ABSTRACT
Conceptions of the practice of Islamic finance tend to be associated primarily with Muslims and countries with predominantly Muslim populations. This chapter focuses on the potential of Islamic finance to enhance private investment business opportunities in, principally, countries that do not incorporate the principles of Islamic ShariBah into the secular law and do not afford ShariBah principles dominance in legal, regulatory, financial, economic, tax, and socio-cultural institutions and practices. It discusses two frequently used Islamic finance contracts. Both are sale contracts. In considering Islamic finance in Secular Jurisdictions, it is constructive to shed preconceptions and adopt the view that the commonalities between contracts and structures used in Islamic finance and those used in interest-based finance far exceed the differences.
