Hedging in Islamic Finance by Bashir Ali Khallat
HEDGING
IN ISLAMIC FINANCE
SAMI AL-SUWAILEM
Occasional Paper No. 10
Rab�c II, 1427 H – May, 2006 G
� Islamic Development Bank, 2006
King Fahad National Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Al-Suwailem, Sami
Hedging in Islamic Finance/Sami Al-Suwailem
Jeddah, 2006
150 p; 24 � 17 cm
ISBN: 9960-32-160-6
1. Hedging (Finance) 2. Islamic finance
I. Title
332.645 dc 1427/1811
L.D. no. 1427/1811
ISBN: 9960-32-160-6
CONTENTS
Forward ix
Abstract xi
I. Introduction 13
Risk Dilemma ........................................................................................................... 14
Message of Islamic Finance ........................................................................................ 15
Objective of the Paper ................................................................................................. 15
Organization of the Paper ........................................................................................... 16
Note on References ..................................................................................................... 17
Acknowledgement ....................................................................................................... 17
II. State of Risk: Volatilities of Financial Markets 19
Stock Markets ........................................................................................................... 19
Commodities Markets................................................................................................. 22
Currencies Markets .................................................................................................... 24
Stability of Financial Markets..................................................................................... 25
III. Derivatives 27
Structure of Derivatives ............................................................................................... 27
Size of Derivatives Market ........................................................................................... 28
Futures ..................................................................................................................... 30
Options..................................................................................................................... 31
Struggle for Legitimacy ............................................................................................... 32
Economic Debate ....................................................................................................... 35
Derivatives and Risk .................................................................................................. 36
Willingness vs. Ability to Take Risks........................................................................... 37
Commoditizing Risk .................................................................................................. 39
Artificial Risks .......................................................................................................... 40
Severance of Risk ....................................................................................................... 41
v
Risk and Time .......................................................................................................... 42
Market Distribution................................................................................................... 42
Law of Large Numbers............................................................................................... 44
Systemic Risk ............................................................................................................ 45
The Two Edges of Derivatives .................................................................................... 47
Limits to Derivatives’ Protection .................................................................................. 48
Who Ultimatley Bears the Risk? ................................................................................. 50
Winner and Losers in Derivatives ................................................................................ 51
Risk Dilemma........................................................................................................... 52
IV. The Islamic Approach 55
Risk in Islamic Economics.......................................................................................... 56
Hedging.................................................................................................................... 57
Tolerable Risk .......................................................................................................... 58
Inevitability of Risk ................................................................................................... 58
Causality.................................................................................................................. 60
Investment vs. Gambling............................................................................................. 61
Choice under Uncertainty............................................................................................ 62
A Causal Decision Rule ............................................................................................. 63
Statistical Measure .................................................................................................... 65
Derivatives ................................................................................................................ 67
V. Theory of Gharar 69
Types of Games......................................................................................................... 69
Measure of Gharar .................................................................................................... 73
Characteristics of Zero-sum Games .............................................................................. 74
Expected vs. Actual Measures ..................................................................................... 77
Risk and Zero-sum Structure ...................................................................................... 79
Two Measures of Gharar ........................................................................................... 82
Value of Risk Management......................................................................................... 84
VI. Financial Engineering: An Islamic Perspective 87
Definition and Concept............................................................................................... 87
Value of Innovation.................................................................................................... 88
Sharıcah and Creativity .............................................................................................. 89
vi
Regulatory Arbitrage .................................................................................................. 90
State of Financial Innovation ...................................................................................... 91
Principles of Islamic Financial Engineering .................................................................. 92
Principle of Balance ................................................................................................... 92
Interdependence.......................................................................................................... 93
Principle of Acceptability ............................................................................................ 95
