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The purpose of this paper is to draw an exact and accurate picture of classification problems being faced by libraries having a reasonable amount of collections on Islam. Different classification systems have been developed during the last two centuries to organize library materials. Where these systems provided libraries with better solution for organization of materials, the systems have also some limitations. Religious materials are one of the areas where these systems could not satisfy a reasonable number of libraries. The libraries that have rich collections on Islam are also facing such problems. This study has been conducted with the aim of addressing this problem.

The study comprises a precise review of literature relevant to this problem, along with the collection and analysis of data from such libraries from all the main cities of Pakistan. The data have been collected using the interview technique.

The review of literature and empirical data collected for this study show that the libraries are facing problems regarding the classification of materials where there are rich collections on Islam. The standard classification systems have not provided proper place and enumeration to Islamic topics in their schemes. There is no standard or uniform practice among the libraries to classify materials on Islam. Different libraries are using different systems, which has resulted placement of same materials at different locations. There is no coordination among libraries having rich collections on Islam for some common plan of action to resolve the problem in hand. No work on automated classification has been done in Pakistan so far and this is the area that needs working on in the future.

The paper focusses on materials in libraries in one country only, however highlights issues relevant to other Islamic countries in organizing such materials.

The paper discusses an area of professional concern that has been discussed widely in Islamic countries, but only in a limited fashion outside of Islamic countries. Thus the paper should be of interest to researchers and practioners interested in cataloging theory.

The purpose of this paper examines how the challenge of poverty can be effectively addressed by broadly adopting Islamic value based cooperative model (IVCM) where the members come together to overcome and eventually eradicate the curse of poverty for themselves and for their future generations.

The elimination of poverty by adopting IVCM and its impact on the cooperative members, as well as its effects on major macroeconomic variables, are examined on the theoretical ground by using the general equilibrium model of demand and supply-side variables.

The IVCM for the elimination of poverty reveals that the poverty gap can be eliminated through resource mobilization, as well as by creating new and additional income, wealth and resources through collaborative efforts. Through cooperative organizations based on Islamic values and principles, eventually, the entire poverty pool can enjoy income-earning opportunities through employment or self-employment, as well as promoting skills and education, leading to breaking the vicious cycle of poverty.

Cooperatives in general and Islamic cooperatives, in particular, are not new in the discourse about poverty. Indeed, there are cooperatives throughout the Muslim world and beyond and there are many studies related to cooperatives and their role in development. However, this might be the first theoretical contribution that models the role and impact of cooperatives in a macroeconomic framework, and thus, advances the scientific repertoire of knowledge and understanding about the related discourse by developing a rigorous mathematical model.

The purpose of this study is to critically review the book Islamic Law and International Law by Emilila Powell.

The book review is undertaken from a comparative legal and political science perspective, including arguments and insights from international relations, international law, Islamic law, Islamic culture, religious studies, legal history and European as well as international political history.

While the empirical part of Powell’s work (chapters 5, 6 and 7) shows a methodologically veryc well done approach and at the same time highly interesting insights, both foundation and context show several critical points, in particular, a lack of differentiation with respect to the Western politico-legal tradition, its concepts and the resulting implications.

The book represents an excellent starting point that should inspire new, more intensive as well as exhaustive research on this topic.

The book generates valuable insights for practitioners such as judges at international courts dealing with issues involving so-called Islamic law states, as well as politicians or public service officials in the context of international law and international politics.

As the paper is a comprehensive review of the book based upon comparatively based insights from international relations, international law, Islamic law, Islamic culture, religious studies, legal history and European as well as international political history, the arguments of Powell are analyzed and commented upon in a comprehensive, well-founded and fair way. This should give potential readers a good understanding of Powell’s arguments, inspire a critical lecture of the book and contribute to the important discourse on the connex between international law and Islamic law.

This paper aims to contribute an Islamic critique of various competing economic system’s theories of interest, which have evolved within the distinct ideological frameworks of distinct rival economic systems and religions from the point of view of discovering potential effective Islamic economic solutions of the interest-driven modern economic, financial and banking and debt crises and the related problems of inflation, extreme, wealth inequalities and extreme poverty.

This historical research paper portrays the chronological evolution of competing narratives and theories of interest in realms of religions, philosophies and rival economic systems for contributing their comparative review and critique from an Islamic point of view in light of the pertinent literature of multidisciplinary history of religions, philosophies and economic thought. It develops an Islamic critique of theories of interest in light of interactions among history of religious thought on interest, history of economic thought on interest and economic theories of interest and the interest-driven economic crises for highlighting potential Islamic interest-free solutions of the modern economic crises in the framework of the Islamic political economy. In light of an Islamic critique of various competing theories of interest, the paper presents pertinent economic policy recommendations for the governments of the countries of the contemporary Muslim world.

The interest-free Islamic economic, as well as banking theories and models, offer the potential practical exploitation-free and injustice-free humanitarian solutions of the contemporary persisting macroeconomic crises (national, regional and global economic crises, financial crises, debt crises and banking crisis). Current Islamic discourses on interest and interest-free Islamic banking have effectively promoted the popularity and growth of global Islamic banking industry in the Muslim world in the 21st century.

Keeping in view a general universal consensus of the Islamic jurists on the elimination of interest of all types from the economy, it is recommended for the Governments of the Muslim countries to implement a consensus-based Islamic banking model, which uses only the Islamic juristic consensus-based Islamic modes of banking and finance – Musharikah, Mudharabah and Al-Qardh Al-Hassan (interest-free loan) – for precluding the possibilities of emergence of controversies about the prospective Riba-free Islamic economic and banking system. Litmus test of the practical success of the interest-free Islamic universal economic and banking system is the successful elimination of all forms of Riba (interest) and all possibilities of its involvement in extractive and exploitative activities in letter and spirit.

