Kuala Lumpur, January 12, 2010 – Islamic finance has witnessed tremendous growth since its inception. Its growth has attracted many players, even in Western countries. However, textbooks on Islamic finance remain scarce.

To address this issue, ISRA has undertaken to produce several textbooks that are expected be the premier reference for both public and private universities, locally and internationally.

Initially, Bank Negara Malaysia approached Cagamas Berhad, the National Mortgage Corporation, to support and sponsor the project and to incorporate this project as a part of Cagamas’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme. Cagamas agreed, and ISRA has been assigned to undertake and lead the project, as well as to be the publisher.

On Tuesday, 12 January 2010, ISRA conducted a workshop with regard to the Textbook Project. The main purpose of this workshop was to discuss and finalize the objectives as well as the context of the textbook. Both academicians and practitioners attended the workshop and provided their views and suggestions on the topics. All of the participants were eager and happy to support the project and offered their expertise. This book will be a good source of reference for students, academicians and practitioners.

Taking into account the suggestions of practitioners and academicians garnered from the workshop, the book outline will be finalized and given to the respective authors. The write-up of the book is expected to be completed by April 2010, and the target date for publication is October of this year.

Edib Smolo