Roots of Prohibited Dealings ....................................................................................... 96
Principle of Integration ............................................................................................... 98
Integration and Specialization ..................................................................................... 99
Evaluation of Financial Products............................................................................... 100
Principle of Consistency ............................................................................................ 102
Strategies of Product Development .............................................................................. 104
Imitation................................................................................................................. 105
Mutation ................................................................................................................ 107
Satisfaction ............................................................................................................. 108
Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 109
VII. Islamic Instruments for Hedging 111
Economic Hedging ................................................................................................... 112
Alignment of Assets and Liabilities............................................................................. 112
Natural Hedge......................................................................................................... 114
Dynamic Hedging .................................................................................................... 115
Cooperative Hedging................................................................................................. 116
Cooperative Hedging for Currency Risks ..................................................................... 118
Bilateral Mutual Adjustment .................................................................................... 119
Contractual Hedging ................................................................................................ 120
Mudarabah .......................................................................................................... 121
�
Misreporting Risk .................................................................................................... 121
Credit-based Mudarabah ........................................................................................ 122
�
Capital Risk ........................................................................................................... 123
Third Party Hedging................................................................................................ 124
Deferred-price Sale ................................................................................................... 125
Liquidity Risk ......................................................................................................... 126
vii
Rate of Return Risk ................................................................................................. 126
Diversified Deferred Price ......................................................................................... 127
Commodity-linked Bonds.......................................................................................... 129
Currency Risk in Murabaha ................................................................................... 130
�
Value-based Salam .................................................................................................. 131
Discussion .............................................................................................................. 132
Liquidity of Salam................................................................................................... 135
Rate of Return Risk ................................................................................................. 136
Other Applications of Value-based Salam................................................................... 136
Payoff Structure of Contractual Hedging..................................................................... 137
Specialized Institutions for Risk Management ............................................................. 138
Summary ................................................................................................................ 139
VIII. Conclusion 141
References 143
viii
FORWARD
Development of Islamic financial products through appropriate
processes of financial engineering has remained an important area of
research at the Islamic Research and Training Institute since its
inception in 1981. Financial product development is also a priority
area for the Institute’s current and future research.
In this area the Islamic financial industry is facing two competing
challenges. Understandably, treasury managers of the Islamic financial
institutions face the immediate challenge of managing the financial
risks arising from their operations. In order to remain sustainable,
these institutions immediately need financial products that can be
utilized for hedging against the various financial risks. On the other
hand, the industry also needs such financial products that can
guarantee the industry’s long run viability as a genuinely distinct
business model. While the first is an immediate concern of treasury
management, the second is also of tremendous importance for the
future development of the industry.
ix
The present Occasional Paper on “Hedging in Islamic Finance” by
Dr. Sami Al-Suwailem makes an attempt to systematically address the
second and more fundamental challenge. This approach is hoped not
only to address the future and more vital developmental challenges of
the industry, but it is also expected to put the immediate challenges of
the institutions in their proper perspective. The research puts the
economic analysis of the subject in perspective of the extensive
historical literature on Islamic finance and offers premises for
developing a number of Islamic financial products for hedging and risk
management.
Financial engineering helps in unpacking and decomposition of
financial risks that underlie assets in terms of their unique
characteristics. Hence financial engineering helps in the development
of financial products that can be used to hedge against those specific
risks. It is hoped that the present research will promote understanding
of the vital subject from the perspective of Islamic finance and
motivate other researchers to deal more intensively and in an objective
manner with the several ideas presented in the paper. The Institute
invites with encouragement such research works from interested
scholars.
Bashir Ali Khallat
Acting Director, IRTI
x
ABSTRACT
The paper suggests several instruments for controlling and reducing
risks commonly associated with Islamic contracts. These include risks
of capital, rate of return, liquidity, as well as currency risks. Some
conventional hedging tools that appear consistent with Islamic
principles are also presented.
In the process, the Islamic approach towards risk is surveyed,
and strategies for Islamic product development are outlined. Generally
speaking, from an Islamic point of view, risk cannot be traded
independent from ownership of the underlying asset. Prevailing
conventional instruments, in contrast, take the opposite direction. Risk
is severed from ownership and thus treated as a commodity in itself.
