Financial Technology (Fintech) has revolutionized the financial world as one of the fastest-growing segments in both the technology and financial sectors. With the usage of underlying principles of Blockchain technology, Fintech is bringing the financial community together and making financial services accessible to everyone. Fintech has far-reaching implications for Islamic finance such as banking, investment, insurance (takaful) and wealth management, which are benefitting from this usage. This book provides a comprehensive review of how Fintech is shaping the Islamic finance industry through three key aspects: Digitalization, Development and Disruption. The book will provide insight on the Shariahtech (Fintech in line with Shariah principle) and its application in the Islamic finance industry. The book also gives an overview of Blockchain and Fintech evolution and how they act as the building blocks of the digital financial landscape. Readers of the book will also get a detailed discernment on the Islamic viewpoint on cryptocurrency as well as the application of the smart contract in different Islamic financial services. The book provides students, academics and researchers with a detailed description of the Blockchain and Fintech application in Islamic finance.

The implementation of new technologies is expected to boost the development of Islamic Finance by increasing accessibility to banking and other financial services in Islamic communities and democratizing access to investment opportunities. At the same time, new technologies will increase financing opportunities and facilitate asset management for Sharia-compliant businesses. This collection of essays from selected experts in the field comprise some of the most topical issues on Islamic Fintech, combining a business focus with legal insights. The book takes as a point of departure the role that Islamic Fintech can play in promoting sustainability. The social vision of welfare improvement and justice is already embedded in Sharia’s economic rules, which makes Islamic Finance particularly well suited to bridge the gap between sustainability and funding. Although it is not without challenges for the industry, technology will help unleash its potential. With a holistic approach to Islamic Fintech, the contributing authors address the application of new technologies to Islamic Finance, including robo-advisory, crowdfunding and digital ledger technology (both in the issuance of bitcoin and the registration of securities in tokenized form) and in certain sectors such as takaful (takaful-tech) and health (e-health). Finally, they explore the challenges posed by anti-money laundering (‘AML’) in the specific realm of Islamic Fintech. The book combines theoretical analysis with a practical focus, both through case studies and directly through the experiences of leading entrepreneurs. In addition, it provides insights on legal and regulatory aspects, which are key in a field that is still in its infancy and needs support from lawmakers and regulators. It is, thus, a reference for academics, legal practitioners, policymakers, entrepreneurs and the Islamic Finance community.

Following the success of the first edition that brought attention to the digital revolution in Islamic financial services, comes this revised and updated second edition of Blockchain, Fintech and Islamic Finance. The authors reiterate the potential of digital disruption to shrink the role and relevance of today’s banks, while simultaneously creating better, faster, cheaper services that will be an essential part of everyday life. Digital transformation will also offer the ability to create new ways to better comply to Islamic values in order to rebuild trust and confidence in the current financial system. In this new edition, they explore current concepts of decentralized finance (DeFi), distributed intelligence, stablecoins, and the integration of AI, blockchain, data analytics and IoT devices for a holistic solution to ensure technology adoption in a prudent and sustainable manner. The book discusses crucial innovation, structural and institutional developments for financial technologies including two fast-growing trends that merge and complement each other: tokenization, where all illiquid assets in the world, from private equity to real estate and luxury goods, become liquid and can be traded more efficiently, and second, the rise of a new tokenized economy where inevitably new rules and ways to enforce them will develop to fully unleash their capabilities. These complementary and oft-correlated trends will complete the decentralization of finance and will influence the way future financial services will be implemented. This book provides insights into the shift in processes, as well as the challenges that need to be overcome for practical applications for AI and blockchain and how to approach such innovations. It also covers new technological risks that are the consequence of utilizing frontier technologies such as AI, blockchain and IoT. Industry leaders, Islamic finance professionals, along with students and academics in the fields of Islamic finance and economics will benefit immensely from this book.

Beyond Fintech: Technology Applications for the Islamic Economy is a follow-up to the first-ever Islamic Fintech book by the author (published in 2018) that provided linkages between Islamic Finance and disruptive technologies like the blockchain. In the wake of fintech as a new trend in financial markets, the ground-breaking book stressed the relevance of Islamic finance and its implications, when enabled by fintech, towards the development of the Islamic digital economy. While the earlier work discussed the crucial innovation, structural, and institutional development for financial technologies in Islamic Finance, this new research explores the multiple applications possible in the various sectors of the economy, within and beyond finance, that can be significantly transformed. These revolutionary applications involve the integration of AI, blockchain, data analytics, and Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices for a holistic solution to tackle the bottlenecks and other issues in existing processes of traditional systems. The principles of accountability, duty, justice, and transparency are the foundation of shaping the framework in achieving good governance in all institutions — public or private, Islamic or otherwise. Technologies like AI, blockchain, and IoT devices can operationalize the transparency and accountability that is required to eradicate poverty, distribute wealth, enhance micro-, small- and large-scale initiatives for social and economic development, and thus share prosperity for a moral system that enables a more secure and sustainable economy.

