Islamic Finance

Abstract

This book is an authoritative practical guide to financial transactions under Islamic law. Global interest in Shari’a-compliant financial practices continues to increase, but Islamic financial products can often be hard to understand, not least because they often cut across rather than strictly align with more conventional financial products. This book provides the necessary explanation by describing the theoretical underpinnings of Islamic finance as a whole before going on to examine the major individual transaction structures in detail. The first part of the book informs the reader about the general background to Islamic finance and the relevant aspects (and sources) of Islamic law. It also considers the role of Shari’a supervisory boards, Islamic financial institutions and accounting approaches. The second part of the book concentrates on Islamic financial law in practice by focusing on individual concepts and techniques. This section explains the basic requirements for Islamic finance contracts both in terms of the underlying asset types and also both the applicability and acceptability of the underlying asset. Arrangements discussed include Mudaraba (trustee finance), Musharaka (partnership or joint venture), Murabaha (sale of goods), and Sukuk (participation securities: coupons etc). Takaful (insurance) is also examined in detail. A new chapter has also been added to this second part of the book detailing the principles of Islamic investment funds and commonly applied structures.