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.

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.

What exactly is ethical finance? Is Islamic finance ethical? Is ethical finance Islamic? Islamic finance is routinely described as ethical. This reflects the fact that self-described 'ethical' finance is a large and growing sector of the market. It has a very positive image with which Islamic financial services seek to associate themselves. Yet the claim that 'Islamic' and 'ethical' are synonymous is rarely seriously examined, and nor is the claim that there exists a consistent and generally understood definition of ethical practice. 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. It offers first systematic comparison of the principles and functioning of Islamic and secular ethical financial services. It includes chapters on retail banking, investment funds, building societies, charities and social enterprise. It uses the UK as a case study due to its well-developed ethical and Islamic financial services sectors.