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.

The objective of these institutions is to achieve social justice. Important among their functions is reduction in uncertainty for members of society in order to allow them to overcome the obstacles to decision making caused by paucity of information. Rules specify what kind of conduct is most appropriate to achieving just results when individuals face alternative choices and must take action. They impose restrictions on what society's members can do without upsetting the social order on whose existence all members count in deciding on their own actions and forming their expectations of others' responses and actions.

In 2012, PM Cameron called for "moral capitalism"; a system based on two pillars: (i) social responsibility of individuals and business; and (ii) inclusion and sharing of the fruits of the economy. Sceptics such as William Bowles termed the call "hypocritical", "empty", "rubbish", and "hot air", as he asked what does moral capitalism really mean? The rich sharing their wealth with the poor? Available in physical copy only (Call Number: HF 5387 M179)

Simply stated, epistemology deals with the question of what we know about a phenomenon and how do we know it. The practitioners use the term Islamic finance industry (IFI) to refer to their activities in designing and trading “Shari’ah-compliant” ways and means of financing. Taxonomically, industries in an economy belong to a sector and sectors belong to subsystems which in turn belong to a larger system. For example, a bank belongs to a banking industry which belongs to the financial sector which belongs to the financial subsystem which belongs to the larger economic system which, finally, belongs to an overall socio-political-economic system. Before the current inception of IFI, there was what could be called a “market failure” in the conventional financial system. There was substantial unmet demand for Shari’ah-compliant financial products. IFI grew out of the conventional finance to meet this demand. Muslim scholars writing mostly since the 1970s about Islamic finance focused on development of an Islamic finance system; they not only emphasised elimination of riba contracts but urged their replacement with risk-sharing contracts. The practitioners, most of whom had been operating in the conventional finance, were however interested in developing ways and means of finance that, while Shari’ah-compatible, would be familiar to and accepted by market players in the conventional finance. The former emphasised Profit-Loss Sharing (PLS), the latter focused on traditional methods of conventional finance centred on risk transfer and risk shifting. This article argues that there are two ideal financial systems based on risk sharing, conventional and Islamic, and one actual conventional system focused on risk transfer. There are two industries within the actual system; conventional and Islamic finance industry. The paper then proceeds to discuss the epistemology and the main characteristics of each of the two ideal systems.

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.

This book is a collection of essays on the concept of iqtisad, inspired by the path-breaking contribution of the late Imam As-Sayid Muhammad Baqir As-Sadr. It outlines the characteristics of the Islamic economic system, and presents an in-depth theoretical analysis of how a sound banking system can perfectly operate without utilizing interest as mechanism for allocating financial resources. Muslim contributions to economics, which have been ignored throughout the past centuries, are explained.

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.

Before the inception of the Islamic finance industry (IFI), there was what could be called a 'market failure' in the conventional financial system: significant unmet demand for Shari'a-compliant financial products. IFI grew out of conventional finance to meet this demand. Muslim scholars writing since the 1970s emphasized that Islamic finance was about risk-sharing (or profit/loss-sharing) contracts (see Siddiqi, 1985).

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.

The slides "Implications of risk sharing economy on development" presented by Professor Dr. Abbas Mirakhor at the 11th International Conference on Islamic Economics and Finance 2016 (11th ICIEF), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

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 is a comprehensive guide to quantitative methods, specifically as applied within the realm of Islamic finance. With applications based on research, the book provides readers with the working knowledge of math and statistics required to understand Islamic finance theory and practice. The numerous worked examples give students with various backgrounds a uniform set of common tools for studying Islamic finance.

This book is to provide an introduction to Islam's conception of development and to locate it within the general topography of the spectrum of dominant ideas in their historical perspective. The book attempts to present this topography in the first three chapters throgh a brief review of major conceptions of development within the context of "twists and turns" of their historical evolution. The last three chapters present a rudimentary sketch of the contours of Islam's conception of development. Islam is a rules-based system, therefore, its conception of how humans and their collectivities can achieve material and non-material progress is also grounded on scaffolding of rule-compliance which assures such progress.

This book briefly surveys the evolution of the Western concept of development, recognizing the wider dimensions of human and economic development and the role of institutions and rules, which has moved toward the vision and the path of development envisaged in Islam.

The recent financial developments have given rise to a developing consensus that the Unipolar economic growth regime dominated by U.S, Japan and few European centers, is under great stress. The consensus takes into consideration the present financial stresses and strains, and theensuing uncertainty surrounding the sustainability of the unipolar regime, which has given way to a shift towards a multipolar economic setup. Scholarship has already hinted on not only better trade and investment opportunities, but also on a much more resilient global economic growth that such a shift can bring. However, there are some major obstacles that need to be overcome in order to reap fully the desired benefits of multipolarity. Continuation of debt-based financing regime (the hallmarks of which are risk transfer and risk shifting) will not necessarily allow the benefits of emerging multipolarity to accrue to the world economy. The new system can be more effective with a new regime of financing. Indications are that almost all emerging countries in Asia are actively considering risk sharing via Islamic finance as a possible alternative.

Monetary policy is an important available tool for governments to pursuit macroeconomic objectives. However, the recent financial crisis has revealed the weaknesses of the conventional monetary policy framework. Monetary policy has been found to be a prominent cause of financial instability. Inability of expansionary monetary policy to induce new lending in many economies is considered as evidence of the impairment of conventional monetary policy transmission mechanism. Additionally, the post-crisis diagnostics have revealed that monetary policy failed to address asset market imbalances. A large number of these studies have focused on the reforms of the conventional system. Some suggest major structural changes while others in frastructural. This concept paper is an attempt to search for an alternative and more efficient monetary policy framework, which is also Shariah compliant for Malaysia. It will also propose risk sharing instruments as substitute monetary policy tools.

Monetary policy is an important available tool for governments to pursuit macroeconomic objectives. However, the recent financial crisis has revealed the weaknesses of the conventional monetary policy framework. Monetary policy has been found to be a prominent cause of financial instability. Inability of expansionary monetary policy to induce new lending in many economies is considered as evidence of the impairment of conventional monetary policy transmission mechanism. Additionally, the post-crisis diagnostics have revealed that monetary policy failed to address asset market imbalances. A large number of these studies have focused on the reforms of the conventional system. Some suggest major structural changes while others infrastructural. This concept paper is an attempt to search for an alternative and more efficient monetary policy framework, which is also Shariah-compliant for Malaysia. It will also propose risk-sharing instruments as substitute monetary policy tools.

After discussing the Gracco-Roman economics, Joseph Schumpeter in his Magnum Opus, History of Economic Analysis, states that: "So far as our subject is concerned we may safely leap over 500 years to the epoch of St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-74) whose Summa Theologica is in the history of thought what the south-western spire of the Cathedral of Chartres is in the history of architecture."

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.

Most people do not make a connection between the religion of Islam and the vital issues of economic and social development; andd when they do, it is often to disparage Islam as a hindrance, even a retrograde force, in the progress of Muslim societies. The attempts by Muslim social scientists and economists in the past decades to develop a coherent discipline of 'Islamic Economics' have not gone beyond the confines of the academic world, and with the limited exception of Islamic banking, have not had a serious impact on either policy planners or the general public. They have also failed, I believe, to make the case that Islam has something distinctive to offer to the resolution of the myriad of problems that face humanity, both in the rich and the developing world: from poverty eradication, income inequalities, good governance in the poor countries to the problems that affect the rich world of overconsumption, alienation and social fragmentation.