Editorial

Abstract

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Worldwide, conferences on Islamic finance keep growing to tackle the many faces, opportunities and challenges of Islamic finance. International fora such as the World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC) (Bahrain), ISRA’s International Shari’ah Scholars Forum (ISSF) (Kuala Lumpur) and the IFN Forums (held in different parts of the world) have over the years successfully engaged international players with local industry stalwarts in constructive discussions. Many academic international conferences also take place that provide an avenue to students, academics and researchers to share research findings and deliberate on topical Islamic finance issues. Themes which seem to be all the rage in the Islamic finance space these days appear to be in the “finance for good” arena – that is, all that is about green/sustainable/ethical finance, financial inclusion, and Islamic social finance. Another area is Islamic fintech, with buzzwords such as blockchain, smart contracts, cryptocurrency, robo-advisors, crowdfunding, digitalisation and others. The recent Islamic Fintech Dialogue (IFD 2019) organised by ISRA early in the year even included an “Islamic Fintech Pitch Competition” which provided a platform to universities, researchers, students and industry experts to share progressive ideas and innovative solutions in the field of Islamic fintech. Such positive ideas lay fertile grounds for encouraging research and innovation in Islamic finance.

From the host of submissions received, this June 2019 issue of the ISRA International Journal of Islamic Finance features ten articles covering differing areas of Islamic finance. The articles comprise topics of both academic nature and practice-related issues. Recently, there has also been an increase in submissions related to quantitative studies. This issue publishes a few of such studies. The Journal also allows researchers to publish both full-length and shorter articles to showcase the latest ideas, concepts, case studies and Sharīʿah and contemporary issues.