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The Usurers: How Medieval Europe circumvented the Church’s ban on Usury

The Usurers: How Medieval Europe Circumvented the Church’s Ban on Usury Some observers may see resemblances between the Medieval European methods of circumventing the Church’s ban on interest, and some financial structures utilized today by Islamic Banks. To be fair, while a very small number may be true, it’s certainly in my experience very limited and is not representative of Islamic banking institutions. Any resemblances are superficial but may seem to be the same for the observer with limited knowledge of Shariah rules. We must not however underestimate the will of people to circumvent the law for their personal profit. This is a common feature in humanity, regardless of the geography or religion. Christianity had a ban on interest, very similar to Shariah. It also had its share of those who played financial tricks to illegitimately profit from earning forbidden interest. Some observers belittle the role the prohibition of interest had in Europe, and may view i
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Khiyar dalam Jual Beli

  Khiyar dalam Jual Beli  K hiyar dalam jual beli termasuk dari keindahan Islam. Karena   terkadang terjadi jual beli secara mendadak tanpa berpikir dan merenungkan harga dan manfaat barang yang dibeli. Karena alasan itulah, Islam memberikan kesempatan untuk mempertimbangkan yang dinamakan khiyar, keduanya bisa memilih di sela-selanya yang sesuai salah satu dari keduanya berupa meneruskan jual beli atau membatalkannya. Dari Hakim bin Hizam radhiyallahu ‘anhu ia berkata: 'Rasulullah shallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam bersabda: اَلْبَيِّعَانِ بِالخِيَارِ مَالَمْ يَتَفَرَّقَا أَوْ قَالَ: حَتَّى يَتَفَرَّقَا. فَاِنْ صَدَقَا وَبَيَّنَا بُوْرِكَ لَهُمَا فِى بَيْعِهِمَا وَاِنْ كَتَمَا وَكَذَبَا مُحِقَتْ بَرَكَةُ بَيْعِهِمَا "Dua orang yang melakukan jual beli mempunyai hak memilih selama keduanya belum berpisah, 'atau beliau bersabda: 'sampai keduanya berpisah. Maka jika keduanya benar dan menjelaskan, niscaya diberi berkah untuk keduanya dalam transaksi keduanya

Paper Money: What Constitutes Currency in Shariah?

Paper Money: What Constitutes Currency in Shariah? By  Nizar Alshubaily Editor: Ust Sofyan Kaoy Umar, MA, CPIF Recent debates in social media still point to a level of unease about what constitutes currency in Shariah and doubts remain about paper money.  Some claim that paper money is Haram, and insist that only gold and silver are legitimate currencies. Others demand that paper money must be backed by gold and silver. Some see paper money as a product of the interest-bearing international banking system, and therefore non-Shariah compliant.  Some of the statements made concerning currencies in Shariah claim that Fiat currencies are Haram since they are based on debt and interest, while other statements claim that Shariah requires a currency to have intrinsic value. Yet others believe gold and silver are Sunnah, specifically Sunnah Taqririya, one of the three types of Sunnah, more related to tacit approval.  Nothing could be further from the truth. Shariah does not r

Portfolio and Default Risk of Islamic Microfinance Institutions

Portfolio and Default Risk of Islamic Microfinance Institutions By: Dr. Luqyan Tamanni, MEc Editor: Ustaz Sofyan Kaoy Umar, MA, CPIF Abstract Islamic microfinance is a growing sector that is expected to provide a long-term solution to poverty in the Muslim world. The role of microfinance institutions in poverty alleviation is still debatable, however, established literature provides assurance that microfinance does contribute to the development of the financial sector and reduction of poverty in developing countries. The rise of competition in the microfinance sector has forced many microfinance institutions to resort to commercial funding and lending activities, which according to some studies has led microfinance institutions to become riskier. The paper explores portfolio and default risk of Islamic Microfinance Institutions (IMFIs) and finds that they are facing relatively lower risks than conventional MFIs. Using Ordinary Least Squares regression to analyse port