Sharia banking as a tool to enhance Christian- Muslim relations in Nakuru, Kenya.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to look at the social economic factors that contribute to the social cohesion between Muslims and Christians through sharia banking. The research examined the introduction of sharia banking in the sixth and seventh century that is during the birth of Islam. It also accessed whether the Jewish and Christian communities who were living hand in hand with them embraced it. It also examined Sharia banking in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and the products there in. The operations and targets of sharia banking in Nakuru was investigated .The research also explored the spread of Islam through sharia banking, and lastly how it has become a tool to enhance Christian Muslim relations. This is through their inclusion in the sharia banking services. The study sought to answer the following research questions: “what is the level of knowledge among Kenyans about the existence of sharia banks and the various products and services they offer?”, “What social religious factors that influence the choice of sharia banking in Nakuru Kenya?”, “ How does sharia banking acts as tool to enhance Christian –Muslim relations in Nakuru?” The theories applied are social exchange theory by George Homan, which is a social psychological concept that concerns social changes as a process of interactive exchanges between different people. The other one is the sustainable peace building theory by Robert Ricigliano who came up with the SAT model. Lastly, the conflict theory that uses the concept of Carl Marx. Through this study, an attempt was made to show whether Christians had a preference of sharia banking and why and how it can be used as a tool for dialogue between Christians and Muslims. The research used a broad exploratory survey research into a new field in the local financial market. It took the qualitative strategy with some aspects designed quantitatively. The survey was done in the First community bank, Gulf African banks that are fully-fledged sharia banks and Barclays bank Nakuru that operate a sharia compliant window. Questionnaires were used and designed in a way everybody could participate. Most of the questions had the answer of either “yes” or “no”. They were distributed to the customers and both senior and junior staffs of the banks by the managers. The data was analyzed using qualitative approach with descriptive statistics, mean, mode, and median. The study revealed that sharia compliant banks were driven by religious compliance and customer needs being met. It also revealed that drastic effort is being made to bring more people both Muslims and Christians on board. This breeds a good ground for dialogue between Christians and Muslims. Therefore, sharia banks can act as a tool to enhance Christian Muslim relations. The research recommended for a repeat of the same study in predominantly Muslim town since Nakuru like most towns in Kenya is predominantly Christian.