Greece offers a unique opportunity to propagate Islamic Finance in the West

Greece's financial crisis is a major opportunity to finally demystify Islamic Finance in Europe. The European Union is trying to prevent the collapse of one of its member countries by injecting predominantly EU funds. In all great disasters, nations – and Europe is a Union of Nations – abide by pride and seek a solution on their own. What was described as the Economic Tchernobyl initiated in Athens imply that the EU refuses assistance beyond its borders. This might and should change. Although the recent EU summit has slightly calmed down observers, the challenge remains high in Greece. Yanos Gramatidis, managing partner of the law firm Bahas, Gramatidis & partners, says that "in order to take up the challenge, Greece has to achieve an average of one privatization per week". From a cyclonic economic region, Greece can now turn into a land of opportunity for smart investors !

The Western system where anything goes in terms of lending and conduct lay behind the Greek disaster. If the idea of a solution is just to bring to Greece financial aid, EU officials are missing the point. The missing ingredients of "responsibility, transparency and accountability," glaringly absent throughout fraudulent Greek reporting to the EU, are the fundamentals of Islamic finance. We have a tremendous opportunity here where Islamic investors can bring to collapsing Greece a fair amount of liquidity and a fair amount of morality.

The challenge here is not to oppose two conceptions or two worlds. The challenge is for the West to better understand the principles and the methodology of Islamic banking. If the West replace the concept of "religious" or "islamic" by "ethical", the notion of "islamic finance" will become more acceptable, even without being in Islam.

Turkey's long-stalled talks on EU accession represented the perfect test if Western and Islamic financial and economic models were to be successfully fused post-crisis. Interestingly enough, Greece  which is Turkey's neighbour, now offers to Western Europe a second chance to bridge Europe with the MENA region.

Europe's cold reaction towards Turkey's EU membership can be considered as as a missed opportunity. If it is understandable that Turkey was not fulfilling membership criteria, however, a hesitant EU is missing an opportunity to use Turkey as a bridge between the Muslim and the Western world. It is a paradox that Greece, Turkey's secular opponent, is now offering a second chance to bring together two conceptions of the world.

Trade, economy and finance have always been above cultural and religious constraints. Finance is a place of exchange, just like a market in the middle age was a forum to exchange goods and values, a financial market may have the same usefulness to bring parties together.