Sukukization: The New Force in International Finance : A Guide to Sukuk Designed to Help You Master the Theory and Practice of a New Global Asset Class

Despite the closeness of the overall concept, Sukukization (Islamic Securitization) is not equal to 'Securitization' as it is known in the conventional sense.

Securitization generally relates to the converting of loans of various sorts into marketable securities by packaging the loans into pools and then selling shares of ownership in the pool itself.

Sukukization refers to the role played by Sukuk within the financial market place.

Sukuk, as defined by AAOIFI, the regulatory body within Islamic financial markets, are certificates of equal value representing undivided shares in ownership of tangible assets, usufruct and services.

Publication of this book takes place at a time when the conventional banking and financial systems of the world are facing threats to their very existence.

These threats have focused attention on an alternative system of financial intermediation - Islamic finance - a sector largely insulated from the banking collapses taking place around the world.

The world is, of course, a global marketplace so it is impossible to claim that any one single financial system can remain totally unscathed. However there is no doubt that the Islamic financial system has not suffered the devastating consequences of the sub-prime credit market collapse that has ensued elsewhere.

This book discusses in detail the system of Islamic financial intermediation as taking place through Islamic capital markets.

The concept of an Islamic capital market refers to the market where financial intermediation activities are transacted applying principles that do not conflict with the conscience of Muslims and the religion of Islam.

In other words, the Islamic capital market represents an assertion of Islamic religious law (the Sharia'a) in capital market transactions where the market should be free from the involvement of prohibited activities by Islam, as well as free from elements such as usury (riba), gambling (maisir) and ambiguity (gharar).