Harvard Islamic Finance Forum 2014 Shariah‐compliant Crowd Funding: An Efficient Framework for Entrepreneurship Development in Islamic Countries Shehab Marzban Co‐founder and Managing Partner, Shekra Crowd Funding Mehmet Asutay, Reader in Political Economy, Director of Durham Centre for Islamic Economics and Finance, Durham University Adel Boseli Co‐founder and Managing Partner, Shekra Crowd Funding Abstract: Based on Islamic moral economic values, Islamic finance should develop capacities and empower individuals and societies, as the majority of Muslim countries are in their development phase. Thus Islamic finance, through acting as an alternative and ethical financing method, should finance impact‐oriented real economic activities. However, in its current form in terms of adopting the role of conventional commercial banks, Islamic banks are not there to provide such financing. Accordingly, there is an urgent need to develop non‐banking Islamic financial institutions and instruments to respond to the developmentalist needs of the societies including development of entrepreneurship. Crowd Funding in the form of either donations, rewards, debt and/or equity represent a new mode of financing for entrepreneurial activities and small enterprises overcoming the funding gap and risk implications faced by financial institutions. Shariah‐compliant Crowd Funding provides an opportunity for investors, donors and entrepreneurs for the socioeconomic development of the micro and small enterprises sector in Islamic countries. Even though crowd funding has witnessed tremendous growth after the financial crisis in 2008, customized models tackling the current status of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and players, cultural and religious factors as well as the economic statuses of Islamic countries need to be developed and emphasized. Within this paper a Shariah‐compliant Crowd Funding framework tackling these issues is formulated and discussed including the appropriate Shariah financing mechanisms to employ.