The Issue of Shares was written by Mufti Muhammad ibn Adam al Kawthari (Leicester) in 2000 and is based on his teacher’s book entitled ‘Introduction to Islamic Finance’. As books go, this is one of the shortest I have read at around 20 pages. It is also one of the most useful and practical books I have ever read.
With most books, authors usually use a good portion of the book to set the scene and contextualise the main themes of the book. But The Issue of Shares is different. The author presumes the reader is heavily interested in trading in shares and therefore the reader sufficiently understands the stock market. Thus, only a paragraph or two are afforded to discussing what stock markets are and what shares are.
Mufti Adam seldom wastes a word. Within a few paragraphs, he quickly gets into the serious issue of halal and haram. What I particularly love about this work is that the Mufti acknowledges opinions from scholars that hold a different opinion to himself, yet respectfully disagrees with them. So, in this short book, you’ll get access to Islamic verdicts as well as a brief exploration of other opinions.
There is also a short section of different types of transactions that exist, such as futures contracts. Here, the Mufti warns against its evils in a succinct style (which runs throughout the book).
I mentioned above that this small book is based on a bigger book written by his teacher. If it was possible to read only one, I’d advise Muslims to read this one. The reason for this is that The Issue of Shares is based on 'Introduction to Islamic Finance'. While the latter is an excellent book in its own right, it’s not specific to trading on the stock market. Rather, it provides an overview of different islamic finance contexts. Trading on the stock market happens to be one of those contexts. As it is not exclusively an in-depth look at the stock market, it omits the issue of paying zakat on income from the stock market. However, The Issue of Shares fills in this crucial aspect using easy-to-understand examples.
If you’ve read any academic writing on Islamic Finance or the stock market, you'll know that it is really difficult to understand or action any of it. So when an ‘aalim of unquestionable quality writes something so concise and practical, one cannot help but appreciate it.
For any newcomer to the world of stock markets that cares about abiding by Islamic rules, this book is a must read.
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