The two markets currently have a tiny percentage of the total market for Islamic insurance (takaful), but this is predicted to change.

“We are forecasting that Islamic insurance premium income could be more than $15bn in 2015,” says Ashraf Bseisu, deputy chief executive officer of Bahrain’s Solidarity Group, a specialist in Islamic insurance.

“We see the market in US and Europe growing to 27 per cent of the total, compared with 1 per cent now. There is great potential for takaful in both markets.”