Summary

Hans Visser presents a fascinating study of both the foundations of Islamic finance and its recent developments. This highly topical book explores the products and practices of Islamic finance, specifically targeting the tensions that may arise between the ideology and the practices.

The author describes the forms Islamic finance has taken, analyzes the problems that it faces, and confronts the practice of Islamic finance with the principles it is based upon. He presents a dispassionate discussion of the problems facing Islamic forms of finance, including the question of how to reconcile activities such as liquidity management, monetary policy and government finance with Islamic principles.

Islamic finance is an especially momentous phenomenon, and this book will prove an essential read for students with an interest in money and banking, and particularly Islamic finance. It will also be highly influential for bankers and staff in financial institutions, as well as financial journalists, politicians and civil servants dealing with the financial industry.

Choice Review

Visser (emer., VU Univ. Amsterdam, the Netherlands) tackles an important topic. Islamic finance has come a long way since the early 1960s: Islamic banks now operate in a number of Muslim and non-Muslim countries, and seminars and conferences are frequently held on this topic at prestigious institutions. Unfortunately, this book does not do justice to the topic at hand. It is difficult to follow mainly because of the writing style. Those new to this field wishing to learn about Islamic finance will find the presentation a bit difficult and perhaps too technical in some parts. However, it can serve as a good source for graduate research in Islamic finance, with chapters covering Islamic law, Islamic economics and finance, financial instruments, Islamic banks, public finance, and special sectors (e.g., insurance, home finance). There are several very good books on Islamic finance by a number of established authors, starting with Mahmoud A. El-Gamal's Islamic Finance (CH, Mar'07, 44-362), which is accessible to undergraduate students; other notable authors include Timur Kuran, Mohammad Nejatullah Siddiqi, and Abbas Mirakhor and Moshin Khan, to cite just a few. Summing Up: Optional. Graduate and research collections. M. Akacem Metropolitan State College of Denver