Islamic Revivalism Movement Towards The Establishment Of Islamic Banking And Finance In Malaysia

Islamic revivalism refers to a revival of the Islamic religion throughout the Islamic world, that began roughly sometime in 1970s and is manifested in greater religious piety, and community feeling, and in a growing adoption of Islamic culture, dress, terminology, separation of the sexes, and values by Muslims. It has been defined by some of the Muslim scholar as the cleansing in an effort to return Islam to its original pure form. One striking example of it is the increase in attendance at the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, which grew from 90,000 in 1926 to 2 million in 1979 (Kepel, Gilles, Jihad: on the Trail of Political Islam, Harvard University Press, 2002)
The emergence of the Islamic revivalist movements in Malaysia in 1970 was spawned by the global Islamic resurgence and internal fissures or cracks in the Malay Muslim community. There has been an intensification of Islamic activities since the 1970s which include the establishment of Islamic banking and finance.
The process of Islamization in Malaysia started in line with the concept of Islam as Ad-deen, a way of life in this world and the Hereafter, every ibadah commanded by Allah S.W.T. is of benefit in this and the next world. Since the beginning Muslims are obligated to perform the Hajj pilgrimage. And Muslims have to find enough money for the journey to the Holy Land. To avoid riba' (usury) which is haram (forbidden) in Islam, Muslims resort to various traditional methods of saving. Of course, there are those who dispose their animals or inherited properties for cash to cover their Hajj expenses, a practice which ultimately imposes economic burden on themselves and their families while they are on the pilgrimage or when they return from the pilgrimage. Such practice also does not augur well for