A Maqasid-ul-Shari’ah Analysis of the Permissible Futures Trading in Islamic Financial Markets

Despite the widespread use of futures contracts as a risk mitigation instrument in the current financial markets, Islamic economies commonly feel uncomfortable with it for fear of its potential clash with the Islamic law of contracts. This research aims to justify only the futures trading that contributes to reducing investors’ financial risks. This paper argues that a risk-hedging futures contract can Islamically be justified if Shari’ah rules are construed in the light of its broader purpose, what is known as Maqasid-ul-Shari’a. A qualitative research methodology with a deductive interpretive approach is used in this study to analytically explore the role of Maqasid-ul-Shari’a in authorising permissible futures trading. The relevant data is collected from primary sources (Quran and Sunnah) and secondary sources (Islamic jurisprudence, textbooks, journal articles and review papers). By deploying the theory of Maqasid-ul-Shari’a, the prevalent Islamic jurisprudential approach is constructively reinterpreted to formulate general principles and guidelines under which futures trading can comfortably be approved. The study's overall findings suggest that on several counts of necessities, risk-hedging futures help Muslims preserve both the individual and the public wealth, safeguard the human self, honour and religion, facilitate their transactions and prevent future business conflicts. The Maqasid-ul-Shariah analysis of futures trading adds to the permissibility view that risk hedging futures trading should be recognised and declared as permissible not simply because they do not conflict with any prohibition or benefit the individual parties involved but also because they serve the broader interests of the public (al-masalih-al-aammah). This study is the first to analytically discuss the permissibility of futures trading under a combined reinterpreted guideline of Islamic jurisprudence and Maqasid-ul-Shariah

Social Performance of Islamic Banks

This study analyzes the social performance of 40 Islamic banks from 13 countries over the period 2012-2018, aiming to investigate to what extent Islamic banks around the world meet the social goals of the Islamic moral economy. As key financial institutions that operate within the framework of the Islamic moral economy, Islamic banks are expected to play and emphasize their socio-economic role in society by improving their economic, social, ethical, and environmental performance. Therefore, social performance in this paper was measured via a comprehensive evaluation framework using a maqasid index based on disclosure analysis. The main findings suggested that Islamic banks achieved 35% of the maximum index value, which indicated a room for improving their social performance. There was an encouraging fact that social performance over the observed period grew on a yearly basis. The average growth rate of social performance per year was 3.58%, which did not guarantee significant changes in a short time, but it was evident that banks made some progress in this regard over the observed period. Moreover, the highest score of Islamic banks' social performance was recorded in the category I3 (“Self”) of the social performance index, which was based on the level of investment in the real sector, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). On the contrary, the lowest rating was registered in the category I5 (“Posterity”). An alarming fact was that Islamic banks demonstrated deficient environmental awareness and achieved low performance in this index component. Further, banks from Indonesia achieved the highest social performance. Also, to provide an easier understanding of the social performance of Islamic banks compared to the expectations of the Islamic moral economy, banks were categorized into specific categories according to a rating system similar to the CAMELS approach in conventional banking, but based on the Islamic moral economy social performance framework

In-between belongings:impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the lives of Syrian refugees in Scotland

This event explores the co-existence of multiple and radically distinctive rhythmic worlds of Syrian refugees resettling in Scotland during the pandemic. The event is based on the findings of a research project that applies rhythmanalysis as a bio-social perspective that goes beyond the legal, ideological and material category of ‘refugee’, during the pandemic that placed refugees at a radical disjuncture from their historically-formed habitus of the society of emigration.Participants were asked to visually document and audially reflect on their spatial and extra-spatial encounters of everyday life. The data re-presents the suturing of a fractured habitus and broken rhythms of everyday life during the pandemic. The realities of lockdown and the social experiences post-Covid resulted in a continuous cycle of formation, deformation, reformation of everyday rhythms in the daily lives of Syrian Refugees. An overarching theme of ‘emptiness’ emerged of a (temporarily) frozen time and space suffused with nostalgia for what once was and paralysis of what now is – a longing for belonging and home, as well as hopeful constructions of place-making in the society of immigration

Religion as a barrier to the use of student loans for higher education:a community‐based participatory study with Somalis living in England

The unwillingness of the Somali community to finance higher education has largely gone unnoticed within the academic literature and government policy documents. This study explores the role of religion and the influence of Shari'ah scholars on the use of interest‐bearing student loans within the Somali community. In the absence of any theoretical framework on this topic, we explore the multiple socioeconomic factors that may influence the attitude, perception of need, motivation and action of using student loans for higher education, by proposing the UK Somali Muslims Acceptance of Interest‐bearing Student Loan Model. This is also a community‐based participatory study that actively involved Somali community members in exploring and interpreting the results. This was achieved through regular consultations with the sampled Somali Muslim communities within the UK. Our results contribute to the broader debate on the effect of cultural, religious and social values of marginalised communities on inclusion and widening access policies for higher education. The findings reemphasise that people sharing the same location do not necessarily share the same level of opportunities for higher education because of the intersectionality of race, religion, gender and class. The results also show the complexity of the issue of exclusion and the atheoretical nature of student loans as a financial instrument for improving financial inclusion and widening access to higher education among Somali residents in England

In-between belongings:impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the lives of Syrian refugees in Scotland

