Background

 Bangladesh is one of the major countries in the world where the both Islamic and conventional banking system are performing successfully. Behind this booming operation of Islamic banking the reason is not only that people possess strong faith on Allah but also the vast number of people from Islamic religion that covers nearly 80-84% of total population. Back in 1971 after the freedom of Bangladesh it was very important for the Muslims to have an Islamic banking system that will help them in business and to lead their lives as per the constructions given in the holy Quran and the way shown by the prophet Hazrat Muhammad (Sm). To fulfill the desire of the mass people and to ensure the rules of Allah in the banking sector different Islamic banks came forward and Shahjalal Islami Bank Ltd was one of the major initiators of its kind in Southeast Asia.

Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited, an islami shariah based private commercial bank (PCB), was registered on April 01, 2001 as a public limited company under the Company Act 1994 and commenced its commercial banking operation on May 10, 2001, after getting approval from Bangladesh Bank (BB). SJIBL started functioning with a vision to develop itself as a unique Islami bank of the country with all modern services and products available for the clients. And at the same time it would contribute for sustainable growth of the national economy.

Because the main objective is to provide Islamic banking service, so all the activities of the bank continuously monitored by the Shariah Council of the bank for implementation and compliance of Islamic Shariah principles. The council is constituted of prominent ulemas, experienced bankers, reputed lawyers and eminent economists of the country. Moreover in the beginning the bank was promoted by a group of famous local businessmen having exposure in RMG, Insurance, Electronics, and Education etc. The shares of SJIBL are listed with both bourses of the country and are traded as ‘AA’ category issue. The market capitalization of the bank stood at Tk. 16.89 billion as on March03, 2011, which was 0.66% of the total market capitalization of Dhaka stock exchange on the same date. During the last quarter of 2010, the bank has sold its membership of DSE and CSE to Shahjalal Islami Bank Securities Ltd, where SJIBL has 50% stake. The corporate Head Office of the bank is located at Uday Sanz, Plot No. SE (A), 2/B Gulshan South Avenue, Gulshan – 1, Dhaka-1212, Bangladesh.

With the active co-operation and participation of Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and some other Islamic banks, financial institutions, government bodies and eminent personalities of the Middle East and the Gulf countries, Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited has by now earned the unique position of a leading private commercial bank in Bangladesh.