Sharia-compliant retail products now come in every shape and size. From mortgages to insurance and even the Islamic credit card, the choice and availability for Muslims seeking religiously compliant finance has never been greater. But one sector that has continued to lag behind is microfinance...Islamic financial institutions are required to donate a percentage of their profits in zakat or charitable payments every year...But obstacles to the provision of sustainable Islamic microfinance and microcredit schemes in particular are manifold. Classic Islamic financing techniques are often costlier to administer at the micro level, making them more expensive for borrowers and unsustainable for the agencies that provide them. Lenders are often required to locate, purchase and then resell the commodities they lend to clients – an onerous responsibility that has contributed to the limited outreach of individual institutions...Yet the demand for loans and services from low-income Muslim clients is high...Demands for sharia-compliant microfinance reflect a wider push for a back-to-basics approach in Islamic finance. [refers to Al-Amal bank, Ethos Human Capital, AFM Consulting]