This thesis investigates the main features of professional translations of Islamic banking terms from Arabic to English and of translations of financial terms in English-Arabic dictionaries. The focus of the study is an analysis of three different translations (by Hamilton, Baintner and Nyazee) of the well-known Hanafi text Al-Hidāyah by Al-Marghinani, fatwas translated by Talal DeLorenzo in A Compendium of Legal Opinions on the Operation of Islamic Banks and the Saudi official fatwa website. Chapter 1 is an introduction to the thesis. Chapter 2 provides an overview of Islamic banking. Chapter 3 provides an account of the semantic principles which are used to investigate the terms under investigation. Chapter 4 examines Islamic financial terminology in the translations of Hamilton, Baintner, Nyazee, DeLorenzo and the Saudi official fatwa website, in order to ascertain: (i) what translation techniques are used by these translators; (ii) how frequently each of these translation techniques are used; and (iii) how acceptable each of these translation techniques is on average. In Chapter 5, the quantitative aspect of the analysis of Islamic financial terminology is developed, by seeking via a questionnaire the opinion of three groups of the translations of Hamilton, Baintner, Nyazee, and DeLorenzo in respect of (i) acceptability, (ii) comprehensibility. These groups are: 1. Arab professional translators (from Saudi Arabia), 2. Arab student translators (from Saudi Arabia), and 3. British student translators. The questionnaire analysed in Chapter 5 also asks the three groups of respondents, in cases where they deem translations to be unacceptable, to identify what translation technique(s) they find unacceptable. The results deriving from this analysis in Chapter 5 are compared with the acceptability judgements for individual translation techniques produced in Chapter 4, to provide a more detailed and insightful account of what translators find unacceptable in the translation of technical Arabic financial terms into English. Chapter 6 considers dictionaries of banking terms, assessing the degree of concordance between the subjects of the sample and translators on the one hand, and the financial term translations given in dictionaries, on the other. A short questionnaire was distributed to a group of qualified translators to evaluate the success of the translations of the terms identified in the texts. Chapter 7 provides a conclusion to the current work, and recommendations for future research.

The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been developed and promoted since the 1960s, as part of the changing nature of the corporate working environment, with the objective of corporations having their share in contributing to social good in the economy and in society. CSR, as a concept and practice, is directly related to Islamic banking operations, since Islamic finance is located within Islamic moral economy, which essentialises social justice. The Islamic banking sector, therefore, is required by the nature of Islamic injunctions and principles to produce outcomes that are in line with the larger social expectations, namely CSR, with the objective of delivering long-term economic benefits but also to help society. The main aim of this research, therefore, is to analyse the CSR attitudes and practices of Islamic banks in the GCC region through their CSR disclosure practices. This research further aims to examine empirically the impact of CSR disclosure practices of the GCC Islamic banks on their financial performance. In fulfilling the research aim, annual reports of GCC Islamic banks for the period 2000- 2011 are scored by using content analysis. The CSR disclosure index is constructed based on the eight dimensions developed for this purpose. Despite the high expectations of full disclosure and accountability, the research findings do not produce encouraging results in terms of CSR or the social outcome of Islamic banks in the GCC region. The majority of GCC Islamic banks disclose significantly less than required, as CSR disclosure indices for all the Islamic banks remain very low in comparison to the overall score but also for each of the CSR dimensions included in the indices. While examining the impact of CSR disclosure practices on financial performance of Islamic banks in the GCC region, the results indicate the positive relationship between CSR disclosure and financial performance. These results are in line with the set hypotheses and discussed theoretical framework that predict a positive link between corporate social and financial performance in the Islamic banking industry.

