Throughout the world, the income gap between the rich and the poor has continued to widen. It has been reported that income inequality is spiraling out of control and this is a dangerous trend that pose significant threat to the global sustainability. Several factors have contributed to this widening income gap, among which is financialization of the economy (much faster growth of the financial sector than in the real sector of the economy through rapid growth of debt and large increases in financial sector profits). The aim of the study is to examine the prevalence of income inequality in Organization for Islamic Countries, (OIC) countries and examine how it differs from Organization for Economic Corporations and Development (OECD) countries. In this study, Generalize Method of Moments (GMM) was used in the data analysis. The study employs two sets of financialization data. The first financialization indicators are: Bank profit (BPROF), market capitalization of listed firms (MCAP), stock value traded (STD) and financialization aggregate (FIN_AGG). While the second indicators are: Rate of growth of finance relative to real GDP (RFING), rate of growth of debt relative to Gross domestic product (GDP) (RDEBT). Private sector credit (PCR) and financialization aggregate (FIN_AGG). For a robust test, the study employs securities under banks asset (SEC). Using overall sample (data from both countries OIC and OECD), the result of the study confirms financialization is one of the major causes of income inequality in the studied countries. Also, the findings revealed that income inequality is higher in OIC than in OECD countries. Using the first financialization dataset, the study reveals a more detrimental effect of financialization on inequality in the overall sample than in OIC countries.

Income inequality is a serious problem confronting not only the developed world but also developing countries. Recently, financialization has been one of the culprits identified in literature as one of the cause of income inequality. This book offers the only detailed presentation of the how financialization aided the spread of income inequality in Organization of Islamic Cooperation, OIC countries. Finance has taking a center stage in the affairs of most developing economies, surpassing the real sector of the economy. The result is the creation of an indebted society in which people are comfortable with financing their financial needs through credit. This creates a debt laden society that is trapped in the cycle of debt. This book represents a comprehensive and indispensable source for students, practitioners and the general public at large. It presents data which shows the buildup of debt and the rising income inequality in Muslim countries. It includes discussion of the rise in rentier income, financialization of everyday life, decline in physical capital accumulation and deregulation of the financial sector. The book therefore, proffers solutions on how Muslim countries can come out of the present economic problem facing them. The promotion and adoption of Islamic principles, which promotes risk sharing based contracts as against debt based transaction is the way to go. When financial contracts are based on the principles of risk sharing, any gains from economic activities get to be shared equitably. Hence, not only capital owners get to enjoy the benefit from the income derived from investments, but rather, all parties that partake in the contract. Distinguished by its clarity and readability as it is written in a very easy to understand language, it is an important reference work for any concerned individual interested on the recent causes of income inequality in Muslim World.

Throughout the world, the income gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen. This disparity in income has become more obvious in the last two decades as the income of the vast majority of the world's population has been somewhat stagnant over time, while small segments of the population experience an upward trend in income. In a recent report by (Oxfam 2016), it is reported that income inequality is spiralling out of control and this is a dangerous trend that poses significant threat to the global sustainability. Income inequality is not only a problem peculiar to the developed world, but also developing countries such as Muslim countries (OIC countries) as they have in recent times witnessed persistent rise in inequality. Researchers in the field of finance and economics have identified numerous causes of increased inequality. The most commonly cited factors are: Globalization, Openness to trade, declining union power, rising compensation of top management. Recently, increased income inequality is attributed to the financialization of the economy. Financialization is defined as the much faster growth of the financial sector than in the real sector of the economy through rapid growth of debt and large increases in financial sector profits.

The goal of this paper is to address the relationship between crude oil-price changes on some selected African Islamic indices, using daily data from May 4, 2011, to January 25, 2018. We employed three main techniques: MODWT, CWT, and multivariate-GARCH-DCC, to analyze whether these markets have any diversification opportunities. Our findings reveal that, first, the results of MODWT shows Egyptian Islamic index leading all indices. Second, CWT results show that investors would gain diversification benefits in almost all markets (except South Africa) and enjoy the benefit that comes with long-term investments. Third, we observed low correlations between the Egyptian and Tunisian Islamic indices, with oil-price returns suggesting diversification benefits in these markets. Of all the Islamic stock markets, Tunisia's has the lowest volatility with the crude oil index. Investors holding a portfolio of these stocks can afford to have exposure in crude oil-related assets and achieve maximum diversification benefits