Understanding Islamic Finance - Doha Academy of Tertiary Studies

Murabaha and Musawamah 229and acceptance”. This creates a Sharī´ah objection. Before execution of Murabaha, the bankmust ensure that the item exists in its form and for this purpose it is advisable that the bankappoints any person for physical inspection. Further, all ownership-related expenses likeTakaful until this point need to be paid by the bank. Any loss before that date also belongsto the bank, being the principal owner of the goods.Execution of Murabaha Stage – Offer and AcceptanceAfter the customer acquires possession of the goods, as an agent, he should give a possessionreport and make an offer to purchase the goods acquired by him on the bank’s behalf.The bank will accept the offer and the transaction will be completed. All the terms of theMurabaha transaction, such as contract price (cost plus profit), due date or schedule ofpayments, etc. must be mentioned in the bank’s letter of acceptance. Upon execution ofMurabaha, the relationship of buyer and seller between the customer and the bank changesinto the relationship of debtor and creditor. After this, the bank will not be liable for anyharm to the goods.Having taken delivery of the goods as per the purchase requisition, the customer shouldconfirm that the goods have been examined and are satisfactory in respect of quality andsuitability for his use. He should also relieve the bank from any loss or third party liabilityin respect of the goods sold to him. The AAOIFI Standard recommends that the bank shouldassign to the customer the right of recourse to the supplier to obtain compensation for anyestablished defects which would otherwise be recoverable by the bank from the supplier. 56Security/Collateral against Murabaha PriceThe bank can ask the customer to furnish security to its satisfaction for timely payment ofthe deferred price. It is also permissible that the sold commodity itself is given to the bank asa security, provided possession is once given to the customer. In such a case, the customerwould own the risk and reward of the goods. The bank can obtain any of the followingtypes of security, depending upon the amount of facility, nature of business and credibilityof the customer: a hypothecation charge on assets, a pledge of goods and/or marketablesecurities, a lien on deposits, a mortgage charge on movable and immovable properties, bankguarantees, personal guarantees or any other security mutually agreed between bank andclient. Some Sharī´ah boards allow taking interest-bearing securities as collateral (Murabahafacility against TDRs and FDRs); in such a case the bank will have recourse to the extent ofprincipal only. However, it is preferable not to take interest-bearing instruments as securitiesand the customer should be asked to encash the instruments and offer any Sharī´ah-compliantsecurities.9.9 ISSUES IN MURABAHAThe above complex type of contractual arrangement could create a number of issues relatingto the sale contract, credit price and legal implications of combining promise and agencywith the actual Murabaha contract. One objection sometimes raised in this regard is that56 AAOIFI, 2004–5a, clause 4/9, p. 120.