Two international conferences this month - one in London and one in Abu Dhabi - are gathering to discuss the future of Islamic investment instruments in world finance. A decade ago, few bankers had ever heard of Islamic finance, an exotic niche that strives to comply with holy strictures laid down by the Qur'an against the paying and receiving of interest or investment in such forbidden goods as alcohol. But this decade:s stratospheric oil prices have changed all that. Conventional Western banks are suddenly pumping resources into understanding shariah, or Islamic law, and creating religiously acceptable products in a bid to grab a slice of the Mideast's massive windfall.
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