The book 'Islamic Finance: A Practical Perspective' offers a comprehensive overview of Islamic finance, emphasizing its accessibility to both Muslims and non-Muslims. It covers fundamental principles, practices, regulation, and challenges within the Islamic finance landscape, aiming to simplify complex concepts for practitioners and consumers. Additionally, it addresses modern applications such as fintech in Islamic banking, making it a valuable reference for educators, students, and entrepreneurs.

1. 32©
27th
June 2018
BOOK
EXCERPT
By Nafis Alam, Lokesh Gupta and Bala
Shanmugam
Islamic finance, which is also
recognized as ethical banking and
responsible financing, goes beyond
interest-free banking and that is
the drive behind authoring the
book ‘Islamic Finance: A Practical
Perspective’.
Much has been said and published
from the perspective of banking with a
foundation based on Islamic principles.
However, Islamic finance is not limited
to serving Muslims and is meant for
all irrespective of religion. Hence, the
knowledge of Islamic finance product
structures and functions is important
to both consumers and practitioners,
Muslims and non-Muslims alike, as it
is important to understand the benefits
in comparison to conventional banking
products, which most of us are familiar
with. This book tries to simplify the
explanation from a practitioner’s
perspective with illustrations for easy
understanding.
The book comprises four main sections:
fundamentals and foundation; Islamic
finance practices in the retail/investment/
wholesale and Takaful segment;
regulation, governance and challenges;
and Islamic finance practices in different
countries. To summarize, the book’s
objective is to provide an overview of the
possible aspects of the Islamic finance
landscape, to have a better understanding
of products, the structures, principles
and underlying contracts. The book will
assist readers in getting an answer to
questions like, among others: What is
Islamic finance? How does it work? What
are the products and services offered?
Who regulates it?. This book engages
the reader in a way where the reader can
have an understanding from a practical
perspective rather than an academic
perspective.
This book seeks to highlight the practical
technicalities associated with Islamic
finance products and services. One
of the unique features of the book is
a chapter on the evolution and usage
of information technology in Islamic
banking. The book delves into the
application of fintech in Islamic financial
services including payment, remittance
and settlement services. By including
chapters such as ‘Corporate Governance
in Islamic Banks’ and ‘Islamic Wealth
Management’, the book provides an
additional dimension to the Islamic
finance industry thus making the book
very comprehensive.
This will be a good book for practitioners
to have a better understanding of
product structures in comparison to
conventional products. The book can
act as a handy reference to educate
customers on product structures, risk
exposure and benefits, etc. Entrepreneurs
or corporates can benefit from this book
to understand which Islamic products or
services can serve their business model,
including unique innovative structures
under Mudarabah (profit-sharing) or
Musharakah (partnership) financing.
This book will be a good reference
guide for academicians and students
under an Islamic banking curriculum
and also for further research in the
area of Islamic finance. By providing
behind-the-scene calculations for Islamic
banking products, readers will be able to
understand the mechanics of profit and
loss-sharing as well the calculation of
financing charges.
This book is written to create awareness
among Muslims and non-Muslims who
share an interest in knowing what
Islamic finance is all about. It can act as a
one-stop reference point for those
seeking to improve their understanding
of the Islamic finance industry from a
practical side.
ISBN: 978-3-319-66558-0
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Order at: https://www.palgrave.com/gp/
book/9783319665580
Islamic inance: A practical perspective