Abstract There is a growing acknowledgement that micro-credit programs have potential for equitable and sustainable development. However, my anthropological research on the micro-credit program of the Grameen Bank shows that bank workers are expected to increase disbursement of loans among their members and press for high recovery rates to earn profit necessary for economic viability of the institution. To ensure timely repayment in the loan centers bank workers and borrowing peers inflict an intense pressure on women clients. In the study community many borrowers maintain their regular payment schedules through a process of loan recycling that considerably increases the debt-liability on the individual households, increases tension and frustration among household members, produces new forms of dominance over women and increases violence in society.

Micro-credit initiatives for equitable and sustainable development : who pays?; a case study of the Grameen Bank Program in rural Bangladesh

Equity crowdfunding is an emerging area of research within the broader sphere of entrepreneurship. Since 2012, research activities are steadily advancing, providing the foundation for a promising field of research. Despite ongoing scientific discussions, equity crowdfunding research is still in its infancy and scholarly knowledge remains limited and fragmented. To bring clarity to this fragmented field and to further advance the scientific process, we conduct a systematic literature review of 113 journal contributions and gray papers, published between 2012 and 2017. Based on an in-depth analysis of identified publications, we describe the landscape of the equity crowdfunding field concentrating on two aspects. First, we conduct a descriptive analysis of equity crowdfunding research to illustrate the scientific development. Second, we categorize relevant contributions into five different perspectives: capital market, entrepreneur, institutional, investor, and platform and perform a thematic analysis to reveal dominant themes and sub-themes within each perspective. Our study highlights several promising directions for encouraging further advancements in equity crowdfunding research.

Equity Crowdfunding: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace, by Lawrence Lessig, Basic Books, 1999, 230 pages. I. INTRODUCTION Just as Rachel Carson's classic Silent Spring awakened the world to environmental pollution in 1962, Larry Lessig's insightful Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace(1) (Code) seeks to warn longtime inhabitants of cyberspace of a major danger to the wild, unregulated, "1960s-like" environments to which they have grown accustomed. Code challenges the presumption of early Internet heroes, like John Perry Barlow, that technology has created an inherently free environment that can only remain so if governments leave it alone. Code observes, rather, that cyberspace is quite susceptible to alteration and that the gravest threats to online civil liberties in the United States are posed, not by laws, but by computer code--particularly those designed to commercialize the Web for e-commerce. Code explains how the business community's efforts (with government support) to make it easier to confirm cyberspace buyers' identities also unintentionally facilitate regulation of other conduct. Lessig's particular concern is with those civil liberties and other values central to American society, that the framers of the Constitution left without explicit legal protection; the limits of the technology of the time already safeguarded them. Now that the Internet and other new media have eliminated many physical and economic constraints on intrusive conduct-like the tracking of every page that an Internet suffer views--Code pleads for citizens to defend those privacy and other values they consider fundamental, lest they be diminished--if not eliminated--by code. In fact, the introduction of e-commerce-friendly Internet code is somewhat analogous to the genetic engineering of agricultural products. As Europeans--and increasingly Americans--have come to recognize, the manipulation of such basic codes may have widespread effects not limited to their targeted product markets or by national boundaries.(2) This has led many to demand public debate on the issue of what many call "Frankenfoods," and its effects on world ecosystems and human health. While Lessig certainly does not oppose e-commerce code, he advocates collective decision making where code may have major consequences with respect to important societal liberties. From an economist's perspective, Lessig understands that the "externalities" of e-commerce code--in terms of harm to social values--are too significant to expect private sector code writers to design a socially optimal architecture guided solely by Adam Smith's invisible hand. Rather, democratic principles require that, prior to the adoption of important varieties of what he terms "West Coast [computer],"(3) there be public discussions comparable to those associated with the adoption of "East Coast [legal] code."(4) Decisions about how much control over information society wants to allow and by whom, call for democratic decision making. With concerns similar to those of political activist Jeremy Rifkin,(5) Lessig implores citizens not to maintain blind faith in the social value judgments of the commercial marketplace where externalities may be given short shrift, if not ignored altogether, until irreversible harm is done. While Code focuses on issues arising from Internet technology, it also discusses the more general relationship between technology and law. Code observes that four principal forces regulate people's behavior: laws, norms, prices, and technology (although it calls the latter forces "market" and "architecture"). It explains how each of these limit individuals' actions, how the forces can work directly or indirectly in combinations, and how improvements in technology can dramatically alter the composite constraint on people's conduct. The middle third of Code is entirely devoted to identifying how technology--primarily the Internet--is significantly altering the net effect of these four forces on behaviors. …

Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace

A History of Islamic Legal Theories: an Introduction to Sunni usul al-fiqh, by Wael Hallaq. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1997. ix + 262 pages. Refs. to p. 287. Index to p. 294. $59.95. Reviewed by Jonathan E. Brockopp As one of the leading figures in the academic study of Islamic law, Wael Hallaq has been working on the logical structure of Islamic jurisprudence for many years and has produced a series of important articles on al-Shafi'i. alGhazali, Abu Husayn al-Basri, and others, looking at central issues such as ijtihad, consensus and analogy. Many of these articles are usefully reprinted in Law and Legal Theory in Classical and Medieval Islam (Brookfield, VT: Variorum, 1994). Hallaq's other book, Ibn Taymiyya against the Greek Logicians (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993) is a close study of this important jurist. Islamic Legal Theories is Hallaq's first statement as a mature, established scholar, and is a fine introduction to the most important sources of Islamic jurisprudence. After covering the first four centuries of Islamic law in chapter one, Hallaq moves to the heart of this book: a two-chapter summary of the development of Islamic legal theory since the Sth/il th century. Hallaq argues that there arose a common theoretical legal structure incorporating specific and limited variations. The remaining chapters build on this foundation in various ways. Chapter four addresses both the structural variations in Islamic legal theory and the various influences on the development of that theory. Chapter five looks particularly at the theoretical works of al-Shatibi (d. 790/1388), and chapter six addresses certain modern trends in Islamic legal theory. This final chapter, while restricted in its scope, offers some important new insights on the way some modern thinkers have struggled with their own tradition. A list of references and an index complete the book. Hallaq intends this book "to appeal to a wide readership both within and without the field of Islamic studies" (p. viii), yet certain decisions taken by the author severely limit its usefulness as an introduction. First, students of religion and comparative legal studies will be disappointed that the comparative aspects of Islamic legal theory are totally neglected in the text as well as in the apparatus. Second, the decision by the author (p. ix) to limit footnotes to an absolute minimum is problematic. In recent years, there has been extensive scholarship on subjects such as abrogation, ijtihad, and Rashid Rida. Some of this scholarship is found in the good. but by no means exhaustive, bibliography, but within the text itself the unsuspecting reader is often referred only to Hallaq's own works.' Undoubtedly, Hallaq knows the secondary literature; however, the lack of references may prove frustrating to the uninitiated. The first chapter is a very cursory overview of the formative period in Islamic law-the subject of much recent scholarship. Hallaq takes a surprisingly apologetic tone, accepting as self-evident what scholarship is only now struggling to understand. For instance, he writes that "the importance of the Qur'an and its injunctions for the early Muslims can hardly be overstated" (p. 7), and proves this by quoting an early Monophysite source wherein Abu Bakr paraphrases the Qur'an. That parts of the Qur'an were known and used in the first century is beyond dispute, but this does not prove that the Qur'an was understood as a legal book. Recent analysis of second-century legal documents demonstrates that the Qur'an provided neither the categories nor the content for early law. Furthermore, Hallaq refers to Andrew Rippin, Patricia Crone and Martin Hinds to support his contention that the early Caliphs used the Qur'an and the sunny in their legal rulings. Yet, these authors were much more circumspect in their claims than Hallaq suggests.2 Chapter one, therefore, presents a somewhat idiosyncratic view of early Islamic jurisprudence which does not advance our understanding of this period. …

A History of Islamic Legal Theories: An Introduction to Sunni Usul Al-Fiqh

A bibliometric review of sukuk literature

Islamic banking and finance is becoming one of the most significant aspects of the modern global financial system. Why? Because it is a fast-growing industry that has developed rapidly within a few years from a niche industry to a global force to be reckoned with in the international arena. However, with the worldwide spread of Islamic financial products and the growing interest of students and financial experts in Islamic finance, numerous books,monographs, and academic articles are being produced to explain the significance of this new industry to the global financial system. Nevertheless, there has not been much focus on a professional textbook on Islamic banking and finance for students of higher education who require case studies and practical examples in their programs. This seemingly neglected aspect of Islamic financial literature is the gap that this book seeks to fill, focusing on the principles and practice of Islamic banking and finance in the modern world. In this dynamic industry, there is a need to present a textbook for the ever-increasing academic and
professional institutions offering Islamic finance as a course.