This makes risk management and wealth creation move in different
directions, and thus compete for scarce resources. More important,
commoditizing risk removes barriers on growth and proliferation of
risk, and its distribution becomes distorted against the more willing but
less able to bear it.
Islamic hedging instruments avoid these ailments by
integrating risk with ownership and thus value-adding activities. This
assures the possibility of mutual gain meanwhile reducing and
xi
managing risks. Islamic instruments therefore combine risk
management with wealth creation, leading to better performance on
both fronts.
Hedging could be also carried out through not-for-profit
arrangements. Mutual hedging serves the needs of involved parties in
avoiding risks with minimum restrictions. Since it is not for profit,
mutual hedging avoids the problems of speculation and increasing
systemic risks.
xii
I
INTRODUCTION
Islamic financial industry is growing rapidly. Markets are increasingly
appreciating Islamic instruments, and more institutions are willing to
provide Islamic services to their clients. Yet, Islamic instruments,
particularly in the area of hedging and risk management, are not at
pace with the industry’s growth.
Islamic financial institutions face a variety of types of risks
associated with Islamic modes of investment and finance. The need to
address these risks from an Islamic perspective is widely acknowledged
in the industry, and has been the subject of several studies, papers, as
well as conferences and workshops (e.g. Khan and Ahmed, 2001;
IFSB, 2005).
This paper focuses on Islamic instruments for hedging risks
associated with Islamic finance. Although not all types of risk are
peculiar to Islamic modes, strategies to neutralize and manage such
risks are certainly different from conventional approaches.
For this purpose the paper develops a general framework for
studying contracting under uncertainty, or gharar. This framework
then is used as a benchmark against which suggested instruments are
evaluated. Along the way, conventional instruments, mainly
14 I. INTRODUCTION
derivatives, are discussed. The contrast between the two types of
instruments accordingly becomes conceptually clear.
Risk Dilemma
Risk is a challenge in both Islamic as well as conventional
finance. On one hand experts and specialists agree that no economic
growth can take place without taking risks. “Nothing ventured nothing
gained” is the first principle of investment. Further, total absence of
risk distorts incentives and hence deteriorates economic efficiency.
Thus, risk is inevitable for economic progress. On the other hand,
excessive risk will hurdle investment and deter growth. The question
then becomes: How to reach a balance between these two ends?
Islamic finance provides a general approach for reaching the
answer to this crucial question. When it comes to for-profit
transactions, risk cannot be separated from ownership of real goods
and services. This is not because risk as such is desirable; in fact, it is
exactly the opposite. An effective strategy to minimize and control risk
is to have it integrated and embedded in real activities. In this manner,
risk becomes naturally controlled by real economy. Meanwhile this
would stimulate real activities to generate sufficient wealth in order to
compensate for such risks. Since these activities are the driving force
for economic growth, the strategy therefore helps achieve two goals at
once: creating value and minimizing risk.
Conventional finance provides many tools for managing risk.
Some of these are consistent with the Islamic approach, as discussed
later in the paper. However, prevailing instruments, namely
I. INTRODUCTION 15
derivatives, take the opposite direction: They separate risk from
underlying assets. This makes risk management and wealth creation
move in different directions, and thus compete for available limited
resources. Further, commoditization of risk leads to its proliferation
and disproportionate distribution. The final result is higher risks,
increasing instability and concentration of wealth. Unfortunately, with
exponential growth of derivatives, data show increasing market
volatilities, not increasing stability. As discussed later, experts are
increasingly aware of these instabilities and the associated costs to real
economies.
Message of Islamic Finance
Islamic finance is not only for Muslims. It is for entire
humanity: “We have send you solely for the mercy of all worlds”
(21:107). This imposes a serious challenge to Muslim economists,
namely to successfully deliver the message of Allah (s.w.t) to humanity,
and positively contribute to world economic stability and prosperity.
Objective of the Paper
The paper’s objective is to develop a framework for studying
risk and strategies for designing risk management instruments based
on Islamic principles and rules of exchange. Several instruments and
products are provided as applications to such strategies.
