The intricacies of Islamic finance

Islamic finance is only some fifty years old, but it already represents over four trillion dollars in assets according to various sources. Its unprecedented annual growth rates exceed 10%. This industry, with its origins in the Middle East, has since spread to more than eighty countries throughout Asia, Africa, Europe and North America.

In the early days of Islamic finance, conventional bankers viewed a banking system that excludes interest as an aberration that should not exist and would not do so for long, given that it conflicts with the financial principle of maximization of profits. Today, however, it is these conventional bankers that are on the defensive. Islamic banks have become a reality that cannot be overlooked any longer. Major international conventional banks are getting involved in multi-billion Islamic finance structures such as jumbo Islamic aircraft Ijara or Mourabaha Sukuk issues. Moreover, the number of Islamic structures being designed in Europe and the USA exceed those engineered in the Middle East.

What is this new industry based on? What are its products and underlying principles? Who are the players involved? What are the secrets to its success? The goal of this book is to take all of these questions, complex at first glance, and make them entirely accessible as it walks you through the intricacies of Islamic finance.