Part II Islamic Law and Contracts in Practice, 7 Murabaha and Tawarruq

This chapter focuses on the murabaha structure, which is probably the most commonly used Islamic finance structure in modern Islamic banking. The simplicity of structure in its current application has promoted its use as a popular and flexible Islamic financing instrument. Indeed, the use of the murabaha has been extended beyond a widespread application as a standalone instrument to a composite component of Sukuk issuance in modern application. The murabaha contract is understood within the Islamic tradition to have a pre-Islamic origin evidenced in pre-Islamic literature and characterized as a fiduciary contract with the objective to assist less knowledgeable buyers in the determination of the fair price of unfamiliar goods. Today, murabaha is commonly used as a mode of finance, in its variant structures, for the acquisition of assets, commodities, and goods in the ordinary course of trade. The structure is also used as a corporate finance tool for working capital and liquidity management. The chapter then considers commodity murabaha (tawarruq) and its application.