The purpose of this study is to critically examine the perceptions, experiences and expectations of British-based Muslims on Islamic Banking and Finance. Many academics have examined the phenomenon of Islamic banking by exploring the growth of the industry, investigating selection criteria and evaluating institutional performance. Many studies analyse the attitudes of Muslims and non-Muslims towards Islamic banking from a finance perspective, ignoring theological debates and insights from critical perspectives. This thesis attempts to fill the gap in the literature by engaging in critical debates among ordinary Muslims, Islamic scholars and Islamic banking employees in an attempt to gain insights so that Islamic banking practices can be improved to serve the disadvantaged. In the past, philosophers have used critical theory to engender change in both society and culture. Critical theory aims to liberate human beings from the circumstances that enslave them while challenging injustices and inequalities in contemporary society and calling for a new empowering democracy that could serve the needs of neglected groups through satisfying accountability. Thus, critical theory using its immanent critique can help challenge the social realities of Islamic banks in replacing extant inaction based on the false correspondence between Islamic values and Islamic banks’ operations with emancipatory praxis, aimed at making the ideal real. To achieve these objectives, a mixed-methods approach was employed involving the employment of semi-structured interviews with 25 Muslims around the UK to ascertain their views and attitudes towards the practices of the nation’s Islamic banks. Questionnaire surveys were distributed to cover a wider sample of Islamic scholars from UK mosques and employees within British branches of Islamic banks to explore their perceptions and views on practices and factors contributing towards the growth (or lack of growth) in Islamic financial services in the UK. The results of the interviews indicate that the majority of Muslims are unhappy and unsatisfied by products and services of Islamic banks in the UK. The criticisms include: concern about the cost of products to conventional ones; a lack of advertising, focus on the rich in society and the “twisting” and “rebranding” of the names of products to produce Shariah-compliance; the absence of efforts to achieve social justice and equality in the society; and employing the same Shariah scholars across Shariah-boards, thereby reducing opportunities for newer and younger scholars. However, the main perceived potential advantage of Islamic banks is the satisfaction of knowing that investments will not be used to fund “unethical” projects. The Muslims taking part in this study also showed a strong need for ‘Ijtihad’ by Islamic and Shariah scholars in order to remove any doubts and easy understanding of Islamic financial products. The results of the questionnaires indicated that the views of Islamic scholars were similar to those of Muslims living in the UK. However, the evidence reveals a lack of trust regarding Islamic banks’ actual practices v.v. what they claim to do, as well as a degree of misconception among non-Muslims over Islamic banking activities. Whilst the scholars and Muslims taking part in the study expressed a need for specialised products for women, children and young entrepreneurs, the banking employees indicated a lack of understanding of Islamic products among Muslims and a lack of qualified Shariah scholars in the industry to be the main issues. The latter group called for more cooperation between Islamic scholars and the Islamic banking industry to overcome the problems, whilst strongly calling for ‘Ijtihad’ so that the voices of underprivileged Muslims can be heard better.

The central goal of this research is to explore the approach of the Islamic banking industry in defining and implementing religious compliance at regulatory, institutional, and individual level within the Islamic Banking and Finance (IBF) industry. It also examines the discrepancies, ambiguities and paradoxes that are exhibited in the individual and institutional behaviour in relation to the infusion and enactment of religious exigencies into compliance processes in IBF. Through the combined lenses of institutional work and a sensemaking perspective, this research portrays the practice of infusion of Islamic law in Islamic banks as being ambiguous and drifting down to the institutional and actor levels. In instances of both well-codified and non-codified regulatory frameworks for Shariah compliance, institutional rules ambiguity, rules interpretation and enactment ambiguities were found to be prevalent. The individual IBF professionals performed retrospective and prospective actions to adjust the role and rules boundaries both in the case of a Muslim and a non-Muslim country. The sensitizing concept of religious compliance is the primary theoretical contribution of this research and provides a tool to understand the nature of what constitutes Shariah compliance and the dynamics of its implementation. It helps to explain the empirical consequences of the lack of a clear definition of Shariah compliance in the regulatory frameworks and standards available for the industry. It also addresses the calls to have a clear reference on what constitute Shariah compliance in IBF as proposed in previous studies (Hayat, Butter, & Kock, 2013; Maurer, 2003, 2012; Pitluck, 2012). The methodological and theoretical perspective of this research are unique in the use of multi-level analysis and approaches that blend micro and macro perspectives of the research field, to illuminate and provide a more complete picture of religious compliance infusion and enactment in IBF.

