REVIEWS

Obaidullah, M. (2008) Introduction to Islamic Microfinance, IBF Net, New Delhi Download the document here.

Reviewed by Dr Wafica Ghoul, Beirut

This monograph presents a thorough review of microfinance in general, and Islamic microfinance in particular.

Briefly description of content:

The monograph describes the various Microfinance Products, Microenterprise Development namely livelihood enterprises and growth enterprises; the various Microfinance Models; Microfinance Best Practices. It analyses what conventional microfinance and Islamic finance have in common. It evaluates the fundamental conditions of a successful microfinance program, and reviews Islamic Norms and Microfinance Best Practices. It describes a model of microfinance using Islamic major non-profit modes of Islamic microfinance – zakah, awqaf and qard hasan. Additionally, it discusses a Composite Model of Islamic Microfinance

Possible audience for the work:

This monograph can serve as a complete and thorough introduction to microfinance both conventional and Islamic. A condensed version or selected parts can be used as a chapter in an Islamic finance class.

Relevance of the information:

The information is extremely relevant today with the growing interest in using Islamic finance as a tool to reduce poverty worldwide

Special features:

A few cases in the monograph can be used for stimulating class discussion.

Defect, weakness, or bias if any:

A Western non-Muslim reader might be confused with the detailed information about the religion of Islam. Some details can be extracted from the manuscript and presented in an appendix.

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