Global Journal of Business, Economics and Management: Current Issues Volume 11, Issue 1, (2021) 001-009 www.wjbem.eu Selected characteristics of Islamic banking in context of real sphere development Pawel Mrowiec*, School of Finance and Law in Bielsko-Biala, Czeslawa Tanskiego 5, 43-382 Bielsko-Biala, Poland Magdalena Wojcik Jurkiewicz, Department of Accounting College of Management and Quality Sciences Academic Tutor, Cracow University of Economics, Rakowicka 27, 31-510 Krakow, Poland Suggested Citation: Mrowiec, P. & Jurkiewicz, M. W. (2021). Selected characteristics of Islamic banking in context of real sphere development. Global Journal of Business, Economics and Management: Current Issues. 11(1), 001–009. https://doi.org/10.18844/gjbem.v11i1.4692 Received from November 23, 2020; revised from January 11, 2021; accepted from March 10, 2021. Selection and peer review under responsibility of Prof. Dr. Cetin Bektas, Gaziosmanpasa University, Turkey. © 2021 United World Center of Research Innovation and Publication. All rights reserved. Abstract The objective of this study is to analyse the selected characteristics of Islamic banking in the context of real sphere development. It is hypothesised that Islamic economic principles could be applied to some extent to Western banking. To this end, selected features of Islamic and Western banking were analysed for their impact on the real sphere, including analysis of Islamic banks’ assets in the years 2006–2015 and the transposition of these data to assets of ten top commercial banks in the world. A literature review related to the functioning of Islamic banking, content analysis and deduction method was used to achieve this purpose. The authors, as a result of the research carried out, contradict the hypothesis indicating that it is impossible to directly compare Islamic banking to conventional banking, as the scope of services provided, system assumptions and, above all, their complexity, determines a different approach to their management and monitoring. As a result of scientific research, the authors of the paper contributed to opening new research areas in the field of Islamic banking. Keywords: Shari’ah laws, financial crisis, real sphere development, bank profitability. * ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE: Pawel Mrowiec, School of Finance and Law in Bielsko-Biala, Czeslawa Tanskiego 5, 43-382 Bielsko-Biala, Poland. E-mail address: pawel.mrowiec@onet.eu