This book provides valuable insights into the practical challenges faced by the nascent Islamic finance industry and compares the Australian experience to developments in the UK. It contributes to a greater understanding of how Muslims living as a minority in Australia and the UK negotiate Islamic doctrine in secular societies by focusing on one aspect of this negotiation, namely the prohibition of ribā. There is little debate in the Islamic tradition on the prohibition of ribā. The differences, however, lie in the interpretation of ribā and the question of how Muslims live in a society that is heavily reliant on interest and conventional banking, yet at the same time adhere to Islamic guidelines. Through the words of religious leaders, Muslim professionals and university students, Imran Lum provides real accounts of how Muslims in Australia and the UK practically deal with conventional banking and finance products such as home loans, savings accounts and credit cards. He also explores Muslim attitudes towards Islamic finance and queries whether religion is the sole determining factor when it comes to its uptake. Drawing on his own unique experience as a practitioner responsible for growing an Islamic business in a conventional bank, Lum provides a firsthand account of the complexities associated with structuring Islamic finance products that are not only sharia compliant but also competitive in a non-Muslim jurisdiction. Using ṣukūk bonds as a case study, he highlights the tangible and non-tangible barriers to product development, such as tax and regulatory requirements and the rise of Islamophobia. Combining academic and industry experience, Lum unpacks the relationship of Islamic finance with Muslim identity construction in the West and how certain modalities of religiosity can lead to an uptake of Islamic finance, while others can lead to its rejection.

This book provides valuable insights into the practical challenges faced by the nascent Islamic finance industry and compares the Australian experience to developments in the UK. It contributes to a greater understanding of how Muslims living as a minority in Australia and the UK negotiate Islamic doctrine in secular societies by focusing on one aspect of this negotiation, namely the prohibition of ribā. There is little debate in the Islamic tradition on the prohibition of ribā. The differences, however, lie in the interpretation of ribā and the question of how Muslims live in a society that is heavily reliant on interest and conventional banking, yet at the same time adhere to Islamic guidelines. Through the words of religious leaders, Muslim professionals and university students, Imran Lum provides real accounts of how Muslims in Australia and the UK practically deal with conventional banking and finance products such as home loans, savings accounts and credit cards. He also explores Muslim attitudes towards Islamic finance and queries whether religion is the sole determining factor when it comes to its uptake. Drawing on his own unique experience as a practitioner responsible for growing an Islamic business in a conventional bank, Lum provides a firsthand account of the complexities associated with structuring Islamic finance products that are not only sharia compliant but also competitive in a non-Muslim jurisdiction. Using ṣukūk bonds as a case study, he highlights the tangible and non-tangible barriers to product development, such as tax and regulatory requirements and the rise of Islamophobia. Combining academic and industry experience, Lum unpacks the relationship of Islamic finance with Muslim identity construction in the West and how certain modalities of religiosity can lead to an uptake of Islamic finance, while others can lead to its rejection.

This book demonstrates how the global market for Islamic financial services has shown strong growth in recent years and shown remarkable resilience during the global financial crisis. Drawing on a range of international perspectives from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Malaysia, Pakistan, Australia and Europe, this book explores the characteristics and performance of Islamic finance and banking and discusses future prospects. It offers a comprehensive theoretical framework for Shariah governance in Islamic financial institutions, explores Shariah-compliant equities, as well as issues in productivity, technology and efficiency. It includes a number of comparative studies on Islamic and conventional banks, Islamic and conventional unit trusts, and Islamic and conventional banks’ product mixes. The challenges and opportunities for the expansion of Islamic finance and banking into Europe are explored through the contexts of the UK, Germany and Italy.

This book provides a systematic overview of the current trends in research relating to the use of artificial intelligence in Islamic financial institutions (IFIs), across all organization of Islamic cooperation (OIC) countries. Artificial Intelligence and Islamic Finance discusses current and potential applications of artificial intelligence (AI) for risk management in Islamic finance. It covers various techniques of risk management, encompassing asset and liability management risk, credit, market, operational, liquidity risk, as well as regulatory and Shariah risk compliance within the financial industry. The authors highlight AI’s ability to combat financial crime such as monitoring trader recklessness, anti-fraud and anti-money laundering, and assert that the capacity of machine learning (ML) to examine large amounts of data allows for greater granular and profound analyses across a variety of Islamic financial products and services. The book concludes with practical limitations around data management policies, transparency, and lack of necessary skill sets within financial institutions. By adopting new methodological approaches steeped in an Islamic economic framework (e.g., analysing FinTech in the context of Shariah principles and Islamic values), it devises practical solutions and generates insightful knowledge, helping readers to understand and explore the role of technological enablers in the Islamic finance industry, such as RegTech and artificial intelligence, in providing better and Shariah-compliant services to customers through digital platforms. The book will attract a wide readership spanning Shariah scholars, academicians, and researchers as well as Islamic financial practitioners and policy makers.

