Building Bridges Across Financial Communities: The Global Financial Crisis, Social Responsibility, and Faith-Based Finance

This volume is a selection of 11 papers presented (out of over 30 papers) at the Ninth Harvard University Forum on Islamic Forum sponsored by the Islamic Finance Project at Harvard Law School. The main theme of the Forum, Building Bridges Across Financial Communities sought to explore these opportunities: what lessons on social responsibility can organizations find in Islamic finance and other faith traditions? What can conventional banks and Islamic financial institutions learn from each other, particularly after the financial crisis. Selections investigate the lessons on social responsibility that organizations can find in Islamic finance and other faith traditions. The essays included address topics ranging from the influence of religion on corporate social responsibility and individual financial choices to the parameters of hedging and portfolio diversification.

Part I: Islamic Finance and Global Economic Meltdown

After the Meltdown: New Perspectives on Islamic Finance / Ibrahim Warde

Portfolio Diversification during Financial Crisis: Analysis of Islamic Investment Strategies / Jahangir Sultan and Maher Milly

Islamic Finance after the Global Financial Crisis / Majid Dawood and Huma Sodher

Part II: Shari’a and Regulatory Framework

Adding Social Responsibility and Accountability to the Mandate of Shari'a Advisory Boards / Aly Khorshid

Islamic Monetary Union: Feasibility, Viability, and Sustainability of a New Global Currency / Joseph A. DiVanna

Challenging the Parameters of Permissible Hedging in Islamic Finance: Rationale and Implementation of Recent Shari’a Rulings / Robert Rilk

Part III: Social Responsibility

Empowering CSR, SRI, and SE in Islamic Finance /Mohamad Akram Laldin

Investment Evaluation Framework for Socially Responsible Investing and Islamic Finance / Sajjad H. Shah

Money and Morality: Pathways toward a Civic Stewardship Ethic / Marcy Murningham

Part IV: Islamic and Socially Responsible Investment

Is Faith a Luxury for the Rich? Examining the Influence of Religious Beliefs on Individual Financial Choices / Ayesha Khalid Khan

Faith and Finance: A Catholic Consideration /Séamus P. Finn

Faith and Finance: Value-Guided Pursuit of Interests /Mohammed Nejatullah Siddiqi