Definition of Major Islamic Finance Instruments

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Search term: Islamic English

Islamic school of law founded by Imam Malik Ibn Anas. Followers of this school are known as Maalikis.

A fiqh school or orientation characterized by differences in the methods and therefore in the Shariah rulings that are deduced from them. There are four well-known madhahib among Sunni Muslims whose names are associated with the classical jurists who are said to have founded them (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi`i and Hanbali).

An action that one is rewarded for avoiding, but not punished for committing.

Valuable item that can be gainfully used according to the Shariah.

Usufruct associated with a given property, especially in leasing transactions. In an automobile lease, for example, “manfa’ah” might be used to describe the benefit which the lessee derives from the use of the car for the duration of the lease (as opposed to the actual ownership of the vehicle).

One of three fundamental prohibitions in Islamic finance (the other two being riba and gharar). The prohibition on maysir is often used as grounds for criticism of conventional financial practices such as speculation, conventional insurance and derivatives.

The lease of land or fruit trees for money, or for a share of the crop.

An investment partnership, whereby the investor (the rab al maal) provides capital to the entrepreneur (the mudarib) in order to undertake a business or investment activity. While profits are shared on a pre-agreed ratio, losses are born by the investor alone. The mudarib loses only his share of the expected income. The investor has no right to interfere in the management of the business, but he can specify conditions that would ensure better management of his money. In this way Mudarabah is sometimes referred to as a sleeping partnership. A joint Mudarabah can exist between investors and a bank on a continuing basis. The investors keep their funds in a special fund and share the profits before the liquidation of those financing operations that have not yet reached the stage of final settlement. Many Islamic investment funds operate on the basis of joint Mudarabah.

The entrepreneur or investment manager in a Mudarabah who puts the investor's funds in a project or portfolio in exchange for a share of the profits. A Mudarabah is similar to a diversified pool of assets held in a discretionary asset management portfolio.

This technique allows a bank to float what are effectively Islamic bonds to finance a specific project. Investors who buy Muqarada bonds take a share of the profits of the project being financed, but also share the risk of unexpectedly low profits, or even losses. They have no say in the management of the project, but act as non-voting shareholders.

Debt settlement by a contra transaction.

A form of credit that enables customers to make a purchase without having to take out an interest-bearing loan. The bank buys an item and sells it to the customer on a deferred basis. The price includes a profit margin agreed by both parties. Repayment, usually in installments, is specified in the contract. The legality of this financing technique has been questioned because of its similarity to riba. However, the modern Murabahah has become the most popular financing technique among Islamic banks, used widely for consumer finance, real estate, the purchase of machinery and for financing short-term trade.

A contract in which the owner of agricultural land shares its produce with another person in return for his services in irrigating the garden.

The price of the commodity in question is reached through bargaining.

An investment partnership in which all partners are entitled to a share in the profits of a project in a mutually agreed ratio. Losses are shared in proportion to the amount invested. All partners to a Musharakah contribute funds and have the right to exercise executive powers in that project, similar to a conventional partnership structure and the holding of voting stock in a limited company. This equity financing arrangement is widely regarded as the purest form of Islamic financing. The two main forms of Musharakah are: Permanent Musharakah: an Islamic bank participates in the equity of a project and receives a share of the profit on a pro rata basis. The length of contract is unspecified, making it suitable for financing projects where funds are committed over a long period. Diminishing Musharakah: this allows equity participation and sharing of profits on a pro rata basis, and provides a method through which the bank keeps on reducing its equity in the project, ultimately transferring ownership of the asset to the participants. The contract provides for payment over and above the bank's share in the profit for the equity held by the bank. Simultaneously the entrepreneur purchases some of the bank's equity, progressively reducing it until the bank has no equity and thus ceases to be a partner.

One of the partners promises to buy the equity share of the other gradually until the title is completely transferred to him.

An agreement in which one party agrees to allow a portion of his land to be used by the other in return for a part of the produce of the land.

A contract in which one person works the land of another person in return for a share in the produce of the land.