Issues relating to zakah on equity shares are far from being settled if one considers the available fatawa and observed practices in many Muslim countries. The most basic questions pertain to the correct method of valuation of equity shares for the purpose of estimation of zakah liability. This...

In view of the central role which options play in mainstream financial engineering – in design of innovative financial products and management of risk, this paper undertakes an Islamic evaluation of options and its role in the Islamic system of financial contracting. An Islamic assessment of...

The present paper by Zamir Iqbal and Abbas Mirakhor examines the relevance of stakeholder model of corporate governance in an Islamic economic system, which is an active area of research. The paper essentially asserts that a stakeholder oriented theory of corporate governance finds strong roots...

This paper argues that a uniform application of the Basle capital adequacy norms to both conventional and Islamic financial institutions may be discriminatory and defeat the very purpose of the regulations, that of ensuring a “level playing field” for banks across the globe. The business of...

Pakistan is a lower middle-income country, which is home to a large number of poor, constituting about one-third of its population. The incidence of poverty has remained at around 30 percent of the population during last four decades. The country has been struggling for poverty reduction and has...

A careful analysis of the Shariah-legal framework for Islamic endowments (awqaf) across the globe reveals that the Shariah law as well as the national laws of awqaf are rooted in several considerations. Preservation of the endowed assets seems to be the overriding consideration, which has been...

This case study discusses how microfinance contributes to poverty alleviation. It talks about programs that have poverty reduction effects such as developing livelihood enterprises and developing growth enterprises.

The Handbook of Islamic Banking comprises 25 studies by leading international experts on Islamic banking and finance specially commissioned to analyse the various debates and the current state of play in the field. This comprehensive Handbook provides a succinct analysis of the workings of...

Nobel prize to Professor Amartya Sen is a recognition to value based orientation and ethical dimensions of economics, and it is this aspect that invites attention of all those who plead for the role of human values and ethics in economics.

Mercantilism was the dominant current of economic thinking and practice during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries till the emergence of physiocracy. The scientific discoveries in Europe helped the development of mercantilism in many ways. Discovery of new world provided them with new market and...