The Role of the Regulator in ensuring the progress of Islamic Finance – Suresh R. I. Perera LLB, Attorney at Law, ACMA Principal, Tax & Regulatory – KPMG Sri Lanka

“…I trust that you will agree that Islamic Finance, at least for jurisdictions like Hong Kong, means change – a change perception, a change in skills, a change in structures and techniques, in contracts, standards, and so on. Change...

Unveiling the importance of Islamic agro-banking in Sri Lanka by Muath Mubarak

Muath Mubarak is a Director of Studies and Corporate Strategy for First Global Knowledge Centre (FGKC), a Sri Lanka-based conglomerate of companies involved in the Islamic finance industry. Previously he was working for Barwa Bank, a newest fully fledged...

HISTORY OF DINAR & DIRHAM

In the beginning the Muslims used gold and silver by weight and the dinar and dirhams that they used were made by the Persians. The first dated coins that can be assigned to the Muslims are copies of silver dirhams of the Sassanian Yezdigird III, struck...

KITAB AL-FARA’ID (THE BOOK PERTAINING TO THE RULES OF INHERITANCE)

Translation of Sahih Muslim, Book 11:   INTRODUCTION   Inheritance is the entry of living persons into possession of dead persons'property and exists in some form wherever the institution of private property is recognised as the basis of...

Derivatives -An Islamic Finance Perspective, By Beata M. Paxford

© Islamic Finance Today BEATA PAXFORD is a lawyer and a Ph.d. candidate in banking law. Beata is currently writing her dissertation on Islamic banking at the Warsaw University in Poland. Her main areas of specialisation include corporate and banking...

Subprime Mortgage Crisis and Islamic Finance By MKV Nair – Researcher, Monash University Malaysia

Introduction The subprime mortgage crisis, popularly known as the “mortgage mess” or “mortgage meltdown”, came to the world’s attention when a surge in US home foreclosures (repossessions) started in 2006 and spiralled...

Islam, Poverty and Micro Finance “Best Practices” Dr. Mohammed Obaidullah

How does one go about reducing poverty levels and providing micro finance (MF) in Muslim societies? How does one make a choice between the Islamic model of MF and the MF "best practices" that reflect wisdom and lessons learnt from decades...

Takaful- Its Origins, Definition, Justification and Present Status By Capt. Jamil Akhtar Khan

Capt.Jamil Akhtar Khan is the CEO of Takaful Pakistan. With a background in the Merchant Navy, Capt.Jamil commanded vessels of the national flag carrier PNFC before switching over to insurance. Before joining Takaful Pakistan he served with New Jubilee...

IJARA – A more compassionate form of Leasing Suresh R. I. Perera LLB, Attorney at Law, ACMA Director Tax & Regulatory KPMG Sri Lanka

The nature of Ijara The literal meaning of Ijarah is “to give something on rent”. As per Islamic jurisprudence the term connotes two distinct situations. 1)  The services of human beings for wages -  the “Musta’jir”(employer)...

Global Sukuk Market – by By Faisal Hasan, Head of Research – Global Investment House, Kuwait

Fast attracting Muslims & non-Muslims alike…. The global Islamic financial sector has witnessed an encouraging growth over the last decade and is currently estimated to be at around US$1trillion. It is predicted to be the world’s fastest-growing...