In recent years, the knowledge management literature has exhibited relatively few new empirical contributions, in contrast to the flurry of such work in the ethical financial sector. The purpose of this research study was three fold. The primary objective was to examine, to what extent, Intellectual Capital (hereafter referred to as IC) and Corporate Governance (hereafter referred to as CG) features affected the performance (both accounting-and market-based) of 64 Islamic Financial Institutions (hereafter referred to as IFIs) operating in ten different geographical locations for the period 2007-2011, while controlling for firm-specific characteristics. The second objective was to analyse the effects of IC and CG features on the performance of the sampled IFIs before and after the financial crisis. Finally, the research aimed to explore the effects of IC, CG and firm-specific characteristics on the performance of fully-fledged Islamic banks (hereafter referred to as FFIBs) and Islamic Shariah-windows (hereafter referred to as Windows). The study used the quantitative research method in which secondary data, comprising of the annual/financial statements of the selected IFIs, was used to extract data. The population of this study was IFIs both FFIBs and Windows operating worldwide. This study’s sample of IFIs was selected based on the Bankscope database while data, related to the governance-specific variables such as board-size, non-executive directors, role duality, Shariah supervisory board, and size of the audit committee, was collected by hand using the annual reports of each IFI. Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (hereafter referred to as VAIC) was used as a methodological tool to analyse the data. The following are the key findings of the research. Firstly, IC was associated positively with the sampled IFIs’ accounting and market-based performance. Secondly, IC was associated with positively with the sampled IFIs’ accounting and market-based performance at all times i.e. in the pre- and post-crisis periods. Hence, IC was the main defence line for the sampled IFIs. Thirdly, the classical model of CG did not seem to explain the sampled IFIs’ performance. Finally, this study reports that the Islamic finance industry is not homogeneous since not all the financial institutions offering Shariah compliant products are FFIBs. They can be divided further into FFIBs and Windows, in which FFIBs have relatively stronger market valuation as compared to Windows. This study makes a contribution to the existing literature on IC, precisely to IC performance literature, by providing the evidence about the role of IC in determining the performance of the ethical banking model. Equally, this study contributes to the literature on Islamic banking and finance as well as the performance of IFIs by measuring the effects of intangible resources on performance. Likewise, the study contributes to the literature on IC and corporate governance by combining both concepts in one study. Another contribution of this study is that it considered IC and CG performance in the pre- and post-financial crisis periods; this provides a novel insight into the role knowledge resources i.e. IC in times of financial meltdown. Finally, it points out that the Islamic finance industry is not homogeneous as such since not all IFIs are FFIBs. Instead, there exists a distinction within the industry. Besides the contribution to the literature, this research is of interest to policy makers and, on a practical level, Islamic banking and finance regulators may use the insights, provided by this study, as a basis for further discussion in determining the role of IC and CG-features in a Shariah-complaint banking model. Rating agencies may use this information when evaluating the real value of an IFI. Likewise, IFIs can use this information to identify and have a better understanding of their competitive advantage in the market. Finally, investors may consider this information while making their investment decisions. The study was not free from constraints and limitations. The main limitation lay in its methodological tool (Value Added Intellectual Coefficient, VAIC) for measuring IC. The VAIC model was challenged by many studies (see Chang, 2007; Ståhle et al., 2011). Nonetheless, there exists no single method of measuring IC. The VAIC method uses quantitative data and, therefore, the use of VAIC is justified because this study used secondary data and, hence, was quantitative in nature. Arguably, this was reliable and validated since it was drawn from the audited data disclosed in the annual reports/financial statements of the selected IFIs. The study offers a novel insight into the ethical banking business model and draws attention to the increasingly important role that knowledge resources i.e. IC play in it. The study calls for a radical departure from the existing orthodox CG model, particularly for cohesive organisations such as Islamic banks, which are based on trust.

