Books

Islam proposes that the banking systems that operate on the basis of an ex ante fixed rate of interest to replaced by a profit-sharing system in which the rate of return to the financial resources is not known and is not fixed prior to the undertaking of the transaction.

While in Islam interest is forbidden, trade and profits are permissible and in fact encouraged. The papers in this volume all address one or more of the basic questions at the theoretical level.

Written by A.L.M. Abdul Gafoor, this is the second of a series of three books which, taken together, are expected to provide a comprehensive banking system that addresses the concerns and needs of Muslims today. The other titles are: Interest-free Commercial Banking and Commercial Banking in the presence of Inflation. In that system time and savings deposits will not bear any interest but the capital will be guaranteed.

The salient features of the proposed system are:1) There is no interest on deposits, but capital is guaranteed.2) Lending and investing are treated differently; loans are interest-free but carry a service charge, while investing is on a profit-and-loss-sharing (mudaraba) basis.Commercial banks will grant loans but they will not engage in investment-financing. Investment-financing will be done through investment banks and investment companies.3) Value erosion of capital due to inflation is compensated.

Written by A.L.M. Abdul Gafoor, this book studies the problem of eliminating riba (interest) from the banking system from basic principles. Using a general model of the commercial bank lending process, it shows that riba can be eliminated from modern commercial banking without resort to drastic measures. It presents a commercial banking system that is free of riba, and yet is fully viable and compatible with current practices in the conventional system.

A discussion of the monetary policy and banking in Islam.

Umer Chapra: Towards a Just Monetary System: A Discussion of Money, Banking, and Monetary Policy in the Light of Islamic Teachings.

This collection of papers deals with the distinguishing characteristics of an Islamic economy which have a bearing on monetary and fiscal policies and the objectives and instruments of monetary policy in an Islamic economy.

It also takes a thorough examination of the experiment in Islamic banking in different parts of the world in general, and the Report of the Council of Islamic Ideology of Pakistan on the elimination of interest from the economy in particular.

A unique subject-wise collection of 'Fatwas' (legal opinions), relating to the operations of Islamic banks.

The Compendium is based on Fatwas issued by the religious boards of Islamic banks.

It took two years to collect, classify and translate the Fatwas from Arabic to English. The Arabic and English texts appear in the Compendium side by side.

The translation, classification and presentation of the material is by Yusuf Talal Delorenzo, an outstanding Islamic scholar with mastery of both the English and Arabic languages.

Tries to make the case that Islamic economics is not a genuine answer to the world's economic problems, and that it is a political movement by Islamists.

Timur Kuran: Islam and Mammon: The Economic Predicaments of Islamism.

"Valuable reading for anyone who wants to understand Islamic banking and its formal and informal societal and political relationships."

"This timely book demonstrates how in-depth academic scholarship can make a signal contribution to a major topical issue of public policy."

"They are the leading experts on the political economy of Islamic banking, and the book will attract the interest of all who wish to understand this phenomenon."

A comprehensive survey of Islamic banking. . . . Recommended for anyone interested in the theory and practice of Islamic banking. Outstanding in contextualizing the evolution of and demand for Islamic banking on its path through our common history.

Mervyn Lewis, Latifa Algaoud: Islamic Banking (Elgar Monographs).