Islamic Finance

This volume certainly fills a gap in the Islamic finance literature. Not many have the broadknowledge of Askari, Iqbal, and Mirakhor who provide in this book comprehensive, usefuland analytical information on issues that are hardly addressed by others in this field.Prof. Rifaat Abdul Karim Secretary General Islamic Financial Services BoardThis book offers a global perspective of different segments of Islamic finance and insightsinto a range of key technical topics that are assuming growing significance for the sustainabledevelopment of this discipline. The authors provide insights on risk management issues andhighlight the significance of specific reputational risks to Islamic finance, given the elementof "trust" that customers place in the management to comply with the "sacred obligations."Equally beneficial for the industry is the argument offered by the authors to develop theoreticalfoundation of Islamic economics and finance with need for proper benchmarking of the assetpricing. Rich in content, the book offers an interesting read while shedding light on theoreticaleconomic dimensions of Islam.Dr. Shamshad Akhtar Governor, State Bank of Pakistan Former Director-General, Asian Development BankThe authors should be congratulated for presenting an excellent analytical discussion of some central contemporary issues in Islamic finance and economics as a "common and connected concern." As such, it provides a timely reminder to all those involved in developing Islamic finance that trying to focus on "downstream" areas of financial products for the industry without giving due attention to the conceptual and theoretical foundations of Islamic economics, is not only intellectually unsound, but could lead to consequences that are questionable and unjust.Prof. Mohamed Aslam Haneef Professor, Department of Economics International Islamic University MalaysiaIqbal, Zamir is the author of 'Islamic Finance' with ISBN 9780470822937 and ISBN 0470822937.