Background: Islamic Banking follows the principles and rules of Islamic dealings; it is also governed by Sharia Law and thus adheres to stringent Sharia rules and principles. The operations of such banks are in conjunction with Islamic teachings and therefore it is compulsory that they be in harmony with the Sharia agreements. Over the last three decades, Islamic Banking has experienced global growth and now covers almost all business areas in the banking industry. On the other hand, conventional banking relies on the principle of the debtor-creditor relationship. The first relationship is between the depositors and the bank, while the second relationship exists between the borrowers and the bank. Interest is the price of credit, which reflects the opportunity cost of money. Unlike Islamic banking, conventional banks have been intensively researched by scholars from different fields, including planning, performance, modelling and economic conditions. Aims and Objectives: The aim of the present study was to establish the impact of strategic planning on the performance of Islamic Banking. More specficically, the main purpose of this study was to examine the effect of implementing the Balanced Scorecard model on the performance of Islamic banks in Bahrain. The research covered the impact of articulating the vision and the mission of Islamic banks on their performance, and also looked at the effect of communicating the vision and mission to all stakeholders on the banks' performance. Finally, the research also assessed the impact of setting strategic goals and objectives and developing strategic implementation and feedback mechanisms on the performance of Islamic banks. Methodology: With a view to achieving the above-mentioned objectives, the study involved a detailed review of available literature on strategic management performance tools. This review considered the pros and cons of available models, and concluded that the Balanced Scorecard is the most suitable model with which to measure strategic performance for many industries and organisations, including those from the banking sector. The literature also included a review of Bahrain's economic climate, its banking industry, and the growth of Islamic banking in Bahrain and elsewhere. The review clearly revealed that the performance targets of Islamic banks in Bahrain can be split into five dimensions (Enhancing Capital Efficiency, Reducing Cost, Enhancing Customer Service, Capturing New Opportunities, and Sharia Compliance). This is significantly correlated with the four core dimensions of the Balanace Scorecard model. As far as the research paradigm is concerned, this study utilised the positivsm research philosophy due to the fact that it uses an agreed-upon and ground theory model, i.e. BSC. However, when it came to interpreting the results, the present study also benefited from the knowledge of the researcher, who has more than 30 years' banking experience at senior management level. This resulted in a mixed use of the positivsion and interpretivsim paradigms. The study essenetially followed a descriptive research method based on the deductive approach. The aim was to prove the hypothesis, which stated that the BSC affects the performance of Islamic banks in Bahrain. The main data gathering tool used in this research was that of semi-structured interview with a sample of 21 top senior bankers and professionals working in 15 Islamic banks and 2 regulatory bodies in Bahrain. The interview responses were coded based on a 10-point scale, following which these responses were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics to test the research hypothesis. The study also used a particular tool for qualitative and narative analysis. In order to ensure reliability and validity, the researcher conducted pilot interviews prior to the actual study. During the pilot test, the researcher used methodoligical triangulation, which involved mixing different methods at different stages of the research, including positivism and interpretivsion, descriptive and exploratory, deductive and inductive, and qualitative and quantitative. Results and Conclusion: The analysis from the interviews indicated that there is a positive correlation between the implementation of strategic management tools (BSC) and Islamic banking performance in Bahrain. The study also revealed that clear and strong strategy communication from top management to lower staff level enhances the success of strategic management tools implementation, which is thus reflected in the banks’ performance. Furthermore, the results revealed that all four dimensions of the BSC are equally important. However, the analysis did uncover a new dimension which must be included in future studies: the Sharia Advisory Board. Finally, the results of this study indicated that despite significant differences between conventional banks and Islamic banks, the implementation of the BSC for both systems is almost identical. This finding, which relates specifically to Bahrain Banks, is in keeping with the findings from the literature review, which confirmed the same results for banking in general.

Malaysia’s determination to become a hub for Islamic banking in Southeast Asia has led the Central Bank of Malaysia to grant licenses to foreign Islamic banks to operate in the country. Due to the intense competition among Islamic banks, the introduction of more innovative products is projected to tap investment opportunities not only for Malaysia but also for the rapidly growing Southeast Asian region. This research assesses the significance of Malaysian Islamic banking since the introduction of the first Islamic bank two decades ago, and evaluates the competition among the Islamic banks in the country. The research evaluates the impact of foreign Islamic banks in Malaysia by measuring their contribution to the growth of the Malaysian Islamic banking industry. In relation to this, the study is designed to address three primary areas. First, to measure the performance of the Islamic banks in Malaysia by using financial ratios, data envelopment analysis (DEA), and the Malmquist Productivity Index. Second, to compare and evaluate the nature of competition and market structure of the Islamic banks in the country by employing the bank concentration ratio (CRk), Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), and the Panzar-Rosse (PR) model. Lastly, to validate the relationship between competition among Islamic banks in Malaysia and their financial performance. The selected financial ratios indicated that domestic Islamic banks performed better during the 2005 to 2012 period in terms of profitability, but the foreign Islamic banks excelled in terms of liquidity, risk, and solvency ratios. DEA results showed that the domestic Islamic banks are considered more efficient with the majority of domestic Islamic banks outperforming the foreign Islamic banks. Banks like Maybank Islamic, CIMB Islamic, and Alliance Islamic are considered among the top performers for technical efficiency and scale efficiency. The study also found that based on the Malmquist Productivity Index, the least efficient banks based on DEA have improved in technical efficiency, technology, and total factor productivity (TFP). The study also found that between 2008 and 2012, the Malaysian Islamic banking industry operated in monopolistic competition conditions with a moderately concentrated market structure. The introduction of foreign Islamic banks caused the market structure to become more competitive and less concentrated by comparing the results that include foreign Islamic banks against results generated with a subsample of domestic Islamic banks only. BNM’s financial reform and liberalisation of financial system proved to induce competition making the financial system more resilient, competitive, and dynamic. The Islamic banks have recorded consistent increased annual performance with the under-performing Islamic banks catching up to the top performers.

