, it can only come from one source their customers. These Islamic banks are unnecessarily charging more for their services, with the Islamic cachet being used to gouge Muslims. Bluntly put, Islam sells.

Islamic banks must be rigorously scrutinised on whether they provide better, safer and cheaper services than traditional institutions, and on how effective and efficient they are as intermediaries linking owners (savers) and users (investors) of capital.

Banks are the foundation of a modern economy. The remarkable economic achievement of the West today is attributable to its sound banking system. Show me an economically stagnant nation, and I will show you a nation without an efficient banking system. Malaysian leaders attributed the1997 economic crisis to currency speculators; in reality it was the consequence of a weak and inefficient banking system.

Consider a housing loan from an Islamic bank in Malaysia. It can be as high as 200 basis (or two percentage) points higher than that from a traditional bank. Islamic banks also provide no safeguards.

Variable-rate mortgages in America are limited to the number of times they could be adjusted in any 12-month period, and the increases are capped for the entire period of the loan. For example, if the initial rate is eight percent, the maximum it could be increased is by 400 basis points (to 12 percent), and the rates could only be adjusted not more than twice annually.