The “Adoption of Unconventional Financial Institutions: A European Perspective” book by Maha Radwan provides the essential knowledge of understanding Islamic finance. The book is written in English language and it explores Islamic finance an overview of its history and evolution arriving to its features and understanding the principles that regulate it.
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In Islamic finance all operations should fully adhere to the Sharia that is the regulative framework or Islamic law derived from the Quran. The principals include several prohibitions that differentiate it from its conventional financial system counterparts like Riba (prohibition of interest), Maysir (gambling), Gharar (uncertainty), while on the other hand the Islamic system have other obligations like the principles of profit and loss sharing, necessity of underlying tangible assets, the necessity of investing in Halal investments and avoiding Haram business activities, and the obligation of charity. The “Adoption of Unconventional Financial Institutions: A European Perspective” book offers as well a global overview of wide variety of Islamic banking instruments and explores the mechanism of how they work. The “Adoption of Unconventional Financial Institutions: A European Perspective” book provides insights to; the reader’s basic information regarding Islamic finance theory and practice, its diffusion in Europe. Islamic finance industry has been gaining momentum globally in both Muslim and Non-Muslim countries as it offers a complementary financial alternative to the conventional financial institutions that is less risky by avoiding speculation, more stable, and ethically oriented. In Europe, the UK is a global player in the Islamic finance industry and the most advanced in Europe, while in other European countries like France, Germany, and Luxemburg is developing. The book explores the future potential opportunities in the possibility of introducing Islamic financial system in the Italian Context. The book also explores the financial behavior intention towards using Islamic banking in Italy based on a survey addressed to the Muslim communities in Italy and it was able to predict the factors influencing the attitude and the financial behavior of potential users. This survey had shed the light on factors like awareness and demographic factors and its effect on the financial intention. The book is useful in providing insights to; basic reader, practitioners, academics, financial authorities, regulators and policy makers; important relevant indicators and information.
