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Most conventional financial products currently on offer to Muslims in the Indian market are incompatible with Islamic religious principles; there is a recognized demand for alternatives within this niche community. India has the third largest Muslim population in the world – 155,477,386 in 2011. The purpose of this paper is to present the status of marketing activities of Shari'ah‐based investments and a comprehensive analysis of avenues for Islamic investments in India.

In India, Islamic investment is gathering pace as Muslims in the country are becoming more vocal in their demands for greater self expression. Hence, there is a great potential in India itself. Even if a small percentage of this population can be pressured to invest in the Islamic investments, the amount of money that can be brought into the system could be enormous.

The findings reveal the emergence of Islamic investment opportunities on Shari'ah‐based investments in India. This paper also provides suggestions for enhancement of Islamic investment opportunities in India.

With a sound economic base and with hundreds of companies complying with Shari'ah norms, India offers a huge opportunity for Islamic equity investment. If performance as a parameter is considered, it is observed that Shari'ah‐compliant investments, being low in debt and having sound fundamental principles, tend to perform better, hence large non‐Muslim investors should take the benefit of these socially responsible and above par performing Islamic investments.

Drawing upon underinvestment theory and clientele effect hypothesis, this paper aims to examine the effects of foreign currency (forex) exposure and Shari’ah-compliant status on firms’ financial hedging strategy.

Based on data of 250 nonfinancial firms listed on Bursa Malaysia from 2010 to 2018 (2,250 firm-year observations), the authors test the impact of forex exposure based on a vector of foreign-denominated cash flows (FCF) indicators and firms’ Sharīʿah-compliant status on two proxies of financial hedging decisions, namely, the ratio of the notional value of currency derivatives to total assets and a binomial measure of hedging status. The hedging decision models are estimated using panel logistic regression and system generalized method of moments.

The results indicate significant positive effects of the forex exposure indicators on firms’ propensity to hedge. However, the impact of forex exposure is most prevalent via total FCF. The results also reveal significant positive effects of Sharīʿah-compliant status on firms’ propensity to hedge but its negative impacts on the value of currency derivatives they use. The results suggest that Sharīʿah-compliant firms refrain from engaging in currency derivatives to avoid riba’ and subsequently subdue the clientele effect. However, when the forex exposure reaches higher levels, engagement in currency derivatives becomes a matter of tentative necessity (dharurat).

This study relies exclusively on the disclosure of foreign currency risk and management data in the annual reports of listed companies. Consequently, this limits the sample size to only those nonfinancial listed companies with complete data for the study period. Also, since none of the companies reports using Sharīʿah-compliant derivatives, the authors thus assume that they use derivative instruments that tolerate “riba.”

Given the significance of forex exposure on hedging decisions, the accounting profession must strictly adopt FRS 7 and FRS 139 for all listed firms to avoid market scrutiny and sustain their clientele. The results also call for the Islamic market regulators to include mandatory disclosure of conventional currency derivatives in screening firms for clearly prohibited activities to help enhance the credibility of its Islamic financial market.

Due to difficulty accessing relevant cash flow data, the study is among the few studies that measure forex exposure using FCF and test more proxy indicators. This study is perhaps the first to examine the Shari’ah perspective on currency derivatives in corporate forex risk management.

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.

Considering the popularity of the premium savings certificate (PSC) of the National Savings Bank of Malaysia (Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN)) the paper aims to justify the Shari'ah compliancy of this product by analyzing its underlying contracts and to propose a Shari'ah compliant savings certificate, if the current practice is invalid in the Shari'ah.

Inductive methodology is first used to obtain a basic understanding of this product and the characteristics of Shari'ah approved contracts as well as the views of the jurists. Interviewing method is also used to acquire first‐hand information when the inductive method is not sufficient. Afterwards, an analytical approach is adopted to justify the validity of this contract with the Shari'ah principles. Finally, an innovative methodology is used to propose a Shari'ah compliant savings certificate.