Introduction to Islamic banking and finance : principles and practice

The crystallization of the Islamic capital markets (ICM) in the last decade has led to increased acceptance of Islamic financial products in the global market. However, a fundamental question that lies at the intersection of law and ICM that has a far-reaching impact on market practices is the extent to which the governing law clause in a typical Sukuk prospectus protects the interest of the parties and meets the ends of justice. An analogous clause within the governing law provision is the dispute resolution clause, which either makes or mars the whole transaction depending on how it is structured. This article argues that as part of Islamic finance documentation involved in the process of structuring a Sukuk transaction, one important aspect the parties must get right from the beginning is the governing law clause. With the increasing provision of English law as the governing law, a question that readily comes to one’s mind is whether it is possible to have an alternative governing law while retaining the choice of jurisdiction clause. In order to create a regulatory environment that is conducive to the prevailing trends in the modern world, this study critically ploughs through the governing law clauses of 10 selected Sukuk prospectuses and makes interesting findings regarding the attitude of draftsmen and their clients. A preliminary finding of this study is the paradigm shift to arbitration as an alternative or precondition to litigation in some of the Sukuk prospectuses reviewed. As there are regional and international arbitral institutions set up exclusively for Islamic finance disputes, it may be more appropriate to resolve any dispute arising from a Sukuk transaction under shari’a-compliant rules and supervised by experts in Islamic law. The interviews conducted for this research with 10 prominent shari’a scholars who have been involved in the certification of Sukuk structures prove this hypothesis, and the qualitative data are consistent with it, albeit with some dissenting views.

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Regulating the governing law clauses in Sukuk transactions

While Malaysia is set to become the global halal hub by 2020, there is still the challenge of product differentiation that meets customers’ needs and more importantly, access to credit facilities for halal start-up small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). In order to increase the competitiveness of the Malaysian economy, and while relying on a combination of qualitative methods of surveycum-interview and legal analysis of relevant laws and policies, this study examines the need for an effective Sharī‘ah-compliant financing platform for the halal firms based on the Guidelines issued by the Securities Commission Malaysia that provide the requirements for the registration of equity crowdfunding platform and an effective governance arrangement for such platform. Nevertheless, the guidelines have not specified the type of Sharī‘ah-compliant equity crowdfunding platform that can be utilized by halal SMEs who need to raise start-up capital through Sharī‘ah-compliant means. With the increasing need to provide such an alternative financing source to the budding SMEs in the halal sector, this study explores the relevance of crowdfunding to SME financing, examines the specific financing needs of such SME halal firms, analyze the new legal framework for equity crowdfunding, and propose potential Sharī‘ah-compliant equity crowdfunding model based on existing modes of financing commonly used in the Islamic financial services industry. The study concludes that though it is often argued that equity crowdfunding is generically Sharī‘ahcompliant, a closer look at the models reveal the importance of coming up with unique Sharī‘ahcompliant equity crowdfunding for a sustainable halal industry.

Towards a Shari'ah Compliant Equity-Based Crowdfunding for the Halal Industry in Malaysia

This article examines the occurrence and legal implications of ‘fatwā shopping’ in the Islamic finance industry and the need to put the proper legal mechanisms in place to regulate the phenomenon. It provides a case study of the existing legal restrictions in some jurisdictions with a centralised Sharīʿah Supervisory Board at the national level such as in Malaysia. As a preliminary review of the implications of ‘fatwā shopping’ in the industry, this study examines the consequential problems, current perceptions and prospects of such practice. The study finds that instances of ‘fatwā shopping’ are common in cross-border Islamic finance transactions such as cross-border ṣukūk transactions where there is less regulation.

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The Legal Implications of ‘ Fatwā Shopping’ in the Islamic Finance Industry: Problems, Perceptions and Prospects

The current legal framework for dispute resolution in the Islamic banking and finance industry in developing countries may not adequately serve the purpose for which the financial institutions were set up. Meanwhile, the Islamic legal framework for dispute resolution has established rules for financial disputes as recognized under the classical law. This paper examines the current practice of dispute resolution in Islamic banking and finance with case analyses of selected Muslim countries. From our findings, disputes emanating from this industry are heard by the conventional courts and tribunals which, in most cases, do not have the requisite expertise. It is argued that since Islamic banking and finance disputes are sui generis, the panel of judges must be composed of experts in the field. The paper concludes that a legal framework should be established for dispute resolution in countries where Islamic banking and finance is being implemented. For a proper Islamization of the banking and finance sector, disputes arising from this sector should not be subjected to the convoluted conventional rules. The paper proposes a legal framework for dispute resolution in the Muslim world based on hybrid processes of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) recognized in Islamic law.

Umar Aimhanosi Oseni

Papers

Introduction to Islamic banking and finance : principles and practice

Regulating the governing law clauses in Sukuk transactions

Towards a Shari'ah Compliant Equity-Based Crowdfunding for the Halal Industry in Malaysia

The Legal Implications of ‘ Fatwā Shopping’ in the Islamic Finance Industry: Problems, Perceptions and Prospects

Dispute Resolution in Islamic Banking and Finance: Current Trends and Future Perspectives