Master of Science in Islamic Finance

The emerging markets have been witnessing a remarkable revival of rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs) serving as alternative informal financing and investment platforms, also known as savings-based finance (SBF) in Turkey. The purpose of this study is to present the SBF model mathematically, analyse the performance of the SBF sector and propose a new Sharīʿah-compliant SBF model for the acquisition of durables.

Debt creation is one of the most serious problems faced by modern economies. It occurs through financial institutions using the huge funds they have mostly from depositors to create debt through providing financing to clients. Then comes the issue of selling the debt resulting from the financial intermediation to exacerbate the risk further.

Sharī'ah texts forbid the postponement of the counter values in financial transactions. However, some contemporary jurisprudential opinions abide by this prohibition without attempting to rationalize it, and sometimes despite their apparent abidance by the prohibition, the same opinions violate the prohibition by allowing stratagems that will lead to the same result of postponement of the counter values.

This study aims to evaluate risk and return characteristics of Islamic funds in comparison with SRI and investigate the possible synergies between the two in the light of the SDGs. The study also compares the financial performance of Islamic funds with conventional funds and Islamic market benchmarks.

Since its inception a few decades ago, the Islamic banking and finance industry has been self-regulated with regards to Shariah governance. Despite the existence of certain regulatory authorities from within the industry, such as Accounting and Auditing for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) and Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), none of their resolutions or standards are effectively binding. Few countries have enforced some rules related to Shariah-governance.