NEWHORIZON

NEWHORIZON April to June 2013
CONTENTS
Features
12 Sequelae of the Dow
Jones Fatwa and Evolution
in Islamic Finance:
The Real Estate Investment
Example
Michael McMillen examines evolutionary
developments in Islamic finance since
1998.
15 The Subprime Crisis
and the Lessons for the
Islamic Finance Industry
Meezan Bank’s Suleman Muhammad Ali
looks at the lessons of the subprime crisis
in relation to the Islamic finance industry.
He argues that the industry cannot afford
to be complacent and also suggests that
appropriate and efficient regulation is
needed to control market behaviour.
21 The International
Takaful Summit 2013 in
Cairo, Egypt
An overview of the proceedings and
report of the takaful awards
32 Jeddah Roundtable
Declaration Fosters a
Greater Consensus on the
Future Direction of Islamic
Finance
A report of the proceedings of the
3rd roundtable event organised jointly
by the International Shari’ah Research
Academy for Islamic finance (ISRA), in
collaboration with the Islamic Research
and Training Institute (IRTI) and Durham
University.
33 The Growth of Islamic Finance
in Egypt - a Hostage to Political
and Economic Stability
Tentative steps towards a stronger Islamic finance
industry in Egypt are once again on hold as the
country’s fragile, infant democracy goes onto life
support.
36 Form and Substance
Shaikh Muddassir Siddiqui discusses the problems
created by Islamic financial contracts, particularly
in cases of bankruptcy. He argues that efficient
and workable bankruptcy codes are essential for the
economic wellbeing of society.
40 Islamic Finance and Shari’ah
Compliance: Reality and
Expectations
This report of a lecture given by Dr Frank Vogel
at the London School of Economics suggests that
Shari’ah scholars today are being unfairly burdened
with the application of Shari’ah to business and
finance. He points out that historically merchants,
rulers, guilds and others all played a part.
Ibn Tulun Mosque, Egypt
Regulars
05 NEWS
A round up of the important stories
from the last quarter around the globe
including the launch of the Dubai
Multi Commodities Centre Tradeflow
platform and the claim from A M Best
that inconsistent regulation in GCC
countries is hampering takaful growth.
10 SUKUK UPDATE
Highlighting some of the key
developments in the sukuk market
during the last quarter.
43 IIBI LECTURES
Reports of the February 2013 lecture
by Mr Mohammed Amin comparing
the tax treatment of Islamic finance
across MENA region countries and
the March 2013 lecture by Shaikh
Muddassir Siddiqui, who addressed
the issue of whether Islamic finance
is really just the reverse engineering
of conventional finance, designed to
appear to be Shari’ah compliant.
45 DIARY OF EVENTS
46 AWARDS
List of IIBI post graduate diplomas
and diplomas in Islamic banking.
47 BOOK REVIEW
‘‘Risk Management for Islamic Banks’
by Dr. Rania Abdelfattah Salem,
reviewed by Warren Edwardes.
www.islamic-banking.com IIBI 3