The ongoing digital transformation is shaping the Islamic mode of financial intermediation and the impact on the faith-based financial mode has been multifaceted. This has raised a host of interesting questions: what is the degree of penetration of Islamic finance in the fintech industry? Are Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) or banks ready to embrace fintech? Is fintech an enabler or barrier to achieve the intended purpose of Islamic finance? Will technology narrow the division between Islamic and conventional finance in the future? These are existential questions for Islamic finance and the book endeavors to examine the impact of financial technology on the industry. The book assesses various fintech business models and how they could be a threat or an opportunity. It also examines whether fintech provides IFIs an edge to serve clients following the Shariah norms and how the adoption of fintech in the Islamic mode is required for meeting the maqasid Al Shariah. The book discusses applicability of fintech like blockchain, digital currency, big data, and AI to different branches of Islamic finance. This book will interest students, analysts, policymakers, and regulators who are working on Islamic finance, financial economics, Islamic economics, and development finance.

The banking and financial landscape has been inundated with technology over the last decade, with FinTech, InsurTech and RegTech being just some of the new applications within finance. In the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), FinTech is yet to find its feet despite several digital transformation drives initiated by the regional governments in the UAE and Bahrain. In comparison to conventional finance, the use of FinTech within Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) in GCC countries is still in its very early stages. However, the potential disruption that technology may cause for the Islamic finance sector within this region cannot be underestimated. Aiming to highlight, examine and address key strategic, operational and regulatory issues facing IFIs as they make an effort to keep up with the FinTech revolution, this book explores the market positioning, product structure and placement, delivery channels and customer requirements within the GCC market. The authors evaluate the current situation and look forward to future regulation surrounding technology and financial institutions within the GCC. Scholars and students researching Islamic finance and financial technology will find this book an insightful and valuable read, as well as those interested in international finance more generally.

It is said that the COVID-19 pandemic has turned back the poverty clock. As such, there is a need to have social mechanisms put in place to provide relief to those who are affected in this regard. Islamic social finance consists of tools and institutions that could be used to alleviate poverty. This book explores the impact of COVID-19 on Islamic finance to better understand the effectiveness of Islamic social finance in helping those who have been affected by poverty overnight due to the halt in all major economic activities in the context of the pandemic. Since the struggle against poverty in each country will be different, the book attempts to shed light on the experiences of different countries by presenting successful models of Islamic social finance. The book first looks at poverty and COVID-19 before delving into the role of Islamic social financial institutions and how they have risen against COVID-19. The book concludes by examining the impact of COVID-19 on Islamic microfinance. This book is the first of its kind on the subject of COVID-19, and it intends to bridge the gap in the literature.

With advancing technologies like distributed ledgers, smart contracts, and digital payment platforms, financial services must be innovative in order to remain relevant in the modern era. The adoption of financial technology affects the whole Islamic financial industry as well as the economic stability of a globalized world. There is a need for research that seeks to understand financial technology and the regulatory technology necessary to ensure financial security and stability. Impact of Financial Technology (FinTech) on Islamic Finance and Financial Stability is an essential publication that examines both the theory and application of newly-available financial services and discusses the impact of FinTech on the Islamic financial service industry. Featuring research on topics such as cryptocurrency, peer-to-peer transferring, and digital wallets, this book is ideally designed for researchers, bank managers, economists, analysts, market professionals, managers, executives, computer scientists, business practitioners, academicians, and students seeking coverage on how the latest in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and blockchain technology will redesign Islamic finance.

Featuring high-level analysis of Islamic law, this book examines fintech in Islamic finance from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. Whilst building on existing approaches, it also discusses the current application of fintech in promoting financial inclusion through innovative solutions in Muslim-majority countries, identifying future directions for policy-makers. With original chapters written by prominent academics, senior lawyers and practitioners in the global Islamic finance industry, this book serves as the first standalone pioneering reference work on fintech in Islamic finance. It also, for the first time, examines the position of Islamic law on cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin. Besides the conceptual analysis of the Sharīʿah and legal aspects of fintech in Islamic finance, this book provides relevant case studies showing current and potential developments in the application of fintech in various sectors ranging from crowdfunding and smart contracts, to Online Dispute Resolution, Investment Account Platform and identity verification in the KYC process. Setting the agenda for researchers in the field, Fintech in Islamic Finance will be useful to students and scholars of Islamic finance and financial technology.

This is the first of its kind in its topical coverage of the developments and prospects of Islamic finance education at Western higher education. Intended to establish itself as a unique reference for academics and researchers this book gives an insight into ethics and values in curricula development at business schools and in finance departments.