Islamic estate planning is an important aspect of wealth management and financial planning. Currently, Islamic estate planning, which makes up a part of Islamic financial planing, is not well-developed and needs further enhancement and improvement for it to flourish so that every Muslim can benefit from it. The important components of Islamic estate planning include hiba, wasiyya, waqf, takaful and fara'id (Islamic law of inheritance), among others. This chapter discusses some of the major issues pertaining to theses components and offers recommendations to resolve them.

Wealth in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has mostly been fuelled by oil and gas revenues. These petrodollar flows have been increasing over the long term particularly with the rising oil prices. Based on average crude oil prices of USD 70 per barrel, it is estimated that the amount of oil revenue profits of the six GCC states - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) - will tripple over the next 14 years (Farrell, 2005). How the GCC deploys this increasing wealth is of high interest to the world. Historically, the GCC has relied on the financial markets of the United States and Europe to manage their investments.

Basel III has redefined the criteria for regulatory capital instruments. Accordingly, Islamic banking institutions (IBIs) have to consider the issuance of instruments that would meet both the objectives of Basel III and Shari'ah requirements. This research particularly aims to compare the regulatory requirements for issuing Tier-2 (T2) capital instruments as defined by Basel III, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and IFSB-15. In this regard, the research examines the Shari'ah issues related to subordination and conversion arising in exchange-based contracts (such as murabahah and ijarah sukuk) and equity-based contracts (such as mudarabah and wakalah sukuk). The study relies on library research to collect secondary data in the form of classical works of Islamic jurisprudence, analyses such work and links it with the present day regulatory requirements. The study finds that there are Shari'ah concerns over the use of exchange-based contracts. However, the use of convertible mudarabah and wakalah sukuk could be justified.

Islamic banks provide similar trade finance facilities to those of conventional banks. They intermediate between buyers (i.e., importers) and sellers (i.e., exporters), act as a custodian of documents, and provide means to reduce payment risks via different payment terms (e.g., open account, documentary collection and letter of credit (LC)). They also provide financing - as need be - to help with working capital tied to the trade transactions. This research focuses only on financing by Islamic banks to importers that involve LCs. Different underlying Shari'ah contracts are used for import financing facilities under LC, the most common being the murabahah contract. At the time of sale, the existence of the subject matter and its ownership by the seller are the key requirements for the validity of a murabahah contract. In the absence of either of these requirements, the contract is considered null and void.

The financial re-engineering of old concepts is a new trend in the field of Islamic finance. It has been termed as 'New Horizon 2.0' by Shinsuke (2014) - an approach which aims to revitalize original instruments once practiced in medieval Islam to harness the potential of Islamic finance to better meet the needs of communities. It is also in line with the continuous innovative efforts of the industry to apply existing concepts, contracts, and instruments that are Shari'ah-compliant in the modern context to resolve contemporary socio-economic issues. In light of this background, this chapter examines how the age-old philanthropic concept of waqf has been integrated in the Islamic finance industry to revive its applications in contemporary societies. The chapter focuses on the inter-links between waqf and the Islamic capital market (ICM). Accordingly, it examines the new trends of waqf that have emerged in the ICM.

Saudi Arabia is one of the largest Islamic finance markets in the world and therefore holds a position of special importance in the study of Islamic finance as well as in the study of shari'ah governance in Islamic financial institutions (IFIs). Saudi Arabia is the largest Islamic banking market in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) by market share; its Islamic banking assets accounted for 51.5 per cent of the domestic banking sector as at 2Q2017. Globally, Saudi Arabia ranked second after Iran among twelve jurisdictions where Islamic banking is systematically important. It accounted for 20.4 per cent of global Islamic banking assets in 2017 as compared to Iran, which accounted for 34.4 per cent. Even in the development of other segments of Islamic finance, Saudi Arabia holds a significant position. It ia active in the sukuk market, with its issuances - including those by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) - representing 33 per cent of total global issuances in 2017, thus ranking after Malaysia, which registered 38 per cent of total issuances. Saudi Arabia also accounted for 37 per cent of total Islamic funds in 2017, while 32 per cent of Islamic funds were domiciled in Malaysia. Moreover, it is the largest takaful market registering 38 per cent of global takaful contributions, followed by Iran (34 per cent), Malaysia (7 per cent) and the United Arab Emirates (6 per cent).

