Contracts and Deals in Islamic Finance: A User s Guide to Cash Flows, Balance Sheets, and Capital Structures

Foreword

It is difficult to describe the pride with which I commend the reading of this fine piece on Islamic finance. Hussain Kureshi came into contact with OCBC Al-Amin (and thus me) through our scholarship program with INCEIF, of which he is an inaugural recipient. Hussain duly completed his CIFP with distinction and went on to engage with us as a research assistant. We certainly did not expect him to also come out with a book on Islamic finance. But that is exactly what his trail-blazing approach and academic prowess have produced. Doubtless, he has set the standard, no, raised the bar, of expectations from future scholars.

Islamic finance, or offering shariah-compliant financial products to clients, is no longer confined to the domain of Muslim customers anymore. We at OCBC Al-Amin have experienced strong demand for shariah-compliant products from numerous non-Muslims as well, evidently because the structures offered to them at the right price make sense.

Islamic finance has gone beyond the stage of just making the headlines; it is now making money and attracting the attention of issuers of credit notes and investors. With countries like Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong announcing issues of sukuk, we feel that a book that clearly spells out the process flows inherent in the structures and contracts has become necessary for the education of industry participants and aspirants alike. No book has covered aspects of process flows, accounting treatments, risk analyses, ...