The Dispatch

The growth of Islamic finance is evident even within conventional banking. “Conventional banks, investment firms, and fintech companies are now seeking professionals with knowledge of Islamic financial principles to tap into new markets and diversify their service offerings,” explains Dr Iqait.

In Germany, the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management attracts a diverse range of students to its Certified Expert in Islamic Microfinance course. “We have had students from around 20 countries,” says Dr Mohammed R. Kroessin, a lecturer on the course and Head of Islamic Relief’s Global Islamic Microfinance Unit.

Islamic microfinance is still a relatively young sector but is gaining significant traction, including support from UN agencies. Its appeal extends beyond the Muslim world, Dr Kroessin reveals, as profit-and-loss sharing offers stability during economic uncertainty and interest rate changes.

Financial exclusion remains high in the Muslim world, with many individuals avoiding interest-bearing loans for faith-based reasons. Frankfurt’s Islamic microfinance graduates play a key role in addressing this challenge, with many of them working in the development sector. Many come from government agencies such as central banks and finance ministries, as well as NGOs, UN agencies, and financial service providers, helping to expand ethical financial services.

The link between Islamic finance and sustainability

For students looking to study Islamic Finance in the UK, Durham University Business School is a popular option. The business school is home to the newly relaunched MSc in Islamic Finance, the PhD in Islamic Finance and the Durham Islamic Finance Summer School, as well as cutting-edge research in the field.

While Durham’s MSc in Islamic Finance has gained considerable popularity in South-east Asia, and recruitment is expanding throughout the Middle East, the programme’s students come from diverse national, ethnic, religious and regional backgrounds.

Initially, Malaysia students made up the majority of Durham’s Islamic Finance postgraduate programme in 2009.. However, the student body diversified rapidly as the program expanded.

“Over the years, there has been noticeable interest in Islamic finance among non-Muslim students and individuals. We appreciate having non-Muslim students in each cohort,” says Professor Mehmet Asutay, Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Political Economy & Finance at Durham University Business School.

The new MSc Islamic Finance programme enhances its focus on sustainable development, climate risk and fintech, alongside a more concentrated emphasis on social governance and resource accessibility. It explores Islamic social financing in relation to global crises and the support mechanism and instruments Islamic finance can offer. Other global priorities, such as sustainable development and climate risk, are also addressed through an Islamic Finance lens.

“Considering that global realities have shifted to address sustainable development, it is essential that social and, hence, Islamic governance be included in any Islamic finance programme,” states Profesor Asutay.

He adds that given the global emphasis on sustainable development, graduates of this programme will be able to secure positions in Islamic social finance institutions and sustainable development projects within multilateral organisations.

The draw of business ethics

Sustainability is a strong draw for students in 2025, reveals Cédomir Nestorovic, Professor of Geopolitics and Academic Co-director of the ESSEC Institute for Geopolitics & Business at ESSEC Business School.

“For business ethics, there is a strong interest especially when we talk about sustainability. This is because, in Islam, people are not owners of nature, they are stewards whose role is to preserve and regenerate nature rather than destroy it,” he tells QS Insights Magazine. “In that sense, Islam has an interesting contribution to business ethics.”

In Islam, stewardship is a core principle, governing all aspects of life including agriculture and finance. Within Islamic Finance, sustainability and ESG encompass both environmental and social responsibility. This means addressing physical needs like environmental and climate control, or access to clean water or food, as well as promoting responsible consumption and reduced inequalities.

Similarly, social justice is at the heart of Islamic finance. All deriving concepts such as hoarding and speculation are banned. It is also at the heart of the third pillar of Islam, zakat, or almsgiving, where a part of income must be distributed to the less fortunate, Professor Nestorovic explains.

At ESSEC Business School, students have several options available to them. At the Asia-Pacific campus, Islamic finance is taught as a compulsory course in the Master of Finance programme. If they want to explore Islamic finance from a legal point of view, they can do so in the Master's in International Business Law and Marketing. An Islamic marketing point of view can also be discovered in the Master in Strategy & Management of International Business and the Global BBA.

“Students on these courses come from all backgrounds. Some of them want to explore opportunities to work in Islamic finance and for some of them it is only a discovery of another way to do business,” says Professor Nestorovic.

Overall, students find Islamic Finance interesting because it operates in a diverse environment. Politically, some countries prohibit Islamic finance, while others make it compulsory, he reveals.