16 I. INTRODUCTION
Organization of the Paper
The paper is organized as follows:
Section II reviews volatilities of major financial markets. Data
show that volatilities are generally rising. This view is confirmed by
leading experts, researchers, as well as policy makers. Despite
ingenious risk management tools invented in the last decade, risks
appear increasing rather than decreasing.
Section III reviews the ongoing debate on derivatives.
Derivatives as such can be used for both risk management as well as
pure speculation. The literature shows that derivatives presented a
difficult challenge to economists as well as legislators. The legal and
economic differences between speculation using derivatives and
wagering were and still not resolved. Economic consequences of rising
speculation are frequently associated with rising instability.
Section IV presents an Islamic perspective on risk. The section
reviews positions of Muslim scholars regarding risk, and that risk as
such is not desirable for its own sake; rather, value-creation through
real activities is the objective. However, such activities inevitably
involve risk. How to distinguish legitimate risk taking from gambling is
discussed, and it is shown that the statistical median rule is an effective
measure in differentiating the two.
Section V outlines a theory of gharar, based on Shar�cah rules as
well as economic reasoning. It is argued that gharar is a predominantly
zero-sum game, and that this structure distorts incentives and system
behavior causing higher risk and instability. The theory is integrated
with the Islamic perspective on risk to formulate a general framework
I. INTRODUCTION 17
of the subject. This framework is used as a basis for developing Islamic
instruments.
Section VI discusses financial engineering from an Islamic
standpoint. Principles and strategies for product development are
presented and discussed, together with examples from contemporary
Islamic financial practices.
Section VII suggests three hedging strategies, each
encompassing several instruments. Each instrument is discussed and
evaluated. These instruments however are suggestive and are
presented to stimulate discussions on the subject rather than as
conclusively accepted contracts from Shar�cah standpoint.
The conclusion is given in section VIII.
Note on References
English references are cited by name and year, while Arabic
references are cited by name and number in brackets, e.g. al-Dharir
[12], without stating the year. Many references are available on the
Internet and thus quotations from such sources are not referenced to
page numbers. The web address however is cited in the References
section. When the source is simply a web site, the address as well as
the date it was visited is given in parentheses, e.g. (investopedia.com;
12.2005).
Acknowledgement
Many ideas presented in the paper have been under
development for years. The paper builds on previous research, and
18 I. INTRODUCTION
benefited greatly from numerous discussions with colleagues as well as
practitioners in Islamic and conventional banks. I find it difficult to
recall all their names, but I shall not forget their positive contributions.
My colleagues at IRTI provided numerous suggestions and
improvements. In particular, I’d like to thank Dr. Tariqullah Khan,
Dr. Habib Ahmed, and Dr. Salman Ali for encouragement and
helpful comments. I also thank Dr. Muhammed Tariq, director of the
treasury, and Dr. Muddasir Siddiqi, advisor to the legal department,
both from IDB Group, for their careful reading and critical comments.
Br. Ibrahim Gharbi from IDB Library provided immeasurable
support; I greatly appreciate his efforts.
I consider the paper as a work-in-progress. The subject is vastly
rich and diverse, and it is beyond the capability of an individual
researcher to settle its fundamental complexities. The best the paper
hopes for is to point to proper directions for pursuing the subject, and
stimulate future research to find answers for the challenging questions.
If so, it would be a great achievement and a precious favor from Allah
(s.w.t.). Otherwise, I hope I don’t fail to get a single reward in case the
two were missed.
II
STATE OF RISK:
VOLATILITIES OF FINANCIAL MARKETS
The past decade witnessed significant financial crises in several parts of
the world, including South East Asia, Russia and Latin America, as
well as derivatives turmoil of LTCM, financial scandals of Enron,
Worldcom, Parmalat, and more recently, Refco.
The detailed documentation of these events would span
hundreds of pages (see for example Partnoy, 2003, and Banks, 2004).
