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Syllabus For Islamic Finance (Spring 2013) (Published)

The course covers Islamic finance and transactions from both legal and economic perspectives. It will discuss key concepts like riba, mudarabah, musharakah and modes of financing. The class involves lectures, discussions and case studies. Students must regularly attend and participate in discussions. They must also complete a take-home final exam answering 3 out of 5 essay questions.

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45 views6 pages

Syllabus For Islamic Finance (Spring 2013) (Published)

The course covers Islamic finance and transactions from both legal and economic perspectives. It will discuss key concepts like riba, mudarabah, musharakah and modes of financing. The class involves lectures, discussions and case studies. Students must regularly attend and participate in discussions. They must also complete a take-home final exam answering 3 out of 5 essay questions.

Uploaded by

Sultan Mughal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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©Arshad A. Ahmed, Esq. and Abrar A. Hussain, Esq.

Islamic Finance and Transactions in Contemporary Practice


UC Berkeley School of Law
Law 252 sec. 1 (Two Units)
Course Control Number (Non-1Ls): 49786

Syllabus: Spring, 2013


Meeting Time: Wednesday 3:35 p.m. – 5:25 p.m.
Meeting Location: 145

Instructors: Arshad A. Ahmed, Esq.


and Abrar. A. Hussain, Esq.

I. TOPIC AND OBJECTIVES

This two-unit course will offer an opportunity to consider the growing intersection
between Islamic (or Shari‘ah-compliant) finance and transactions, and American legal
perspectives. Issues to be discussed in detail include ribā-interest equivalence, form and
substance in contemporary Islamic banking, adjudication of Shari‘ah-related transactions
in contemporary Anglo-American tribunals and whether or not Shari‘ah-related investing
constitutes social capitalism. There will be ample discussion of legal and economic
thought, as well as the place of ethics and virtue within traditional and modern
manifestations of finance. Also discussed will be the origins of contemporary venture
capital and private equity arising out of the Islamic mercantile tradition.

Discussions of Shari‘ah will focus almost exclusively on Sunni perspectives, as they


dominate the contemporary practice of Islamic banking and finance.

No prior knowledge of Islam, Shari‘ah, or finance is assumed.

II. METHODOLOGY

The course will be conducted in the form of lecture and discussion. Please attend each
session prepared to participate in informed and critical discussion of the topic and
assigned readings.

We may also resort to exercises and other small group activities, where appropriate, such
as in the event of case studies. We may have one or more guest speakers.

III. TEXT

Reading assignments are indicated below on a week-by-week basis. The primary texts
for the course will be (a) M. A. El-Gamal, Islamic Finance: Law, Economics, and
Practice (2008), and (b) Mufti Md. Taqi Usmani, An Introduction to Islamic Finance
©Arshad A. Ahmed, Esq. and Abrar A. Hussain, Esq.

(1998) [available online at <http://islamicfinancenews.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/


an20introduction20to20islamic20finance.pdf>].

IV. COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND EVALUATION

There are two requirements for this course:

1. Attendance at and informed participation in each class meeting (constituting 40% of


your grade). Absences must be cleared with the instructors in advance in order not to
count against you. Note that there will be no mid-term examination.

2. Completion of the final take-away examination, which will be available for check-
out at or after commencement of the final exam period on April 29, 2013, to be returned
to the examination administrator no later than 24 hours following check-out. This
examination will require you to answer three out of five essay questions, with an overall
limit of nine double-spaced typed pages of text (on standard 8.5 x 11 paper, with no less
than 10 font, no greater than 12 font, and one-inch margins all the way around) (and
constituting 60% of your grade).

This course should not be taken if you expect to have any difficulty meeting the
above-described requirements.

Students may approach the instructors regarding one’s desire to prepare an independent
study paper. Any such student requests to submit a paper will be considered on an
individual-by-individual basis. As good research tends to be predicated on a priori
knowledge of the specific question being looked into, any proposal will need to be
predicated on the student being able to describe the specific topic intended to be
examined and one’s timetable for providing written work product, including specific
milestones set out for submitting an outline and sections of the paper.

[syllabus continued on next page]


©Arshad A. Ahmed, Esq. and Abrar A. Hussain, Esq.

V. CLASS SCHEDULE AND READINGS

Modifications to the following reading list and/or schedule may be made, as necessary or
advisable, to accommodate the instructors’ travel schedules, to accommodate guest
speakers and for other reasons. Be tuned in to check regularly for amendments and
updates hereto.

Unless otherwise indicated, all readings specified for a class meeting are mandatory and
required prior to class. Certain readings may be posted electronically where possible.

Week 1 - Wednesday, January 9, 2012 (3:35 p.m. to 5:25 p.m.)

Topic(s): Introduction to the class. Overview of Shari‘ah, Islamic thought and


practice, the place of Shari‘ah within the Islamic religion, and Shari‘ah-oriented
transactions.

