KARACHI - Islamic principles provide us every opportunity to live a peaceful social life, Islamic Banking is one of those blessings that are brought to us by the new era of technology and banking. Islamic banking gives us facilities similar to the conventional banking but it never leaves the sphere of Islamic law and principles. The problem is that we lack the psyche that probes inquiry into such matters. These notions were expressed by Vice Chancellor Karachi University (KU) Prof Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui, while presiding over a seminar organised by University of Karachi in collaboration with United Chartered Bank, USA at a local hotel titled Islamic Banking: A Global Necessity on 13th February 2010. The VC encouraged linkages between Islamic Banks worldwide and the Universities of Pakistan. Asif Aslam (CEO) United Chartered Bank USA declared that in the last decade, Islamic finance has enjoyed robust growth rates of 15-20 percent per year. There are now approximately 500 Islamic financial institutions in over 51 countries. The largest market in this field comprises of more than 1.39 billion Muslims worldwide. Other speakers highlighted the benefits of Islamic Banking which includes an additional check and balance because of which they were able to survive the recent global recession, he said. It was also told that Islamic banking was trying to convert challenges into business opportunities with Islamic (Ethical) finance. Prof Dr Abdul Rashid, Prof Masroor Ali Qureshi, Dr Muhammad Ilyas, Maulana Dr Khalil Ahmed Azmi, Syed Tanveer Hussain, Prof Muhammad Saleem Memion, Dean Faculty of Arts, KU, and others spoke on the occasion. Whereas, Prof Dr Abuzar Wajidi, Dean Management Sciences, KU, and a number of teachers and students from madarsaas and from various Universities of Pakistan attended the seminar.