This research paper contributes a comprehensive logical and objective critique of various competing prominent theories of interest from an Islamic economic point of view and highlights their pertinent practical macroeconomic problems-cum-consequences as well as the potential Islamic macroeconomic policy responses in the form of interest-free Islamic banking/monetary/fiscal policies.

This chapter discusses aspects of the relationship between Islam and tourism in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Islam is shown to exercise considerable influence over social and political systems in the first three countries, in addition to affecting the tourism industry. It also gives rise to a series of particular demands from adherents, reflected in a movement termed Islamic tourism that encompasses product development and marketing efforts designed for and directed at Muslims. The activities of the four countries in the field are reviewed, revealing an appreciation of the volume and value of Muslim markets. However, there are challenges to overcome if the prospects for future growth are to be fully realized.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the current legal framework for payment system in international Islamic trade finance vis‐à‐vis the new regime introduced by the Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (UCP) 600 as well as the Sharī'ah Standard on Documentary Credits issued by the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) and Sharī'ah Resolutions of selected Sharī'ah Boards of Islamic financial institutions.

A partial comparison of both the UCP 600 and the Sharī'ah framework for documentary credit is given through the content analysis of relevant sources.

The AAOIFI Sharī'ah Standard on Documentary Credits, as well as other applicable Sharī'ah resolutions of Islamic financial institutions, does provide a good framework for a Sharī'ah‐compliant documentary credit system, which is unique to trade in Islamic finance products, but there is scope for further improvement, taking into consideration the two possibilities proposed in the available literature on the subject – harmonization or bifurcation of rules. The UCP 600 also allows for the exclusion or modification of the rules to suit the specific needs of the Islamic finance industry.

This study focuses only on UCP 600 and the Sharī'ah framework on Documentary Credits, though bearing mind that there are other frameworks for documentary credit systems such as the International Standby Practices (ISP98) and letters of credit issued under Article 5 of the New York Uniform Commercial Code.

Islamic financial institutions should implement the provisions of the AAOIFI Sharī'ah standard on documentary credits but may require a different framework for international trade financing involving both Islamic banks and conventional banks.

Though few studies have been conducted on Sharī'ah issues regarding the application of the documentary credits, this seems to be the first time where a more proactive step is taken to propose two different frameworks for transactions involving Sharī'ah compliant financing.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how conventional and Islamic commercial banks in Pakistan choose their capital structure and what are the most significant factors that affect their choice of capital structure.

The authors collected the data from the annual reports of commercial banks listed on Karachi Stock Exchange Pakistan during 2004-2014. Panel data techniques, namely, pooled ordinary least squares, fixed effects and random effects, were used to estimate the relationship between book leverage and bank-specific variables such as profitability, size, growth, tangibility and earnings volatility.

Descriptive statistics indicate that conventional commercial banks are more levered than Islamic commercial banks. Moreover, conventional commercial banks are larger, profitable and have relatively safe earnings than Islamic commercial banks. In contrast, Islamic commercial banks have relatively more fixed operating assets and growth in total assets compared to the conventional commercial banks. Regression results indicate that profitability, growth and tangibility are negatively, whereas bank size and earnings volatility are positively, related to book leverage of conventional commercial banks. On the other hand, only three variables, namely, profitability, bank size and tangibility, have material effects on capital structure choice of Islamic commercial banks. Profitability and tangibility are negatively while bank size is positively related to book leverage of the Islamic banks. In sum, results of the study indicate that Islamic and conventional commercial banks have their own way to choose the capital structure than the non-financial firms; however, their choice is affected by the similar variables as identified for non-financial firms in Pakistan.

Results of this study provide support to bank managers to understand the effects of bank-specific variables on capital structure and make them able to determine a balanced capital structure considering the regulations framed by the central bank of the country.

This is the first study that investigates the factors that affect the capital structure of conventional and Islamic commercial banks in Pakistan. Moreover, findings of this study lay some foundation upon which a more detail analysis of capital structure of banks could be based.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the compatibility of Islamic banking with the Italian banking system, to report what Italian legislators are currently doing to accommodate Islamic finance in the Italian banking system, and to explore solutions to the obstacles that have been identified.

The paper provides background on the Italian banking system as it works within the European Union (EU); shows some analogies between ethical and Islamic banking; traces the development of Islamic finance; explains the principles of Islamic finance and their impact on common transactions; describes the development of the Islamic finance industry; and analyzes the compatibility of Islamic finance with the Italian banking system.

Although Italy offers a fertile and flexible legal environment, dedicated banking laws and regulations and, consequently, Islamic banks have not yet been established in Italy. Further research is needed on how to reconcile Islamic banking with EU regulations and the Italian banking system.

The paper presents practical analysis from an experienced Italian financial services lawyer.

Awarding the Olympic Games to a host city in the Muslim world would send a clear indication from member nations of the International Olympic Committee of a desire by the international community to engage with Muslim nations on a level that transcends sport. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to answer the question: will a city in the Muslim world ever become host to the greatest sporting spectacle on Earth, and, if so, which is most likely to receive it, when and why?

To gauge the potential of cities in the Muslim world hosting the Olympics Games, the approach of the paper is to examine the merits of former host cities and then qualitatively comparing these with member countries of the Organisation of Islamic Conference which have a majority Muslim population.

The research findings indicate that there are five cities in the Muslim world, at least one of which is likely to be awarded one of the coming six Summer Olympic Games between the years 2020 and 2040.

The broader implications of the study are that, in examining Muslim nations of the world from the point of view of mega‐event management on a global scale, their development and advancement capability in the modern world can be probed.

In the absence of any other published study on the subject, this paper would open a discourse that would be of value to scholars and interested parties in diverse fields such as major programme management, Islamic studies, international politics, economics and international development.