But there is an apparently general trend of increasing volatility in
financial markets that breeds and supports these crises, e.g. Tumpel-
Gugerell (2003). In this section we will have a quick look at volatility of
selected financial markets to examine this phenomenon.
Stock Markets
While stock markets are generally volatile by nature, over time
stock markets are becoming more and more unstable. Figure 1 shows
data on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
There is more than one way to measure volatility. One
common measure is the standard deviation. Another measure is
number of days for which the gap between high and low values of the
20 II. STATE OF RISK
Figure 1: Volatility of the Dow Jones Industrial Average
Source: djindexes.com
index exceeds a certain threshold (e.g. Sornette, 2003). The latter
measure is adopted here. To calculate volatility, let
(hight �lowt )
ut = ,
close t
be the gap between high and low values relative to the close value of
the index. Let u be the mean of the gap for the sample period. Define
�1 if u > u
�
dt = �
�
t
�
�
�0 otherwise,
and let Vn = � t=1 dt .
n
Then Vn represents number of days for which the gap exceeds
the sample mean. We use a moving version of V, where n equals 252
(number of trading days in the year). This is presented in Figure 1.
II. STATE OF RISK 21
Figure 2: Volatility of S&P 500
Source: finance.yahoo.com
The sample period for the DJ index is January 1, 1990 to December 9,
2005. For the sample period, mean gap u is 2.2%.
As it is apparent from the graph in Figure 1, late nineties and
early this century witnessed an increasing volatility as compared to
early nineties. Average number of volatile days in 2000-2004 is 159
days. In comparison, the average for the period 1990-1994 is 38.6
days. That is, number of volatile days had quadrupled during this
period. Volatility however declined during 2005, but we are not
certain whether this is a trend or a temporary change.
Figure 2 shows data for the S&P 500 index. Again, the
increasing volatility is obvious. Average number of days with high
volatility during 1990-1994 is 52. For the period 2000-2004 it is about
22 II. STATE OF RISK
Figure 3: Volatility of FTSE 100
Source: finance.yahoo.com
156 days. Volatility declined for 2005, as in the Dow Jones index,
which may or may not be a change in trend.
Figure 3 shows the volatility of FTSE100 index of the largest
100 UK companies listed on London stock exchange. The pattern is
close to that of the Dow Jones and S&P 500 indices. Average number
of volatile days during 1990-1994 is 53.9, while that for 2000-2004 is
159 days. Volatility also declined for 2005. Future data would help
determine the range of this reduction.
Commodities Markets
If we move to commodities markets, we a find a similar
pattern. Figure 4 shows volatility in Dow Jones Commodities Index
(DG-AIGCI). The index represents rolling futures on 19 commodities.
II. STATE OF RISK 23
Figure 4: Volatility of DJ Commodities Index
Source: djindexes.com
These include: Energy commodities (33%), grains (18.4%), vegetable
oil (2.7%), livestock (10.5%), precious metals (8%), industrial metals
(18.2%), softs (9.2%).
Figure 4 shows number of days for which absolute change in
daily price compared to the previous day exceeds average change of
the sample (0.57%). The number represents the sum of days for the
past year (252 days). The increase in volatility over the past 15 years is
substantial. This might be affected by the Iraq war and its impact on
oil prices. But the rise in volatility started much earlier than that, as
the graph shows.
Average volatile days per year in the period 1991-1994 are 57
days. For the period 2001-2004 it is 123.
24 II. STATE OF RISK
Figure 5: Volatility of USD Index
Source: nybot.com
Currencies Markets
Figure 5 shows volatility in the exchange rate of a basket of
currencies against the US Dollar, based on the index developed by
New York Board of Trade (USDX, nybot.com). The index is
composed of Euro (57.6%), Yen (13.6%), British Pound (11.9%),
Canadian Dollar (9.1%), Sweden Krona (4.2%), and Swiss Franc
(3.6%).
The figure shows number of days for which High-Low
difference of the USDX as a percentage of Close exceeds the average
difference of the period (about 0.73%). The sum runs through 365
days per year, as the currency market is open around the clock.
