The framework of Islamic economics has the unique feature of providing for social economic justice in the economy. The abolition of interest, entrenchment of Zakat and the emphasis on social welfare provide the level ground for attaining the goals in an Islamic state. Human conducts are not entirely guided by self-interest but constrained by the provision of the Shari’ah. Spirituality is emphasized in an Islamic economy. The effectiveness of any policy would invariably be adjudged by its level of compliance with tenets of Islam. Every economy is at one point or the other subject t...

Image courtesy of: technobraingroup.comAs Sharia law deals with what is lawful and unlawful or permitted and prohibited acts pertaining to all the major aspects of life – and that includes commercial law covering businesses and private transactions, riba (interest)[1] has been one of the most widely known and discussed subjects. This paper, without going into the core subject of what constitutes interest, will directly engage with the penal aspect of riba in Islam, i.e., the penal consequences and what type of punishments it may carry or has been prescribed by Sha...

There is immense power and potential for impact when people share common ideas and work together. We see examples around the world, and technology such as social media can help bring people together more rapidly. How can we bring together the many voices that seek to apply values in the financial system in order to shape a better world?Perhaps the place to start is to consider whether these many voices share common ideas. We are here to say emphatically, “YES”. For Muslims, Islamic finance links the financial world to the ethical world through the strong connections to faith. O...

My dear brother Kurt Lieberman and I have decided to write some articles together. This post you are reading is our first. We share common views on many issues yet continue to challenge each other constructively through discussion and debate. The differences in our backgrounds combined with our shared views will hopefully make for interesting reading. Essentially, we would like to start a conversation. We want that conversation to grow and include many people.We chose to place this conversation on IslamicMarkets.com as it reaches across Islamic finance and markets. Over time, this con...

Today is a big day.I am delighted to share with you the launch of IslamicMarkets.com - the new home and brand for the IslamicBanker: Over the last 3 years, we have been working on creating a gateway for the global Islamic economy. Islamic markets are not easily accessible - information is not always available and economies remain disconnected. This restricts the opportunities for investors and firms to grow, create jobs, and spur innovation. We have been working on addressing these gaps, with the IslamicBanker becoming an industry reference point. Moving to IslamicMarkets.com...

Imam Al-Ghazali said good character is the person good inward form, which is referred to a good soul that consists of four faculties, viz., knowledge, anger, desire and justice. One who has a good character is typically the one who has a sound quality of these faculties, moderate lifestyle and harmonious in all fairness of his doing. Anyhow, can we cope with these qualities? I think we can.In reality, however, Islamic banks are not immune from the worldly temptations that may deviate from their maqasid purposes - abating their needs to balance profit and social obligations. Under ungu...

I recently had an article published in Financial Advisor magazine regarding international investing. Traditional investment analysis tends to overlook the important investment information available about countries. To learn more, the article can be accessed here: https://www.magniglobal.com/magni-published-in-financial-advisor-magazine-countries-matter-in-international-investing/ 

This post is an attempt to gather and link up with the increasing discussions on the subject matter from an Islamic perspective.My last post can be found on:http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=node/10303My personal view is critical on bitcoin, as I do not see any other use than payments, hence no intrinsic value. Value does not come from costs creating something but in my understanding from utility, rather than price and appreciation - but maybe this point is more my thinking than a Shariah argument...Further light on Fiqhi points are given in this paper:https://islamicmarkets.co...

The takaful industry needs to boost the growth of sukuk as a vehicle for development and business expansion.Ard, Islam, Mal, Shariah , Sukuk , Takaful

Somewhat belatedly may I wish you all a successful and impactful 2018. Once again, I would like to thank you all for returning to this page. Your continuing feedback and support is a great blessing and is always appreciated. My apologies for not have a written for a few months but my “Retirement” has got me somewhat engaged in a number of interesting projects that are inter-connected through a theme of Islamic Finance and achieving the objectives of the Maqasid Al Sharia’a.I consider myself to be very fortunate to have these opportunities presenting themselves to me for a...