Eid is a joyous and significant event on the Muslim Calendar. As Muslims often spend huge amounts of money to prepare for the celebration of Eid, it has also become a significant event on the retail calendar. Many retailers have dedicated promotions and manufacturers produce speciality products just for the period surrounding Eid. How should we as Muslims approach this time when it comes to how we spend our wealth?

Islam is a holistic religion. Therefore, any development of Islamic finance should correspond with the development of society.

Shari’ah compliant finance has become an established part of the financial landscape. We often hear about the growth, accessibility, and development of Islamic finance in the fields of asset management, banking and insurance (takaful). The term Islamic finance, or shari’ah complaint finance is generally used to identify financial products that comply with the laws of Islam. While this is undoubtedly a useful distinction, it is imperative that we engage beyond the terminology.

Islamic finance is merciful finance. The Qur’an starts with the name of our Lord, the “Divinely Merciful, the Intensely Merciful”. With a single exception, each and every subsequent chapter in the Qur’an starts in the exact same way. Additionally, the Qur’an goes on to describe the final Prophet ﷺ as “a mercy for existence”. The Qur’an and Prophetic tradition are the foundations upon which Islamic finance is built. Unsurprisingly, Islamic finance is a system filled with mercy and compassion. There are many ways in which this characteristic manifests itself.

Imagine a situation where you get your first salary, or your salary increases. You decide to put down a payment for a new car you’ve always wanted. On the way back home, you decide to treat yourself to takeaways because you can now easily afford it. You start buying more expensive shoes, get a new phone and go on holiday more often. Eventually, what was once seen as luxuries out of your reach is now seen as necessities. The cost of your lifestyle slowly creeps upwards and one day you suddenly realise that your finances are a mess.

This is called lifestyle creep and is viewed negatively from a financial planning perspective. How do we view lifestyle creep from an Islamic perspective?

I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard someone say, “money can’t buy happiness”, but is that really true? For many, accumulating wealth becomes a lifelong pursuit. Surely this should be a means towards our happiness, if not then why do we do it?

While the Prophet ﷺ and Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه planned their escape from Makkah, the notables of Makkah convened an emergency session to determine the future course of action and explore all areas that could lead to their arrest.

The Hijra was an era defining moment in the history of humanity. Unsurprisingly, intricate planning and thorough preparation went into this momentous event.

The hijra was a watershed moment in the history of Islam. The hijra irrevocably changed the economic, civilisational and social fabric of the Arabian peninsula. It heralded an era where Muslims were no longer an oppressed people, but a people who now had the freedom to shape their future - and by implication the future of humanity. Unsurprisingly, it was the year of the hijra that was chosen as the starting point for the lunar calendar.

Although the decision to leave Makkah wasn’t primarily an economic one, there are still numerous lessons we can learn from the migration, or hijra, of Prophet Muhamad ﷺ.

Cryptocurrency evangelists tout cryptocurrencies as the money of the future as it has proven that it can transfer value much faster, with lower costs, and higher security than many traditional systems while being operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As rosy as this sounds, it has one major flaw: volatility.

An approach to overcome this dilemma is the development of stablecoins which may also hold some value for Muslim idealists.

Smart contracts are programs on a blockchain that have immense potential for development in the field of shari’ah compliant finance.

Charity is as old as Islam itself; the methodology of giving has developed over time. With the advent of the digital revolution, charity slowly became digitized. In the modern era it is possible to donate to the impoverished who are thousands of miles away with the click of a button. Blockchain is a new frontier in the development of financial services. Incorporating blockchain into Islamic philanthropy has numerous benefits.

With the advent of Bitcoin, many Bitcoin evangelists have claimed that Bitcoin is “digital gold” as it mimics the properties of gold without the disadvantage of storage costs. Does this claim hold true or is it all a massive marketing stunt?

We live in a world of immense inequality. We live in a world where abject poverty is ignored by those who squander their riches on lavish lifestyles. One method that Islam uses to eradicate poverty is zakah. Given the development of our financial system, is zakah still a viable method to eradicate poverty or do we need to consider new methods?

Ramadan is a time of reflection, contemplation and the development of new levels of consciousness. One relationship we seldom think about developing during Ramadan is our relationship with wealth. Ramadan has numerous lessons to teach us regarding our approach towards wealth.

Sukuk has undergone immense innovation over the past few years. It is no longer a relatively obscure financial product. Sukuk are traded on major exchanges, issued by Muslim-minority countries, part of prominent portfolios and issued as green variants. Given the development of sukuk, we cannot but ask: where to from here?

The market for sukuk really took off in 2014 when several Muslim-minority countries issued their debut sukuk. These countries include South Africa, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Senegal, and the United Kingdom. To date well over 1.3 trillion Dollars worth of sukuk have been issued.

The last few years have seen new trends emerge such as the emergence of green and sustainability sukuk.

Are we witnessing the end of Bitcoin ?

How our everyday business activities can be elevated to an act of worship and a form of dawah

The challenges that the Metaverse poses for Islamic ethics