Banks as intermediary institutions raise funds by offering deposits and invest them in assets, by means of which they transform the maturities of their positions on the balance sheet. Such a function enables the banks to channel available liquidity into investments whereby they contribute to economic growth. In other words, when banks use their liquid liabilities to finance illiquid assets, they consequently create liquidity and hence promote productive investments that boost the economy. However, as a result of such a function, banks may face the risk of illiquidity that may cause an early liquidation of productive business activities, which in turn may lead to a disruption to the economy. Given the importance of the liquidity transformation function of banks, this research examines the ability of Islamic banks in creating liquidity in a comparative manner with conventional and hybrid banks in the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) countries. In doing so, this study also explores the key determinants of such a function in the identified bank types. This study, furthermore, assesses the liquidity risk that Islamic banks are exposed to in comparison with conventional and hybrid banks and investigates the significant factors that may affect such exposures in the case of the GCC region. In conducting the empirical study, this research examined 58 GCC commercial banks during the period between 1992 and 2011 through developing two empirical models through panel data regressions with a fixed effects model in relation to the identified aims. In the first empirical model, the results demonstrate that Islamic banks create higher levels of liquidity than conventional and hybrid banks in the examined sample. The results also show that officially supervisory power, stringency on capital regulations and banking activity restrictions negatively and significantly determine the liquidity creation of the examined banks. The empirical results also detect a positive and significant impact of restrictions on the banking market entry standards on liquidity creation. In addition, while this study found that credit risk has a negative and significant impact on liquidity creation, the results show a positive and significant association between liquidity creation and bank size. This study also finds insignificant positive association between GDP and liquidity creation of the examined GCC banks. In the second model in this study, further statistical and empirical evidence demonstrates that Islamic banks are more exposed to liquidity risk than conventional and hybrid banks in the case of the examined sample of the GCC region. In addition, the results show that the stringency on capital regulations, credit risk, banks size and GDP has a negative and significant impact on liquidity risk. Moreover, the results detect that liquid assets and long- term debts are positively associated with liquidity risk exposures. While the empirical results show that the liquid assets significantly affect liquidity risk, the results detect an insignificant impact of long-term debt on the liquidity risk exposures of the examined banks in the GCC region. Accordingly, it can be stated that the empirical results of this study, consistently with the conceptual framework of Islamic financial principles as well as with previous studies, stress the importance of exploring the liquidity creation and liquidity risk in promoting the role of banks in the economic system and highlighting their key determinants that need to be well examined to fully understand the liquidity creation and liquidity risk issues.

The success of Islamic banks is determined by several factors, among which are their performance, efficiency, stability and ability to grow in conjunction with the economic and financial growth of the GCC’s national economy. Due to the successes resulting from these factors, which are located within the inherent value system of Islamic finance, the GCC’s Islamic banks were praised for their resilience during the recent financial crisis. This research thus aims to examine the efficiency, performance, survival-time analysis and issues related to non-performing loans (NPL) in the case of the Islamic banks within the GCC through four different yet interconnected empirical essays. The first essay aims to examine the technical efficiency of the Saudi Arabian Islamic banks in a comparative analysis with the Sharia-compliant windows of Saudi Arabian conventional banks by using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) for the period from 2005 to 2010. In doing so, some selected variables related to the banks’ characteristics also are examined through second stage regression of the DEA model. Overall, the results indicate that the performance of Islamic banks decreased sharply until it reached its lowest level in 2008. In addition, as a result of the influence of environmental variables, it has been found that the efficiency of Islamic banks was affected negatively more than traditional banks during the period in question. The second essay aims to measure the efficiency and productivity growth of the banking sector in the GCC through DEA meta-frontier analysis for the period from 2005 to 2010. This essay offers a comparative study on two levels: between each country and between three types of bank, namely Islamic banks, conventional banks providing Islamic windows and conventional banks. The second stage of the analysis attempts to examine the influence of the banks’ characteristics, financial structures and rule-of-law variables on technical efficiency (TE) scores by applying a two-stage approach via panel random effect and bootstrap models. The findings reveal that Islamic banks have underperformed in comparison with Islamic window banks during the specified