The paper argues that the underlying contract used in PSC violates the conditions of wadi'ah contract, as in wadi'ah, the bank is not allowed to spend the money for investment, but in practice, BSN uses the money for investment. Therefore, the underlying contract in PSC turns into qard (loan) contract. Since the scholars unanimously declare that giving any kind of benefit like prizes to the creditor is riba, then PSC is considered as invalid according to the Shari'ah. On the other hand, although PSC might seem like gambling, it is different from gambling as the prizes given to PSC are from a third party. The paper proposes implementing mudarabah contract in PSC where the bank is allowed to invest according to its interest and the depositors share the profit and loss but the huge fluctuation of profit and loss could be shrunk by a special fund method.

In particular, it attracts the attention of BSN management to change their product's features. In general, it discovers a non‐Shari'ah compliant feature of savings certificates and outlines the feature of a Shari'ah compliant saving certificate for the practitioners of Islamic banking all over the world.

This paper aims to study the cross section of expected returns on Shari’ah-compliant stocks in Pakistan by using single- and multi-factor asset pricing models.

To estimate cross section of expected returns of Shari’ah-compliant stocks, the study uses capital asset pricing model (CAPM), Fama-French three-factor model and Fama-French five-factor model. Data for the period 2001-2015 on 217 companies are used. For the market portfolio, PSX-100 and Dow Jones Islamic Index for Pakistan are used.

The study could not find empirical support for CAPM using Lintner (1965), Black et al. (1972) and Fama and Macbeth (1973) approach. Nonetheless, the relation between beta and returns is positive in up-market and negative in down-market. The results of Fama-French three-factor and five-factor models suggest that size premium is positive and significant for explaining the cross section of stock returns of small size stocks, whereas value premium is positive and significant for explaining the cross section of returns of high value stocks.

The results suggest that fund managers can use Shari’ah-compliant stocks for portfolio diversification and for offering specialized investments given the positive market excess returns and the existence of size and value premium on Shari’ah-compliant stocks.

This is the first study on Fama-French (2015) five-factor model for Islamic capital markets in Pakistan.

The purpose of this paper is to understand if there is a customer perceived value for shareholders in investing in Islamic stocks, by using KMI30 index of Karachi Stock Exchange as a case study. The findings are then used to devise a conceptual model, highlighting the value of an Islamic branded index and for companies included on the index for market participants, Shari'ah‐compliant firms, and governments.

This is an exploratory research paper. A detailed literature review is followed by a quantitative analysis of the return series of 18 constituents of the KMI30 index. The analysis looks at performance before and after the launch of the index, to identify if inclusion on the Islamic index has impacted the average returns and volatility of the constituents and if it is considered as value added by the investors.

Analysis reveals that the KMI30 index is marginally less volatile than the KSE100 index and has relatively better returns, even in the most volatile times at the Karachi Stock Exchange. Most of the constituents under analysis have posted better returns after inclusion on the index, with 40 per cent of them showing less volatility. Though the trends are not clearly visible, there is an indication of increased returns and reduced volatility, both in the Islamic index and its constituents.

This study is the first step in analyzing if shareholders perceive inclusion of a company on the Islamic index as value added, resulting in increased share prices, better returns, and decreased volatility. Due to the lack of literature on the subject, the nature of the study is exploratory. Further analysis is required to understand if the changes in returns and volatility are due to investor perceptions. This study has implications for the organizations to understand the perception of investors about including companies on the Islamic index. If investors attach value to this proposition then it will be worthwhile for companies to invest resources in making their organization Shari'ah compliant and marketing it from that perspective. Additionally, this study will add to the knowledge of the regulators regarding whether the Islamic index is achieving its objectives of providing investment opportunities to investors offering better returns with less risk, besides being “Halal”.

There is a lack of studies that look at Islamic investments from the marketing perspective. Also, to the best of the authors' knowledge, no studies have analyzed the KMI30 index, either from a finance or marketing perspective. This study is the authors' contribution to the interdisciplinary body of knowledge and ever‐increasing literature on emerging markets in the context of Islamic investments.

This study aims to analyse the facts of the case in the judgement made by the High Court of Justice, England, UK, in the case of Dana Gas Public Joint Stock Company (PJSC) v. Dana Gas Sukuk Limited (Ltd.) and Ors.

This study uses descriptive and juristic analysis to explain the factual terms in the case of Dana Gas sukuk default. It also uses juristic opinions to analyse the underpinning argument in the Dana Gas court case between the decision of Sharjah Court, UAE, and the English Court, UK.

