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Contrary to its conventional counterpart, which uses interest-based methods of financing, Islamic banks commonly use sale, lease, or partnership modes of financing. The murābaḥah (cost-plus sale) and ijārah muntahiyah bi-t-tamlīk (lease-to-own) products achieve similar end-results, where both products are used as Islamic financial mechanisms for Islamic banks to achieve profits on financed assets, and where the client benefits from the financed asset—leading the client to ultimately own the asset at the end of the financing tenor without limitations (whether releasing the asset as a collateral for a murābaḥah or transferring the title deed to the client at the end of an ' ijārah muntahiyah bi-t-tamlīk ' contract). Using a qualitative methodology, this article investigates how Islamic banks choose between using murābaḥah or ijārah muntahiyah bi-t-tamlīk when financing a customer. This article includes empirical work by analysing primary and secondary data pertaining to three Islamic banks in the Kingdom of Bahrain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For most scholars, the concept of selling short, where financial assets are sold without prior possession or ownership, transgresses Islamic principles. However, the Sharīah Advisory Council of the Securities Commission of Malaysia (SAC) went against the majority by permitting short selling in 2006. Conventional finance points out that short selling increases liquidity, facilitates price discovery, and enables informational efficiency. Muslim scholars are facing a dilemma: on the one hand, Sharīah principles dictate that Islamic capital market transactions and instruments should remain devoid of elements of ambiguity and prohibited characteristics, but on the other hand, the Sharīah also demands that the transactions be of social utility to the participating parties. It appears that the SAC allows regulated short selling on the basis of ijārah with istisān. This article strives to highlight the jurisprudential issues regarding short selling and contribute to an Islamic angle on the ethical implications affecting this phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This article discusses contractualism in employment relationships from the perspectives of common law and the Shariah. While common law has developed a modern concept of employment relationships-a contract of service as opposed to a contract for services-Islamic history has shown a similar development. In fact, Islam has contributed immensely to the emergence of a contract of service. That contribution is the reason this article adopts an intertwined discourse of both systems. However, there are differences in such relationships; whereas an element of control dominates the contract of service in common law, the Islamic system places more emphasis on the principle of brotherhood. However, when it comes to the mutual trust and confidence of both parties in implementing the implied obligations under contract, both systems share the same values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]