The next book in this list is ‘Shari’a Guide For Real Estate Finance’ published by the Shariah Board Advisory Department of Bank Albilad (BAB) and is the second book published by this bank that I have included in this list. As mentioned previously, BAB is well known within KSA as having a strong robust Shariah governance framework in place and for being active in publishing Shariah research in contemporary Islamic financial matters. In fact, even outside of KSA it is well known for this within other Islamic finance jurisdictions.
I have included this particular book as real estate finance is an important subject matter for Muslims globally with home ownership being a goal of many. In this day and age, it is unusual for individuals to have enough liquid cash to purchase a house outright and hence many of them resort to seeking finance from financial institutions.
For the purpose of this book, the Shariah Department focused on the two most common Shariah structures for Home Finance in the Gulf i.e. Murabaha and Ijarah ending with ownership. While the most common structure used in the West, Musharakah Mutanaqisa, is not covered directly in the book, some of the points discussed will still be applicable.
The book is a concise guide consisting of less than 100 pages and aimed at various parties involved in real estate finance so that they are aware of potential Shariah issues and their relevant solutions. Before being published, the work was reviewed by various experts in the field of and thus it is a valuable resource. It contains simple diagrams and discusses common Shariah steps and concerns at the various different stages of the transaction in an easy to understand manner.
The book is available in Arabic & English (translation) from the BAB website from the following link:
Sharia Publications (bankalbilad.com)
To read the previous post (#10) of this series, please click the link below:
Islamic Economics/Finance Reading List (#10) – Shariah Minds In Islamic Finance | RIZQONOMICS
