Böcker av Elaine Housby

This book examines a wide range of financial institutions in Britain which fall broadly within the ethical sector, considering the nature of their principles and practices, and how they relate to Islamic models and to Muslim communities. Islamic finance is routinely described as ethical: a beneficial association given that 'ethical' finance is one of the few financial sectors with a positive image and is a large and growing sector of the market. Yet the claim that 'Islamic' and 'ethical' are synonymous is only now being seriously examined, as is the claim that there exists a consistent and generally understood definition of 'ethical' practice. This guide includes case studies from retail banking, mutual associations such as building societies and credit unions, investment funds, high interest lenders and debt counselling, social enterprise, charities and the wider phenomenon of ethical consumerism.

This is the first book-length study of Islamic financial services in the United Kingdom. It describes the ways in which British examples of Islamic financial provision illustrate both the main characteristics of Islamic financial teaching and some key issues in the situation of British Muslims. Coverage of the subject is comprehensive: there are chapters on the history of Islamic finance in the UK and on personal accounts, home purchase finance, the equivalents of personal loans and insurance, investment, commercial funding and the relatively new bond-like instruments of sukuk. The author's approach is broadly sympathetic to the general spirit and aims of the Islamic financial tradition but critical of some of its manifestations in practice. The book is especially topical at present, following the crisis in the UK banking industry and the unprecedented level of public debate about the appropriate aims and techniques of the financial markets. Some commentators have recently expressed disappointment that Islamic finance in the UK has failed to live up to the high expectations surrounding it. This book attempts to give a balanced account of the sector's strengths and weaknesses.