This book provides researchers and students with an understanding of the basic legal tenets of the Islamic finance industry, studying the real economic effects of those tenets using the tools of the modern economic theory. Split into four parts, the book begins with an introduction to the history and a legal framework for Islamic banking, covering typical Islamic financial products such as Sukuk and Takaful and examining the structure of Islamic financial institutions. It then analyzes and discusses the Miller-Modigliani Theorem, which is of direct relevance to Islamic banks which are prohibited to charge interest and often have to rely of profit-loss sharing agreements. Part III of the book introduces the reader to modern mechanism design theory, paying particular attention to optimal contracting under hidden action and hidden information, and final part of the book applies the tools of economic theory to understand performance of Islamic financial institutions such as Islamic banks and Takaful operators.

Part I. Islamic finance: rationale, history, instruments and the legal framework.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Islamic financial instruments.- 3. Historical roots and evolution of Islamic financial thought.- Part II. Law of unexpected consequences.- 4. The incidence of taxation.- 5. Basics of Corporate Finance: Miller-Modigliani (MM) Theorem.- Part III. Game theory and mechanism design.- 6. Game theory.- 7. Revelation Principle.- 8. Monopolistic Screening.- 9. The multi-dimensional screening model.- Part IV. Mechanism design applications to Islamic finance.- 10. Business loans, trust and contract restriction faced by Islamic banks.- 11. Loans provision and adverse selection within orthodox religious communities.- 12. Shariah compliance and risk-inventive trade-offs.