This book draws on a range of theoretical foundations, approaches and management practices that are culturally and jurisdictionally appropriate in several Muslim countries. As such, it contributes to an emerging specialism in comparative management and leadership theory that is oriented toward a broader and more diverse set of perspectives, particularly from the non-Western world, given that the importance of values, ethics, and culture have recently been recognized as a key contributing factor to management knowledge development. The author offers an in-depth overview of the Islamic management strategies that have successfully been implemented in selected Malaysian banking and non-banking financial institutions and then outlines how the application of such strategies leads to increased integrity, efficiency and performance. The book is divided into three parts. The first part deals with the introduction, historical background and methods used in collection of data. The second part consists of a range of real-world case studies, while part three deals with the approaches to be used in the teaching of these cases followed by conclusions and recommendations. These cases studies map the strategic aspects of organizational structure and illustrate the motives that influence Malaysian managers’ choices in seeking specific responses to the situations at hand, which are in harmony with the traditions in Islamic inquiry. As such, management scholars can build a foundation for conceptual and theoretical propositions relevant to Muslim culture and environment that will have practical significance. The book provides a wealth of information and enables researchers not only to identify the determinants of knowledge structure and its context but also the evolution of practice.

The labor market in Islam is governed by the Islamic laws of fairness, justice, and reward that is equivalent to the job done. Most of the literature in the field discusses the normative aspect of the labor market, whereas few attempts can be seen to address more positive aspects. There is a need for new theoretical and empirical models for the Islamic labor market, which should differ from established approaches. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the nature, scope, and dimensions of the labor market in an Islamic context, from both theoretical and practical perspectives. It presents and discusses labor economics and then compares the similarities and differences between conventional and Islamic views of the labor market, explaining where they meet, and critically justifying why they differ, under the umbrella of Shari'ah. The book raises pertinent issues, which it analyzes from both standpoints and widens the discourse to include norms, morality, and related institutions such as social security and welfare. A unique feature of the book is that it examines labor economics practices among a specific group of countries, and studies the labor conditions within these countries, where the majority of the population follow the teachings of Islam in their daily lives. The book proposes practical strategies for the development of new models for the Islamic labor market which are compatible with the modern world. The book will enable academics and practitioners of Islamic economics to make economic sense of Shari'ah compliance and human resource development.

Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) are often criticized due to insufficient regulatory provision, thus lowering clients’ confidence in them. Additionally, few countries have well-established legislation relating to the Islamic finance industry, while others are only now developing preliminary regulations to incorporate Islamic finance within their own financial systems. This book offers a comprehensive understanding of Islamic financial regulation, outlining the regulatory landscape in various jurisdictions, examining how it supports the development and foundation of IFIs and addressing the regulation and supervision of IFIs from a global perspective. The book begins by introducing Islamic finance and its current position in the international banking system, then goes on to review the historical developments of the field. It discusses the key financial regulators, their functions, and the regulations that have been implemented to foster the growth of Islamic finance. It includes cases from both Eastern and Western countries. It thoroughly examines how Shariah principles are integrated into the regulatory framework of Islamic finance. Specifically, the book examines the laws and arrangements established in different countries regarding the governance of the Islamic finance industry as well as the legal criteria for setting up and governing IFIs. The focus is on exploring diverging laws and their impact on developing Islamic Finance. This will serve as an academic and practitioner guide to understanding the preliminary regulations required for the establishment, governance, and management of IFIs. Also, it offers practical insights and guidance for professionals working in the Islamic finance industry, including bankers, lawyers, regulators, and policymakers.

The development of Islamic banking and finance (IBF) previously centred around three regions of the world: the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. However, in recent years, this has expanded, as interest in IBF has gained momentum in Australia, the USA, and Europe, especially in the UK. Several Western market players have established their own Islamic window or subsidiaries to cater to the need of growing Muslim populations in these regions. This book examines the recent developments in IBF, particularly in the context of Islamic social finance instruments, such as Islamic microfinance, halal education, takaful, mutual funds, and waqf. It covers the religiosity, spirituality, and tawhid index, which promotes social well-being and empowerment. The book is interdisciplinary, and theories, practice, and key issues are presented simultaneously, introducing new ideas and techniques to the IBF community. Moreover, the book examines topics such as innovation in Islamic social finance instruments, advanced techniques of risk mitigation in Islamic capital markets, marketing and the halal industry, and shari’ah-compliant instruments, which are critical to Islamic finance. The book is an essential reference text for academics and research students at the master’s and doctorate levels in IBF.

The growing presence of Islamic banking needs to be accompanied by the development of effective regulation and supervision. This paper examines the results of the survey conducted by the International Monetary Fund to document international experiences and country practices related to legal and prudential frameworks governing Islamic banking activities. Although a number of countries have made considerable progress in creating legal, regulatory, and supervisory frameworks that accommodate Islamic banking, there are substantial differences. This paper also identifies a number of challenges faced by regulatory and supervisory agencies regarding Islamic banking.

Of interest to both academics and practitioners who assist in making Shariah-centric strategies, this work is particularly important as Asia holds a major percentage of Islamic assets in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, with new opportunities opening in Central Asia.