period. However, the catch-up value of the total factor productivity illustrates that Islamic banks appear to be the most productive group. The third essay aims to investigate the survival time of Islamic and conventional banks in the GCC countries, taking into account the impact of the global financial crisis by employing the discrete-time duration models for the period of 1995 to 2011. In addition, to examine the differences between banks, a range of explanatory variables from both the micro- and macro-levels are included in several models. The results from hazard and survivor functions indicate that the Islamic and conventional banks form two distinct bank types, where Islamic banks potentially have a higher incidence of failure and therefore a shorter survival time. The discrete-time duration model findings for the all-banks-pooled model confirm that the hazard rate increases with Islamic banks. Furthermore, the analysis of each bank type reveals that the effect of covariates on survival time differs between Islamic and conventional banks. For instance, increasing the net interest margin ratio causes the hazard rate in Islamic banks to rise, whereas this rate is lowered in conventional banks. The fourth essay aims to identify the macro- and micro-level factors determining NPL in Islamic banking within the GCC via the panel data econometrics model for the period from 2005 to 2011. In addition, this paper examines the impact of the sectoral distribution of Islamic financing on the NPL in the GCC banking system as a whole by utilising dynamic panel data models. The findings indicate that the relationship between efficiency and NPL supports the “bad management” and “bad luck” hypotheses. Further, the sectoral distribution of Islamic financing extended by the GCC Islamic banks shows an adverse impact on NPL, thus demonstrating that Islamic bank financing, which is related to real estate and construction projects, increases the credit risk exposure. It is suggested that increasing financing by profit-and-loss-sharing instruments could enhance loan quality, thereby implying that the growth influence of fixed-income debt contracts could increase NPL more than profit-and-loss-sharing contracts.

The development of human capital often faces challenges due to skills gaps in the labour market and this is exacerbated by the distinctive differences between the skills gained through education and those required by the private sector. Such imbalances challenge the success of the Emiratisation policy and therefore the intention of the government in creating a knowledge economy. The financial sector has a complex operating environment compared to other sectors because of the financial regulations and operational processes. This creates challenges in terms of having the right people in the right job, as well as complying with the Emiratisation policy. Human capital in Islamic financial services may stall the growth of the sector, due to the fact that there is a lack of essential training programmes, entry requirement and retention in this sector due to management and cultural differences, a lack of support and encouragement, absence of career progression or personal development, unrealistic expectations, competition and confidence issues and lack of teamwork for new entrants as well as senior managers. Consequently, understanding the factors influencing the challenges of Emiratisation will help improve the human resource development practices of senior Emirati managers working in Islamic banks. Therefore, this study develops a framework for human capital capacity building in Islamic banks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in order to counteract the challenges of Emiratisation and improve the human resource development practices of senior Emirati managers working in Islamic banking. In the process, the study adopts the Spellerberg (2001) model from which attitude and behaviour can be taken into account given the interdependent relationship that exists between human and social capital. In responding to the aims of this study, a questionnaire was undertaken with seven Islamic banks in UAE. A total of 182 responses were received. Also, secondary analysis research was conducted to explore current best practice used in the international banking sector in regards to developing human capital. The statistical results reveal (eight) variables that significantly impact the use of human capital for Islamic banking in the UAE: (a) trust and reciprocity; (b) networking; (c) wasta; (d) attitude and behaviour; (e) uncertainty avoidance; (f) years of service in conventional bank; (g) Islamic values; networking; and (h) individual/collectivist. The findings indicated that investing in human capital and augmenting it along the way is highly important. Hence, organisations could be the trigger that generates knowledge through individuals who are part of the said organisations, which results in enhancing organisational performance and develops social capital as well. It also shows that cultural and social issues have a great impact on organisations and individuals’ attitude and behaviour. Further, it highlights that the principles of Islam influence human capital and social capital development owing to the fact that it shapes individuals and organisations perceptions, feelings and acts towards others. The study has significant implications for banks in the UAE in providing a direction for human capital building in Islamic banking. The framework developed in this study is a major contribution to current theories and practices in the field of human capital and social capital which demonstrate the Emiratisation policy challenges within the financial sector, as well as how cultural and social issues impact on organisations and employee performance in banks.