Introduction

Abstract

In the global economy, wealth serves as a yardstick that measures power and influence. However, much of the capital accumulation on which this wealth is based results from debt finance involving interest payments. Such a system brings injustices like problems of country debt and corporate insolvency. For Muslims, such economic injustices are deemed unacceptable, hence the need to develop systems of managing finance that are compatible with Qur'anic teachings and the Sharīah. Wealth creation and value preservation are some of the greatest challenges of Muslims and the Islamic World as a whole. In this regard there is a need to focus on the longer-term issues of Islamic capital accumulation and its contribution to the development of Muslim societies, including those in the West. Many of these societies remain poor, yet there is much positive experience to learn from. Wealth creation results from savings and investment, but this is most likely to be successful only if the institutions created to harness and deploy funds share the values of the societies they serve. The growing Islamic banking movement has become a global financial force, and it has the proven ability to harness funds that might otherwise be underutilised. There is a wealth of successful practice which demonstrates how adherence to religious values brings social development, and that moral financing makes good business sense. This book examines Islamic wealth creation. Topics it includes are product development, retail banking, banking efficiency, mortgages, takāful (Islamic cooperative insurance), equality finance, risk management and venture capital. The book draws on a wide range of country experiences, examining the experiences of Malaysia, Iran, Egypt and Sudan, as well as the Islamic finance of the West. Many are the result of original research involving fieldwork surveys or the analysis of primary banking and financial market data. In many of the cases the work was undertaken for successful PhD theses for universities throughout the United Kingdom, the results of which have not hitherto been published.