The New Issue of Turkish Journal of Islamic Economics (Vol. 8, Issue. 2) is now available online. The journal is continuing its commitment to bringing together researches from all dimensions of Islamic Economics & Finance, its history, theoretical underpinnings, its relevance to Islamic Fiqh, its practicable tools and their applications. Published by IKAM, TUJISE uniquely provides a research platform to notable, experienced scholars and novice researchers of Islamic Economics, side by side.

The fresh issue of Turkish Journal of Islamic Economics (TUJISE) brings to you an unusual combination of Islamic Economics and Finance articles from experts of the field. Our series of articles includes work penned by internationally known names in the field. Our fresh issue is consists of 7 articles and 3 book reviews.

The first paper titled “Monetary Policy for the Real Economic Sector in Muslim Majority Countries: A Transitional Solution” examines the issue of monetary policy from an Islamic perspective and offers a transitional solution given the existing circumstances in the contemporary Muslim economies, dominated by financial institutions, fiat currencies, and fractional reserve banking. Qualitative research with a “complex systems” perspective is used to determine the state of monetary policy in several Muslim majority countries, to study the issues and challenges, as well as to point out the most problematic areas that need urgent addressing. 

The following article, “A Proposed Model for Social Impact Sukuk”, aims to propose concrete solutions for Islamic finance practitioners that combine both the profit-oriented feature of sukuk, risksharing principle and socioeconomic support to Muslim communities through a proposed Social Impact Sukuk model. The proposed structure is mainly based on the partnership contract (mudarabah), which is considered a cornerstone of Islamic finance.

The next article “The Classification of Sharia Assets and Performance of Financial Portfolio” investigates the Shariah compliant and conventional portfolios in financial settings of Pakistan during the period 2009-2019 by using Markowitz Minimum-Variance (MMV) framework. Using daily excess returns, this study first investigates the impact of Shariah screening criteria on stock returns then it evaluates the overall risk of Shariah compliant and conventional portfolios.

This then followed by an article titled “What Policy for Islamic Financial Literacy?” which addresses the concept of financial literacy in Islamic finance and suggests a methodology to elaborate an effective Islamic financial literacy policy (IFLP). Based on a literature review, the paper summarizes the conclusions of studies and surveys conducted in the field of conventional financial literacy while identifying the specificities of the Islamic finance industry. 

The fifth article analyses the “Principles of an Economic Life Based on Halal Gain in the Light of Prophet’s Teachings”.  Indeed, the problem is not in Islam, but Muslims who have failed to apply its teachings to their lives- the basic motivation of this study. For this reason, this study intends to reveal and interpret the teachings of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) about halal earnings that are the guidelines for maintaining a moral economic life by making use of authentic books of hadith.

“Empirical Study on Adoption of Islamic Banking System Using Quantitative Method: A Case Study of Afghanistan” is the next article published in our fresh issue. This paper investigates the adoption of Islamic banking in Afghanistan, using a case study of Herat province, based on Rogers’ (1983) Diffusion of Innovation Theory, to determine the impact of awareness, product knowledge, religiosity, relative advantage, compatibility, and complexity on the adoption of Islamic banking.

Maulānā Sayyid Abū’l-A‘lā Maudūdī (1903-1979) is credited with being the founder of Islamic Economics, and having developed the idea of an Islamic Economic System. Hence, “Maulānā Maudūdī and the genesis of Islamic Economics” investigates and finds little support for this claim. Moreover, it suggests that these claims not only strain the evidence available, but they also distort Maulānā Maudūdī’s thoughts, and add little either to his formidable stature as one of the most influential Muslim leaders of the twentieth century, or to the dignity of Islam.

Book Reviews

Hossein Askari and Hossein Mohammadkhan, Islamicity Indices: The Seed for Change

Reviewer: Harun Sencal 

The authors state three explicit goals for this book.The first goal is to measure to what degree Muslim countries are Islamic. The second goal is to explain the (bad) performance of Muslim countries vis-à-vis non-Muslim countries. The third and final goal is to establish an Islamicity index as a benchmark for Muslim countries to measure to what degree the country comply with the demands of Islam and compare their position with other countries.

Abdul Azim Islahi, Economic Thinking of Arab Muslim Writers During the Nineteenth Century

Reviewer: Memduh Erdogan

A unique contribution of the book is its depiction of economic thought through the lenses of many personalities representing varied sections of the society. So, by gathering these personalities of statesmen to literati, Islahi tries to present an encompassing spectrum of the economic thought produced in the 19th century with an exclusive look to the Arab world. Moreover, Islahi puts an effort to contextualize the views of these personalities with references to the political and economic conditions surrounding them.

Zeyneb Hafsa Orhan, Ekonominin Temel Konuları ve İslam Ekonomisi (Fundamentals of Economics and Islamic Economy)

Reviewer: Guldenur Çetin 

This book aims to reveal the positions of the basic micro and macro subjects of the economy in this new field of study, both theoretically and practically. This book is structured to be used as an introductory textbook to Islamic economics. It is also preferable for anyone interested in the subject because it does not have a heavy academic language. 

To read the issue, please visit our website: https://www.tujise.org/issues/8-2