Articles

HRH Prince Mohamed Al-Faisal Al-Saud, the American-educated son of Saudi Arabia's late King Faisal, founded the Dar al-Maal al-Islami (DMI) in 1981. The organization is a banking group administered in Geneva. There are a number of offshoots and affiliates of DMI widely geographically spread. Al-Saud states that his Western education aided him in fleshing out his thinking. He cites his father as his primary influence. Initially, he reports, the idea of Islamic economics was not taken seriously by conventional experts. There is, in history, an Islamic economic model to be emulated.

While the names of Islamic financial practices are not well-known in the West, the ideas behind Islamic finance tools are not so complex. Murabahas are commercial finance set-ups. In this most common Islamic arrangement, the lender purchases something, takes possession of it, and sells it later to the borrower for a profit. The lender has taken the risk of the goods' devaluation. Ijara transactions are leasing and hire-purchase deals.

Although Islamic banking was hardly practiced at all one generation ago, the industry is today one with assets of over $20 billion. Islamic banking is an international movement, with much geographic diversity. Islamic banks utilize profit and loss sharing rather than dealing with interest. Interest is banned in al-

In this special issue, the following sub articles are included: Modern banking with traditional values (an ancient faith has spawned sophisticated banking); Ancient wisdom, modern method (explaining the vocabulary of Islamic financial transactions); An interview with Prince Mohamed Al Faisal Al Saud (modern technology enables us to meet our client's needs); An interview with Sheikh Saleh Kamel (

The term riba can be applied to practices fitting in two general categories--first,

This article studies the role of Islamic financial Institutions historically and in the emerging scenario - the changes that have taken place and the need to look to the future with confidence. It describes the various Islamic financial products, their working and also the future area for consideration.

This article examines the process of privatization in Islamic countries. It studies the benefits privatization holds for the countries and their people and also the role of Islamic banks in the privatization process. More and more nations are understanding the benefits of private enterprise. It realizes liquid financial assets and also enables optimum utilization of resources. Privatization not only holds the great promise of attracting foreign capital and technology but also the return of home funds and entrepreneurs.

This article delves into the basic principles governing Islamic banking and the rules and regulations under which such banking should operate. Shari`a precepts and socioeconomic objectives are key to Islamic banking.

The theory and practice of Islamic banking are attracting worldwide attention. This new pattern of banking, while still in its infancy, has already made a significant impact on the world financial scene.

This paper examines the growth of Islamic financial institutions and the cooperation between them and Western institutions and the major advantages of such relations. The emergence of Islamic institutions has attracted attention the world over and the Western institutions have themselves begun offering Islamic products. This has opened up great opportunities. To realize the benefits of this, Islamic institutions need to offer acceptable investment opportunities and develop their management skills.