Islamic Finance: Law, Economics, and Practice
Mahmoud A. El-Gamal
What this source says
El-Gamal, an economist at Rice University, analyses the modern Islamic finance industry through the lenses of law and economics. He argues that much contemporary practice is 'Shariah arbitrage' — replicating the economic outcomes of conventional interest-bearing products through more costly legal structures, while preserving the form of compliance. He urges a return to the substantive ethical aims (maqasid) of the prohibition rather than form-based mimicry, making the book a leading scholarly critique of the industry from within.
Wording inside quotation marks is quoted from the source. The rest is this notebook’s summary of it — read the original before relying on it.
Provenance
- Source
- Mahmoud A. El-Gamal, Islamic Finance: Law, Economics, and Practice (Cambridge University Press, 2006), ISBN 9780521864145
- Edition
- Cambridge University Press, 2006
- School / basis
- Comparative
- Added
- 2026-06-03
- Trust
- A position recorded from a named, published source — reported accurately, not independently adjudicated.
Compiler’s note
Documented summary of a real CUP title; not a verbatim quotation. ISBN verified.
Topics
islamic-financeribaeconomicsstructurescritique
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