Murat ?izak?a is the Professor of Islamic Finance, Comparative Economic and Financial History at INCEIF in Kuala Lumpur. He is also a member of the Executive Academic Board of Istituto di Storia Economica in Prato, Italy. Mr. ?izak?a received his Ph.D. in Economics and Economic History Program at the University of Pennsylvania in 1978. He went on to become a Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Berlin, Germany, during the 1997-98 academic year. He also served as the "Third Allianz Professor for Islamic Studies" at the Institut f?r Geschichte und Kultur des Nahen Orients at Ludwig Maximillians University in Munich, Germany.