This research aims to compare the regulatory capital instruments for Islamic banking institutions (IBIs) - in particular the qualifying Additional Tier 1 (AT1) capital instruments - as defined by Basel III, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and IFSB-15 (issued by the Islamic Financial Services Board). Principally, the research examines the Shari'ah issues, especially related to subordination, arising in equity-based contracts when used for structuring AT1 capital instruments. In particular, it examines the mudarabah sukuk issued by the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) in 2012. The study finds that the most appropriate Shari'ah contract that would be suitable for structuring AT1 capital instruments would be musharakah. The present study is considered an original attempt in examining an under-researched topic relating to Basel III and its Shari'ah perspective. The study will be an important reference point to Islamic banks when structuring AT1 capital instruments.

The global sukuk market contracted 6% y-o-y in 2022 to USD154 bil, driven mainly by a drop in sukuk issuances from key market players, more specifically the GCC and Indonesia. In the GCC region, the Ukraine conflict resulted in supply chain disruptions which resulted in higher oil prices. This led to lower funding requirements by the GCC government and consequently, smaller sovereign sukuk issuances. Inflationary pressures, rate hiking throughout the year and geopolitical tensions created an unfavourable economic environment for most of global issuers as well. Despite that, the global sukuk market fared well considering the record number of rate hikes in 2022. Malaysia and Saudi Arabia remained as the two largest sukuk issuers commanding 63% of issuances in 2022. Sovereign sukuk was the mainstay form of sukuk issuance constituting 57.3% of the total. Corporate sukuk issuances staged a comeback in 4Q 2022, largely contributed by Malaysian corporates, after consecutive quarters of decline demonstrating promising signs of recovery going into 2023 as rates are expected to stabilise. The green and sustainability sukuk market experienced a new high of US$8.1 bil issuances in 2022 (2021: US$6 bil, unlike the wider global sukuk market). Demand was driven mainly by investors with ESG-centric investment mandates. This trend is expected to continue into 2023 as the current supply of ESG shariah-compliant issuances fall short of this demand. Notable issuances included Dubai Islamic Bank's US$750 mil sustainable Sukuk in November 2022.

The sukuk market is one of the fastest growing sectors in Islamic finance, with total sukuk outstanding valued at more than USD330 billion in the first quarter of 2016. The industry has witnessed evolution in the issuance of landmark and innovative structures: ranging from plain vanilla to more complex and hybrid structures such as convertible and exchangeable sukuk that allow investors to tap into the equity of reference companies; from short- to medium- to long-term and perpetual sukuk to meet the funding requirements of issuers; and from sovereign to corporate and retail sukuk to cater to the appetites of different classes of issuers and investors. Recently, more sukuk have been structured as a subordinated instrument to meet the regulatory capital requirement of Islamic banks and as a sustainable and responsible investment (SRI) tool to promote socially responsible financing and investment. Regardless of the technical and commercial features of sukuk, all structures must comply with the Shari'ah requirements, particularly those of underlying assets that back the issuance. This article narrates the dynamics of fiqhi opinions on sukuk assets based on the historical timeline of issuance starting from the first corporate sukuk by Shell MDS Malaysia in 1990 until the current development.

The book presents the various aspects of the theory of Islamic capital markets (ICM) and its operations by starting with the simplest ideas and moving on to the complex applied issues. The topics covered include: an overview of ICM and its development; Shari'ah principles, contracts and issues; regulatory and governance frameworks; risk management, accounting and taxation issues; details on different segments of the ICM, including sukuk, Shari'ah-compliant stocks, Islamic fund management, Islamic private equity and venture capital, Islamic derivatives and Islamic structures investment products; and future directions for the ICM.

As the Islamic finance industry continues to gain popularity in the financial sphere, the number of faithful investors who are interested in Shari'ah-compliant avenues for their investments also continues to increase. One of the most important of these is the equity market. However, it is evident in today's world that it is hard to find a joint stock company whose activities are completely compliant to Shari'ah principles and rulings. As a share of a company represents all the activities and underlying assets of the company, the Shari'ah noncompliance issue can emerge in the share. While the primary activities of a company are Shari'ah-compliant, its peripheral activities may be impermissible from the Shari'ah viewpoint. Meanwhile, the assets of the company can also be in the form of cash, debt, goods, usufruct or rights, which can raise the issue of trading ribawi (interest-based) items. Thus, the study addresses the issue of Shari'ah compliance and tradability of shares that represent a mixture of halal (permissible in Islamic law) and haram (impermissible in Islamic law) activities and assets.