This book explains the fundamental principles and functions of an economic, banking and financial system based on principles derived from the basic sources of Islam. Rules constituting the institutional scaffolding of such a system—property rights principles, sanctity of contracts and the requirement of faithfulness to terms and conditions of contracts, trust and trustworthiness, risk sharing, and prohibition of interest-rate based debt contracts among others—are discussed with relation to the economic behavior of individuals, society and state.

Islam has provided a blueprint of how a society is to be organized, and how the affairs of its members are to be conducted in accordance with its prescriptions. The system itself has not been applied in its entirety, with the exception of a brief period at the inception of Islam. Only in recent decades have Muslims become interested in society-wide implementation of Islamic teachings, with all this implies for development.

Islamic finance has been practiced in some form since the inception of Islam, its practice in modern financial markets became recognized only in the 1980s, and began to represent a meaningful share of global financial activity only around the beginning of this century. In recent years, significant interest in Islamic finance has emerged in the world's leading conventional financial centers, including London, New York, and Hong Kong, and Western investors are increasingly considering investment in Islamic financial products. The organizing principle of Islamic finance in an Islamic economy is transaction based on exchange, where real asset is exchanged for real asset. By focusing on trade and exchange in commodities and assets, Islam encourages risk sharing, which promotes social solidarity. The features of an Islamic economy will change the behavior of society. There will be greater consultation; hence there will be no impulsive-compulsive reaction in financial dealings. At the same time, the labor force in an Islamic economy will work under a rule of trust and full understanding of contracts and obligations. Workers also share in the gains achieved through the risk, based on productive efforts, which is a better incentive system than a fixed wage. Workers will be treated with respect, which reflects the importance of human dignity in Islam.

Enhancing financial inclusion or access to finance can make critical contributions to the economic development. Conventional mechanisms such as micro-finance, small-medium-enterprises (SME), and micro-insurance to enhance financial inclusion have been partially successful in enhancing the access and are not without challenges. Islamic finance, based on the concept of risk-sharing offers set of financial instruments promoting risk-sharing rather than risk-transfer in the financial system. In addition, Islam advocates redistributive risk-sharing instruments such as Zakah, Sadaqat, Qard-al-hassan, etc, through which the economically more able segment of the society shares the risks facing the less able segment of the population. These are not instruments of charity, altruism or beneficence but are instruments of redemption of rights and repayment of obligations. In addition, the inheritance rules specify how the wealth of a person is distributed among present and future generations of inheritors.

This is an extremely valuable book written by three highly qualified scholars whose credentials for writing such a book are difficult to match. The timing of the book is also perfect, having come at a time when the worst financial crisis in living memory has intensified the quest for reform of the international architecture. The proposals made by the authors should go a long way in not only reforming the system but also in accelerating the move towards financial globalization and convergence of the conventional and Islamic financial systems.

This book is a comprehensive resource and groundbreaking work that provides an overview of the organizing principles and fundamentals values of an Islamic economy. It also offer a clear explanation of how the conventional global economic system differs from an economy grounded in the fundamental principles of Islam.

This book provides a review of the main issues and challenges facing Islamic finance. The application of Islamic finance is currently limited to banking. This book starts with an overview of the factors and motives behind the development of Islamic finance. A critical review of issues facing the industry is provided followed by a detailed analysis of areas where further attention is required. The book offers some original thinking on issues pertaining to governance, institutions, public finance and economic development within an Islamic financial system.

In this volume, the authors make an important attempt to develop the building blocks of an Islamic financial system and elaborate on its implementation as a comprehensive system. They make a convincing case for the world to shed its reliance on debt, interest and leveraging, and revamp the global financial system to rely more heavily on equity financing, genuine asset securitization linking the payoffs of financial securities to the underlying assets. This would ensure promoting wider risk sharing and a more stable financial environment.

The main focus is on the question of the sources of financial instability which seems inherent in the conventional system. As a core component of this focus, the book will consider episodes of turbulence and instability in a historical context recalling the occurrence of such events from mid-19th century to the present. It will present various theoretical explanations along with solutions and alternative financial systems that avoid instability provided by various scholars dating back to mid-19th century to present...