Edinburgh Guides to Islamic Finance : Islamic and Ethical Finance in the United Kingdom

**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 the UK 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. #### Key Features * The first systematic comparison of the principles and functioning of Islamic and secular ethical financial services * Includes case studies from retail banking, mutual associations such as building societies and credit unions, investment funds, high interest lenders and debt counselling, social enterprise, charities and the wider phenomenon of ethical consumerism * Provides a comparison of Christian thought and secular ethical financial services with the Islamic tradition * Uses the UK as a case study due to its well-developed ‘ethical’ and Islamic financial services sectors

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. Islamic finance is routinely described as ethical: a beneficial association given that 'ethical' finance is one of the few financial sectors with a positive image and is a large and growing sector of the market. Yet the claim that 'Islamic' and 'ethical' are synonymous is only now being seriously examined, as is the claim that there exists a consistent and generally understood definition of 'ethical' practice. This guide includes case studies from retail banking, mutual associations such as building societies and credit unions, investment funds, high interest lenders and debt counselling, social enterprise, charities and the wider phenomenon of ethical consumerism.