Principles of Operations

1. The Islamic Development Bank operates according to the Islamic Shari'ah principles. Shari'ah is the set of rules derived from the Holy Quran, the authentic traditions (Sunnah) of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the scholarly opinions (Ijtehad) which are based on the Holy Quran and the Sunnah. The principles of Shariah that govern Islamic banking are the following:-

• Prohibition of interest (riba) in all financial transactions, such as: riba in debts, riba in sales, including forward currency deals and futures exchanges.
• Participation in profit and loss sharing, since return is not guaranteed in an Islamic transaction.

2. The IDB does not borrow from the market and its operations are sustained by share-holders capital, retained earnings and funds generated internally through its foreign trade and project financing operations. The IDB has no non-regional members. The IDB is an institution established by the Ummah (Islamic Nations), for the Ummah and operated and managed by the Ummah. The IDB finances trade and development projects both for the public and private sectors, finances large and medium sized projects and small enterprises in the member countries.
   
3. In non-member countries the IDB supports Islamic communities by providing scholarships and training facilities. Through the Islamic Research Training Institute (IRTI), the IDB conducts research on Islamic topics having modern day relevance. The IDB also mobilizes technical capabilities within member countries in order to promote exchange of expertise and experience. Science and Technology development are in the forefront of the strategic agenda of the IDB which forms an integral part of project financing. Additionally, the IDB provides merit scholarships for high technology to scholars for pursuing doctorate programme and post-doctoral research in centers of excellence in the world.