The study concluded that despite the position of Dana Gas PJSC that specific element of the muḍārabah sukuk is non-Sharī’ah-compliant, the English court decision which established the enforceability of the purchase undertaking seems to be fair based on the Islamic maxims such as “Difficult situation cannot violate the right of other” and “The conditional matters among Muslims are binding.”

The impact of this study is that Dana Gas sukuk default has thought stakeholders of Sukuk investment lessons on the importance of documentation and consideration of tighter clauses to ensure its bindingness in the law court. Hence, this study is expected to be a contribution towards the call for standardization of the role of Sharī’ah scholars across the globe.

This study illustrates the fact in the case of Dana Gas sukuk default and analyses the court’s decision from a fiqh perspective.

With the advent of Islamic banking, a new species was added to the banking system which was then, only dominated by the conventional banking. Islamic banking expanded in the world within the last decade and as a result, Islamic finance emerged as an alternative to the conventional finance. This created Islamic companies and Islamic financial institutions which operate based on the principles of Shari'ah or Islamic Law. These Islamic corporate bodies, like the conventional corporate bodies do need good governance rules. In other words, they also need a good, sophisticated “Shari'ah Governance Code” which would be based on the principle of Islamic Law. This is mainly because the objective of the conventional and the Islamic Corporate governance is different as conventional corporate governance structure is more focused on the protection of the rights of the stakeholders; while Islamic corporate governance focus on retaining the Islamicity of whole corporation. The objective of this research is, as the title suggests, proposing the reasons why a special governance Code for Shari'ah corporate bodies are needed. This paper would suggest a proper governance structure to the Islamic companies and will also discuss why the conventional corporate governance Codes are unsuitable for the Islamic companies.

This research which is primarily library based, is an exploratory legal research in nature.

In the course of this research, it is found that there is a need to enact a Shari'ah Corporate Governance Code due to the widespread establishment of shari'ah compliant companies in the world. Hence, the authors had discussed the potential content of such a Code in this paper.

This research will complement the knowledge based on shari'ah corporate governance and is targeted to the existing and prospective shari'ah compliant companies.

Sukuk restructuring primarily aims at offering a debtor more latitude, in form and time, to settle his obligations. To meet Shari’ah requirements of transferring assets to Sukuk holders in asset-based Sukuk, the originator usually transfers the beneficial ownership to the issuer special purpose vehicles (SPV). However, in asset-backed Sukuk, the originator sells the underlying asset to an SPV and Sukuk holders do not have recourse to the originator in the event of defaults. Among some key unresolved Shari’ah issues in this regard is whether a change of contract necessitates entering a new contract. Other related issues that conflict with the tenets of Shari’ah are: (1) Sukuk structuring on tangible assets and debts; (2) receiving the full title by the Sukuk holders to the underlying assets in the event of default in case of securities that are publicized as asset backed; (3) Sukuk’s similarity with interest bearing conventional bonds: (a) capital guarantee by the originator or third party, (b) the originators’ promise to repurchase Sukuk at face value upon their redemption, and (c) providing internal and external credit enhancement. The Shari’ah-compliance of the above-mentioned clauses and structures of Sukuk remain debated among the Shari’ah scholars. Based on some specific cases, this study examines the Shari’ah viewpoint on sukuk restructuring and potential solutions to these unresolved Shari’ah issues in light of the past and recent declaration of some Sukuk defaults as non-Shari’ah complaints. Undoubtedly, resolution of these and other unresolved issues pertaining to Sukuk defaults can help strengthen the confidence of investors in Islamic capital market structures.

The prime difference between conventional and Islamic financial institutions (IFIs)is the compliance with shari'ah. Hence, shari'ah is a very crucial pillar, rather a main pillar of Islamic finance. In order to ensure shari'ah compliance by the IFIs at all levels, central banks of different countries crafted and implemented shari'ah governance framework. This chapter focusses on the cross-country comparison of shari'ah governance framework. The countries included in this chapter are Malaysia, Pakistan, the United Kingdom and Bahrain. The result shows that Malaysia and Pakistan are leading in terms of comprehensive shari'ah governance framework whereas Bahrain comes next and the United Kingdom is the last in terms of comparison.