In just fifty years, Islamic finance has grown from a tiny experiment operated from a Volkswagen van to a thriving global industry worth more than the entire financial sector of India, South America, or Eastern Europe. You can now shop with an Islamic credit card, invest in Islamic bonds, and buy Islamic derivatives. But how has this spectacular growth been possible, given Islam鈥檚 strictures against interest? In The Paradox of Islamic Finance, Ryan Calder examines the Islamic finance boom, arguing that shariah scholars鈥攅xperts in Islamic law who certify financial products as truly Islamic鈥攈ave made the industry a profitable, if controversial, hybrid of religion and markets.
Critics say Islamic finance merely reproduces conventional interest-based finance, with the shariah scholars鈥� blessing. From an economic perspective, they are right: the most popular Islamic products act like conventional interest-bearing ones, earning healthy profits for Islamic banks and global financial heavyweights like Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs. Yet as Calder shows by delving into the shariah scholars鈥� day-to-day work, what seem like high-tech work-arounds to outsiders carry deep and nuanced meaning to the scholars鈥攁nd to the hundreds of millions of Muslims who respect their expertise. He argues that shariah scholars鈥� conception of Islamic finance is perfectly suited to the age of financialization and the global efflorescence of shariah-minded Islam.
Ryan Calder is assistant professor of sociology and director of the Program in Islamic Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Before entering academia, he worked in management consulting and then covered the Libyan Arab Spring uprising for The Atlantic and Foreign Policy.
"One of the key classical texts in economic sociology with an original contribution to our understanding of the relationship between religion and capitalism in the 21st century. . . . [The Paradox of Islamic Finance] is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the dynamic relationship between religion, finance, and capitalism in contemporary times."鈥擣ulya Apaydin, European Journal of Sociology聽
“What makes Islamic finance Islamic? In this deeply researched book, Ryan Calder goes around the world to penetrate the professional and ethical universe of the guardians of this trillion-dollar industry: the shariah scholars, who guarantee the legitimacy of its operations, develop and certify its products, and in the process teach the faithful how to live a fiqh-minded life. A stunning analysis and a captivating read."—Marion Fourcade, author of Economists and Societies: Discipline and Profession in the United States, Britain, and France, 1890s to 1990s
“Finally we have a book that takes seriously the organizational and intellectual workings of Islamic finance without romanticization or rebuke. Calder's sociological account tells us why this sector of the global economy is here to stay amidst twenty-first century capitalism.”—Kevan Harris, University of California, Los Angeles
“An account of Islamic finance that pulls off the rare feat of being both sweeping and nuanced, offering an essential new analysis of a major global market. Anyone who wants to understand culture and morality in economic life should read this book.”—Sarah Quinn, University of Washington
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