Islamic finance may entice credit-wary investors

HONG KONG (Reuters) – The global credit crisis presents the $1 trillion Islamic finance industry with an opportunity to expand its appeal beyond devout Muslim investors as a haven from speculative excess.

The message may have particular resonance in the West after the collapse of the U.S. mortgage market left banks holding hundreds of billions of dollars of nearly worthless credit instruments tied to home loans by a web of complex structures.  >>>>>