Providing a comprehensive account of the progress, potential and challenges facing Islamic finance in Eurasia, this prescient book explores Islamic finance's history and development across the Asian and European continents and argues that in order for this market to continue to prosper, innovation and adaptation is a necessity.

This chapter's goal is to introduce readers to the progress of Islamic finance in the SAARC member states of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. This chapter shows that the eight countries' Islamic finance trends are distinct, as are their respective methods for advancing Islamic finance. In a nutshell, South Asia includes the most prominent and significant Islamic finance market reflecting the predominantly Muslim population in these countries. Noticeably, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives have a presence in all three major Islamic commercial financial industries catering for Muslims in the countries in a dual financial system. As a significant challenge in India, the legislation prohibits banks to invest, and deposit based on profit-loss sharing which negates the risk-sharing nature of Islamic finance. While for the majority of the countries, the major challenges were a lack of skilled workforce in the field, lack of awareness, education among the public on Islamic finance, and active Islamic liquidity markets. For Afghanistan, Islamic financial development is at an infant stage mainly due to political instability where Islamic banks are only operated and there is no proper formation of an Islamic capital market (ICM) and takaful industry. Nevertheless, the Muslim population is extremely low, and the presence of Islamic finance is almost none in Nepal and Bhutan where a proper development of Islamic finance in these countries necessitates huge efforts shall be made by the Islamic bodies and Muslims in the country.

COVID-19 has turned back the global poverty clock. Even prior to the pandemic, it was a challenging task to financing human development needs. In the midst of the pandemic what has been realized is that there is a need to put in double the effort to resolve human development challenges. Cash waqf is an Islamic financial institution and a tool that could be used to overcome the financing challenges faced by human development. As such, the objective of this chapter is to explore the role of cash waqf in financing for human development by looking at the ways in which how in contemporary times cash waqf has been used for the purpose. In doing so, recommendations are proposed to enhance the role of waqf institutions in financing for human development. This chapter recommends a global waqf institution model for financing human development by uniting the Muslim nations. It is anticipated that the findings of the research will assist the policymakers and stakeholders of waqf to comprehend the significance of cash waqf in human development financing in the midst of the pandemic.

Sukuk is an innovative Islamic finance product used in the capital markets which is often described as the financial product which is equivalent to a conventional bond. However, sukuk is a much more complex product than a conventional bond from the perspective of structuring it for all types of projects, irrespective of the modus operandi of the project, in structuring conventional bonds, the structure used will be uniform whereas for sukuk it is not. The objective of this paper is to explore the role of sukuk in developing real estate projects by presenting some case studies. The paper uses a qualitative research approach where the case studies originate from the public domain to show the role of sukuk in developing real estate projects. The findings of this research suggest that sukuk is an instrument which has been successfully used in various parts of the world in financing real estate projects and there are various Shariah compliant contracts used in these projects showing that even in the future, the same contracts can be utilized for the same purpose. It is also found that there is scope to utilize technology in these sukuk structures in the future to enhance them and the digitalization of sukuk will further enhance its role in financing real estate projects. It is anticipated that the findings of this research will assist stakeholders to comprehend the existing role of sukuk and its potential in the future in financing real estate projects.

The European Islamic finance industry is still in its infancy, with the first Islamic bank appearing on the continent only in the past 20 years. However, Islamic finance has a long and rich history in Europe. Its roots can be traced back to the early days of Islam when Muslim traders and scholars began to develop financial instruments and practices compatible with their religious beliefs. In the seventh century, the Arab-Muslim conquerors brought the concept of riba, or interest, which was forbidden under Islamic law. This created a dilemma for Muslim merchants who wanted to do business in Europe but were not allowed to charge interest. Instead, they developed a system of trade credit known as murabaha, which became the basis for European Islamic banking. In the centuries that followed, Islamic finance flourished in many parts of the Muslim world, including Spain, where it played an essential role in the economy during the Golden Age of Muslim rule.