This event explores the co-existence of multiple and radically distinctive rhythmic worlds of Syrian refugees resettling in Scotland during the pandemic. The event is based on the findings of a research project that applies rhythmanalysis as a bio-social perspective that goes beyond the legal, ideological and material category of ‘refugee’, during the pandemic that placed refugees at a radical disjuncture from their historically-formed habitus of the society of emigration.Participants were asked to visually document and audially reflect on their spatial and extra-spatial encounters of everyday life. The data re-presents the suturing of a fractured habitus and broken rhythms of everyday life during the pandemic. The realities of lockdown and the social experiences post-Covid resulted in a continuous cycle of formation, deformation, reformation of everyday rhythms in the daily lives of Syrian Refugees. An overarching theme of ‘emptiness’ emerged of a (temporarily) frozen time and space suffused with nostalgia for what once was and paralysis of what now is – a longing for belonging and home, as well as hopeful constructions of place-making in the society of immigration

Exploring the Customer Trust Building Strategies used by Fintech Firms

The Fintech industry remains broadly un-regulated compared to their banking counterparts; however, Fintech firms are aware that customer trust plays a vital role in defining success and failure within this industry. In this paper, we discuss the measures taken by Fintech firms to establish trust and self-regulate consumer protection methods for their customers. Our research explores the approaches used by Fintech organisations to create and maintain consumer trust in their services and examines the depth of safeguarding and protection provided by these approaches. To achieve this, the literature review was used to derive twelve grading factors across five thematic areas creating a multi-element grading framework for determining Fintech success or failure regarding building consumer confidence. This was then applied to assessing the practices of 16 Fintech firms (divided into four groups) selected using a multiple case studies strategy through secondary data and the results were further benchmarked against a traditional financial institution as our proxy. The majority of Fintech companies are not required by law to follow financial regulatory guidelines; however, our results show that most of the Fintech organisations studied closely align with the guidelines on consumer protection and financial crime prevention. The Fintech firms also adequately report on their compliance to general consumers. This appears to be contradictory to the literature on Fintech, which broadly focuses on the insufficient regulations overseeing financial technologies. Our results show that the best practices in safeguarding and protection measures practised within Fintech operating within the Transfer field are similar to that of traditional financial institutions. In contrast, the most inadequate consumer protection is essentially embedded within Cryptocurrency and Blockchain

Financial Exclusion and Moral Constraints as a Driver of Entrepreneurial Activities: A Case Study of Muslim Immigrants in Scotland

This paper explores the financial structures adopted by Muslim immigrant entrepreneurs in Scotland and the challenges they face in accessing state-driven financial support. The research investigates the effectiveness of different financing models for various groups of Muslim immigrants, considering the impact of religious values and moral concerns on their financial decisions. The study posits that the formal, top-down approach of state-driven financial support clashes with strong religious values, resulting in entrepreneurs seeking morally aligned alternatives in form of informal financing. Examining the context of Muslim immigrants and entrepreneurship, the paper discusses financial integration challenges faced by this group, emphasizing the distinctiveness of Muslim immigrant entrepreneurial activities driven by religious obligations. The paper focuses on the Scottish landscape, lack of opportunities for Muslim immigrants in cities like Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, and Glasgow, which is contributing to development of entrepreneurs. The financial services available for entrepreneurs in Scotland, including the Scottish Growth Scheme, are discussed, with a focus on their interest-based nature. Through in-depth interviews with 26 Muslim immigrant entrepreneurs in Scotland, the paper delves into the financial sources and challenges faced by these entrepreneurs. The findings reveal a reliance on informal financing sources and a reluctance to engage with conventional banks due to religious prohibitions. The impact of language barriers and the role of networking in accessing funds are also explored

Accounting for the Ideology and Culture within Literature: Deconstruction of Arguments in Modern Islamic Discourse on Economics and Finance

There currently exists a body of discourse on finance, economics, and social governance representative of emerging and contemporary Islamic thought with an aim to create an Islamic perspective within these fields. It consists of legal rulings, recommendations, value judgments, and moral positions. Innovative Islamic discourse permeates different facets of the political spectrum, contained by the similar patterns occurring within the construction of arguments. We examine the issues surrounding the theory of knowledge used within this discourse. This study conducts an analysis of the methods of enquiry and lines of reasoning emerging from these discourses along with an investigation of the discursive rationale behind their usage are offered. Focus is centred on the method of enquiry underpinning the creation of this knowledge, while accounting for the line of reasoning applied to verify created knowledge, the origin of its epistemic authority and construction of its ontological justifications within the discourse.This paper seeks to conceptualise a reusable framework for deconstructing this created knowledge. A resultant conceptualised framework provides a method for using discursive data to deconstruct arguments within an Islamic paradigm. The study aims to benefit future students and academics who wish to elucidate connections between juristic-subjectivity, argumentation, and epistemic sources within Islamic discourse, and the different methods applied by scholars to negotiate relationships between them

Accounting for the Ideology and Culture within Literature: Deconstruction of Arguments in Modern Islamic Discourse on Economics and Finance

There currently exists a body of discourse on finance, economics, and social governance representative of emerging and contemporary Islamic thought with an aim to create an Islamic perspective within these fields. It consists of legal rulings, recommendations, value judgments, and moral positions. Innovative Islamic discourse permeates different facets of the political spectrum, contained by the similar patterns occurring within the construction of arguments. We examine the issues surrounding the theory of knowledge used within this discourse. This study conducts an analysis of the methods of enquiry and lines of reasoning emerging from these discourses along with an investigation of the discursive rationale behind their usage are offered. Focus is centred on the method of enquiry underpinning the creation of this knowledge, while accounting for the line of reasoning applied to verify created knowledge, the origin of its epistemic authority and construction of its ontological justifications within the discourse.This paper seeks to conceptualise a reusable framework for deconstructing this created knowledge. A resultant conceptualised framework provides a method for using discursive data to deconstruct arguments within an Islamic paradigm. The study aims to benefit future students and academics who wish to elucidate connections between juristic-subjectivity, argumentation, and epistemic sources within Islamic discourse, and the different methods applied by scholars to negotiate relationships between them