Resources - Islamic Financial Institutions

Here is a long list of web sites that would help you with information, products and services in Islamic Banking, Finance, Investment, and Insurance.

• Islamic-Banks-Mortgages.com
  This is a UK based site with lots of useful information on Islamic banking, finance and mortgage.
• Islamice Finance
  A comprehensive site from Germany with a lot of information on web sites, institutions, regulations, and much more. Highly recommended!
• Islamic Development Bank - IDB
  This is a bank formed by the Organization of Islamic Conference - OIC, and does financing for development projects, but on the level of countries and governments, not for individuals or companies.
• Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI)
  A member of the Islamic Development Bank Group focusing on Research and Training in Islamic Finance and other areas.
• Al Barakah based in Saudi Arabia, and operates several worldwide subsidiaries.
• The Muslim Student Association has a list of Islamic Financial Institutions covering mainly North America (USA and Canada).
• The National Commercial Bank in Saudi Arabia has some Islamic Financial Products. The site also offers some useful explanations on Commercial Islamic Terms (such as Ijara, Istisnaa, Murabaha, Musharakah, ...etc.
• Islamic-Finance.com Web Site.
  This site has a list of several Islamic Institutions. It also has a concise, and fairly complete, overview of types of Contracts (Transactions) in Islam.
• Islamic Banking Software Project has a demo of online banking software.
• Takaful USA
  Provides Takaful based Sharia compliant insurance.
• Amana Takaful
  Based in Sri Lanka provides Takaful based Sharia compliant insurance.
• Cupola
  Based in Switzerland, they advertise an Islamic Investment on their web site. They seem to be geared more towards high networth individuals, since they list among their services:
  • Islamic portfolio planning
  • Saudi and GCC private investment analysis
• MSI Financial
  Loans, Mortgage and more...
• An-Nur Cooperative Corporation Ltd.
  An interest free, Riba-free investment cooperative in Toronto, Canada. They intend to provide RESP and RRSP in the future.
  Suite #209, 100 Mclevin Ave.
  Scarborough, Toronto, Canada, M1B-5K1.
  Phone: 416-754-4135, Fax: 416-754-0838
• No Riba Homes
  Loans, Mortgage and more...
• American Finance House, also known as LARIBA.
• Lariba.ca offers RRSPs, house financing and loans.
• AMIN - American Muslim Investors Network
• Ansar Finance
  Based in Manchester, U.K. provides loans, mortgage, and investment.
• Islamic Investment Banking Unit - IIBU
  Based in the United Kingdom. Their Sharia Advisory Board is composed of two well-respected and famous scholars, namely: Muhammed Taqi Usmani and Nizam M.S. Yaquby, both are on the Dow Jones Islamic Index Sharia Advisory Board. Their products are classified into two main areas:

  Products for U.K. Residents:

  • Manzil Ijara Plan
  • Manzil Murabaha Plan

  Products for the International Investor:

  • IIBU Fund II PLC. (The Leasing Fund)
  • The Healthcare Fund
  • The Student Property Leasing Fund
  • Realty Securities Trust
  • IIBU Biotechnology Leasing Fund
  • IIBU UK Property Plan
• Islamic Investment Banking Company of the Gulf - IICG is based in Bahrain, and is a subsidiary of Dar Al-Maal Al-Islami Group.
• Islamic Investment Bank Limited is based in Pakistan and offers a range of services, targeting Corporate and Merchant banking, including Musharaka, Mudarabah. My only concern is why would a bank use Hotmail accounts for all its staff?
• Al Rajhi Corp. - Saudi Arabia (in Arabic only) offers daily updated stock quotes and research for the Saudi stock market.

