"The publication of Islamic Banking and its Operations is part of the Institute of Islamic Banking & Insurance's efforts to educate and train - actually, to empower - those junior and middle management level staff currently in Islamic Banks and to attract others to the cause.

The book scores particularly highly in two aspects. First, it lays out its objectives for the reader to see and the book sticks to achieving those objectives single-mindedly. Second, it has been written with a clarity of style which will enhance its usefulness to the new generation of Islamic Bankers - its primary target audience. The clarity and the high ease-to-read factor prevent Islamic Banking and its Operations from becoming the kind of dry text book which is quickly discarded.

As a practitioner, I am pleased to commend Zafar Ahmad Khan's book, both to those students who are interested in getting beyond the generalities of what makes Islamic Banking tick, and to those employed in the industry who need some guidance notes to refer to in their every day work. It will also be helpful to others involved in the Islamic Banking industry - regulators, lawyers and academics - as a refresher.

Islamic Banking and its Operations, is, I think, a very good book indeed. It is also, notwithstanding its understated manner, a most unusual book within the library of Islamic Banking works in that it describes and discusses what the Islamic Banking industry can and should do now , rather than lapsing into what Islamic Banking could and might be if the leviathan of conventional banking had not already had a head start of half a millennium on it."

Duncan Smith
CEO, Arab Banking Coprporation,
London, UK