University of Cambridge

The first section of this thesis outlines the opposition to the use of interest within Western philosophical, religious and economic thought. The thesis begins with a description of loan institutions and traces the opposition to interest chronologically through ancient civilizations, Judaic teachings, early Christianity, and Medieval scholarship, continuing with Post-Reformation developments and the socialist critiques on the use of interest.

This study examines agricultural share contracts and Islamic profit loss sharing (PLS) in financial sector in Pakistan within the context of the new theory of the firm.