The Art of Islamic Banking and Finance: Tools and Techniques for Community-Based Banking

2.Institute of Islamic Banking and Insurance (IIBI)magazine: New Horizon;

http://www.NewHorizon-IslamicBanking.com, issue number 170, January–March

2009, p.38.

3. Cited in Mahmoud Elgamal:Islamic Finance—Law, Economics and Practice,
   Cambridge University Press, 2006.


4. Ibid.


5. Ibid.


6. Muhammad Taqi Usmani,An Introduction to Islamic Finance, Karachi: Idaru-
   tul Ma’arif, 1998, pp.152–153.


7. Mahmoud Elgamal,Islamic Finance—Law, Economics and Practice, Cam-
   bridge University Press, 2006, pp. 44 and 129.


8. Fatwa of Al Baraka available at http://www.lariba.com/fatwas/index.htm and in Ara-
   bic: http://www.lariba.com.eg/karadawy.htm.


9. Muhammad Taqi Usmani, An Introduction to Islamic Finance,Idaratul
   Ma’arif, Karachi, Pakistan, 1998, pp. 85–91. Also available online at www
   .lariba.com/fatwas/usmani.htm.


10. Fatwa of Al Baraka available at http://www.lariba.com/fatwas/index.htm.


11. Al-Baraka Annual Edict (Fatwa) Meeting of Islamic Finance Scholars—Meeting
    Number 6: (pp.77–78) Algeria 5–9 Sha’baan 1410A.H./2–6 October 1990C.E.
    Sha’abaan is the eighth month of the Islamic calendar, andA.H. (which stands
    for After Hijra) denotes the Islamic calendar system. (Hijrameans immigration
    of the Prophet Muhammad (pp) from Makkah to a northern city in the penin-
    sula called Madinah, where the early pioneering Muslims started the founda-
    tion of the Islamic civilization and where the Prophet Muhammad is buried.)
    The Islamic calendar has 12 months, but it is based on the lunar system, which
    is 11 to 13 days shorter than the Gregorian system. That is why, for example,
    the month of fasting—Ramadan—rotates through all seasons. The calendar
    does not have a ‘‘short’’ month concept, as in the Jewish and Asian lunar calen-
    dar, to adjust for the seasons. For more information, please visit: www
    .islamicity.com/science/islamic_calendar.shtml.


12. Ibid., pp. 81–82.


13. Ibid. The fatwa also states: ‘‘This opinion is based on the view that what is in-
    tended here is not to effect Riba, which is forbidden in the Law (Shari’aa). Thus,
    following our deliberations, we reached the following conclusion: ‘Despite the
    fact that interest, as conventionally used in banking transactions, coincides pre-
    cisely with the Riba that is forbidden in the Law (Shari’aa) to pay or receive,
    and regardless of whether the underlying transaction is a consumption or pro-
    duction loan, we have found that there is no objection to the use of the term
    ‘‘interest’’ in the cases related to those dealing with Al-Baraka Bank, London,
    aiming to benefit from the financial advantages given to interest in various cases
    of deposits and financing.’’’


14. Ibid., pp. 84–87.


15. Muhammad Taqi Usmani, An Introduction to Islamic Finance,Idaratul
    Ma’arif, Karachi, Pakistan, 1998, pp. 85–91. Also available online at www
    .lariba.com/fatwas/usmani.htm.

224 THE ART OF ISLAMIC BANKING AND FINANCE