• Dow Jones Islamic Market Index
  This is a group of indexes (Global, USA, Canada, Technology, ...etc.) created by the Dow Jones company. Their site has a Sharia Advisory Board which overseas compliance with with Islamic principles, as well as a detailed description on how a company gets selected (or excluded) for the index.
  • Islamic Markets Methodolgy Overview
    Describes the methodology used to create the Dow Jones Islamic Markets index, with a detailed rule book as well.
  • DJIM Index Statistics
    Statistics on the index.
  • Daily Performance
    Daily performance Excel spreadsheet.
  • Articles on Islamic Investing
    A collection of various useful articles by different authors.
• The Islamic Banking and Finance Network - IBF Net has pages for Islamic Banks, Financial Institutions, and Markets, a Journal, and lots of links for online researchers, Discussion Forum, Scholars' List with links to home pages, Islamic Accounting, and much more.
  Their Mailing list sees many useful discussions from Muslims interested in Islamic Finance and Banking from around the world. Join by sending the words subscribe finance-net in the body of an e-mail message to the following mail address: majordomo@muslimsonline.com
• IslamiQ.com
  (Note: Islamiq has gone out of business now. The links are left here for historical purposes
  Previously known as IFDS - Islamic Financial Data Services, they have now a new name. They also launched a series of web portals aiming at serving all Islamic Finance and Investment needs.
  • IslamiQDaily
    This is the first online daily-updated e-journal for Islamic Banking and Insurance for Islamic banking professionals, academics & students.
  • IslamiQMoney an impressive site for any Muslim, with sections for Discussions, Ask the Scholars, Classifieds, Calculate your Zakah and more.
  • IslamiQStocks aims to "... become the premier 'one-stop-center' on the Internet for discerning Muslim equity investors." Target launch date is April 2000.
• iHilal
  An Islamic company providing stock trading, mutual funds, and Islamic stock filtering and screening. They had an Islamic Sharia Advisory board. Very good web site.
• Islamic Financial Systems
  A June 1997 article on the WorldBank's Finance and Development section of their web site, by Zameer Iqbal. A concise introduction of what Islamic Finance is, its basic instruments, market trends, issues and challenges, and future directions.
• Islamic Banking Network
  Lists some Islamic Banks worldwide, as well as other institutions that provide Islamic Financial services. Their FAQ page is quite extensive and lists answers and opinions to several Financial issues, from the Islamic point of view.
• Al Baraka has a site on Instruments of Islamic Investment, prepared by Ezzedine Mohd. Khoja, Head of Al Baraka's Financial Investment Development Dept., and revised by the much respected scholar, Dr. Abdul Sattar Abu Ghuddah, Al Baraka's Islamic Sharia Consultant & Manager, Development and Research Dept.
  Note: The table of contents currently displays a blank page. Anyone has the correct URL?
• USC MSA articles on Islamic Banking and Finance
  Although these articles are a bit dated, they are of extreme introductory value:
  • Principles of Islamic Banking
  • Islamic Banking by Mohamed Ariff of University of Malaya, from Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, Vol. 2, No. 2 (September 1988), pp. 46-62. The same article is on The University of Norway site on Islamic Banking
  • Islamic Funding Structures And Financing Vehicles
  • Islamic Investment in Australia with MCCA
  • Interview With The First Islamic Financial Institution in Australia, MCCA
• IslamiQDaily Links
  List of Financial Institutions (Islamic and otherwise) on the Internet,as well as sources for news around the Muslim world.
• The Islamic Banking and Finance Forum
• The MuslimsOnline web site has a FAQ on Islamic Economy and Finance
• Thesison Islamic Banking, Theory, Practice and Evolution. This site is byFarrukh Imran Younus, a British M.Sc. student in the fields of Economics and Finance, with emphasis on Islamic Banking and Insurance.
• Islamic Development Bank Research Papers are available for a nominal fee including Stocks, Banking, Finance, and a whole lot more. in Arabic.
• Bibliographic material on Islamic Banking from CoombsQuest
• Soundvision is an Islamic Book and Multi-Media store, in Chicago, Illinois. They have a pretty good section on Money and Profit in Islam on their website.