Reading(s): Arshad A. Ahmed, co-authored with Umar F. Moghul, Contractual


Forms in Islamic Finance Law and Islamic Investment Company of the Gulf (Bahamas)
Ltd. v. Symphony Gems N.V. & Others: A First Impression of Islamic Finance, 27
Fordham International Law Journal 150-154, 156-165 (December 2003)
Seyyed Hossein Nasr, The Heart of Islam 113-156 (2004)

Week 2 - Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Topic(s): Introduction to the contemporary practice of Islamic finance and


transactions.

Reading(s): Usmani, An Introduction to Islamic Finance 9-16


El-Gamal, Islamic Finance 7-17

Week 3 - Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Topic(s): Mudārabah and Mushārakah.

Reading(s): Usmani, An Introduction to Islamic Finance 17-30, 31-36


Pierre-Yves Mathonet and Thomas Meyer, J Curve Exposure 16-
19 [Box 2.2] (2007)
©Arshad A. Ahmed, Esq. and Abrar A. Hussain, Esq.

Week 4 - Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Topic(s): Modes of Financing. Introduction to ribā.

Reading(s): Usmani, An Introduction to Islamic Finance 37-64

Week 5 - Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Topic(s): Ribā. Is ribā equivalent to interest?

Reading(s): El-Gamal, Islamic Finance 46-63


M. Omar Farooq, Qarḍ Hasan, Wadi‘ah/Amānah and Bank
Deposits: Applications and Misapplications of Some Concepts in Islamic Banking (2008)

Week 6 - Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Topic(s): Murābahah.

Reading(s): Usmani, An Introduction to Islamic Finance 65-108

Week 7 - Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Topic(s): Ijārah.

Reading(s): Usmani, An Introduction to Islamic Finance 109-127

Week 8 - Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Topic(s): Shari‘ah-related home financing in the U.S. Regulatory effects on, and
dispensations in favor of, Islamic banking. Case studies of (w) OCC interpretive letters
806 (1997) and 867 (1999) in favor of Bank of Kuwait, (x) Bank of England ruling re:
stamp duty, (y) Murray v. Paulson (2008), and (z) Awad v. Ziriax (Nov. 29, 2010)

Reading(s): Rulings to be provided.


©Arshad A. Ahmed, Esq. and Abrar A. Hussain, Esq.

Week 9 - Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Topic(s): Adjudication of early Shari‘ah-related transactional disputes in Western,


non-Shari‘ah tribunals. Case studies of (x) Islamic Investment Company of the Gulf
(Bahamas) Ltd. v. Symphony Gems N.V. & Others (QBD Comm Ct, 13 February 2002),
(y) Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd & Ors v Shamil Bank of Bahrain EC (EWCA Civ 19,
28 January 2004) and (z) Murray v. Geithner (E. D. Mich., Jan. 14, 2011)

Reading(s): Cases to be provided.

Week 10 - Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Topic(s): Screens, purification and the advent of the Dow Jones Islamic Index.
Applications thereof, e.g., in “Islamic mutual funds.” Shari‘ah supervisory boards.

Reading(s): El-Gamal, Islamic Finance 117-129, 133-134


Natalie Schoon, Islamic Asset Management: An Asset Class on its
Own? 151-168

Week 11 - Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Topic(s): Sukūk (“Islamic bonds”).

Reading(s): El-Gamal, Islamic Finance 97-116


Andreas A. Jobst, The Economics of Islamic Finance and
Securitization, IMF Working Paper (August 2007)
Alternative Finance Investment Bonds bill (S2792-2011) and
Memorandum in Support thereof [both available online at
<http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/api/1.0/html/bill/S2792-2011>]

Week 12 - Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Topic(s): Consumer fraud concerns and the rise of halal food statutes. The question
of transparency in Shari‘ah-related transactions.

Reading(s): New Jersey Halal Food Consumer Protection Act (N.J. Stat. ß
56:8-98 (2003))
Tennessee bill 1028 (known as the “Material Support to
Designated Entities Act of 2011”)
©Arshad A. Ahmed, Esq. and Abrar A. Hussain, Esq.

Week 13 - Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Topic(s): Institutional forms: banks, investment funds, takāful and waqfs. The
question of Islamic finance as constituting ethical or socially responsible finance.

Reading(s): M. Kabir Hassan and Michael Mahlknecht, Islamic Capital


Markets: Products and Strategies 185-199 (“The Evolution of Takaful Products”)
El-Gamal, Islamic Finance 135-156
Timur Kuran, The Absence of the Corporation in Islamic Law:
Origins and Persistence, 53 Am. J. Comp. L. 785 (2005)

Week 14 - Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Topic(s): Summary and Final Remarks.

Reading(s): El-Gamal, Islamic Finance 26-45


William C. Chittick, Can the Islamic Intellectual Heritage Be
Recovered? (October 1998)

END OF COURSE

FINAL EXAM TO FOLLOW

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