Overall, the USDX appears somehow more volatile from 1997
and on than before. Average number of volatile days per year in 1990-
1994 is 106.5, while that for the period 2000-2004 is 134, which is
II. STATE OF RISK 25
more than 26% increase in volatility. The medians for the two periods
are 100.5 and 138, respectively, which represents about 38%
difference.
The following Table summarizes the above results.
Table 1
Volatilities of Selected Markets
1990-1994 2000-2004
mean median mean median
DJIA 38.6 27 159.4 199
S&P 500 52.1 36 156 176
FTSE 100 53.9 57 158.9 174
DJ Commodities index * 57 52 123 124
USD index 106.5 100.5 134.4 138
* Sample starts from 1991. Figures shown are for 1991-1994, 2001-2004,
respectively. Gap is measured by percentage change in price.
Stability of Financial Markets
Table 1 shows a remarkable increase in volatilities in the past
decade. Markets volatilities increased by an average of 225%. Many
writers recognized this phenomenon. As early as 1996, Bernstein
pointed that “volatilities seems to be proliferating rather than
diminishing” (p. 329). The Asian crises and other episodes of the
nineties made Paul Krugman (1999) write: “The world economy has
turned out to be a much dangerous place than we imagined” (p. 154).
More recently, Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell (2003), member of the
26 II. STATE OF RISK
Executive Board of the European Central Bank, argues that since
1997, volatility of leading stock markets has doubled, and that this
doubling was the result of a slow but steady rising trend. Nobel
laureate Joseph Stiglitz (2003, p. 54) concludes that: “Something is
wrong with the global financial system.”
There are many factors that contributed to this increasing
volatility, and it would not be at all an easy task to pinpoint all these
factors. We shall focus instead on the most common tools used to
address volatility: derivatives.
III
DERIVATIVES
Derivatives can be described as financial instruments for trading risk.
The most common of which includes futures, options, and swaps.
Theoretically, derivatives are supposed to distribute risk among
market participants in accordance with their ability to assume them. If
such distribution is achieved, each party would be better off, thus
improving efficiency and productivity. Derivatives are thus the main
instruments used conventionally to hedge various types of risk. But
they are also the main instruments for speculation. How to balance the
two functions is a major challenge to economists and legal scholars
alike.
Given the two sides of derivatives, we will briefly discuss how
economists and specialists view the issue, leaving the Islamic
perspective to Section V.
Structure of Derivatives
Derivatives are generally zero-sum exchanges between two
parties. According to former Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan
Greenspan (1999): “Overall, derivatives are mainly a zero-sum game:
one counterparty’s market loss is the other counterparty’s market
28 III. D ERIVATIVES
gain” (see also Group of Thirty, 1994, p. 64). Options and futures are
examples of zero-sum games, since for every party who gains the
counter-party loses (investopedia.com; 12.2005).
As such, derivatives are not “real” transactions since no
transfer of ownership takes place. Only money changes hands at the
end of the contract. Delivery of underlying assets is very rare; in
futures, for example, 99% of all contracts are settled before maturity
(Pilbeam, 2005). For this reason, the Financial Services Authority of
the UK defines derivatives as “contract for differences” (Swan, 2000,
p. 11). That is, they are settled through price differences without
delivery or ownership transfer. We will see later how this feature
affects the risk structure of derivatives.
It should be emphasized that contracts that transfer ownership
and explicitly involve delivery of the underlying are not considered
derivatives, and thus are excluded from subsequent discussions.
Further, spot trading of shares or other assets is not a zero-sum game
as such, since profits and losses are not debited from one party and
credited to the other, as it is the case in derivatives. Moreover, trading
implies the transfer of ownership, which does not take place in
derivatives. This is further explained in section V.
Size of Derivatives Market
Derivatives can be traded generally in one of two markets:
Organized exchanges (OE), and over-the-counter (OTC). Organized
exchanges, like Chicago Board of Options Exchange (CBOE), are
regulated and centralized markets for standardized derivatives. Over-
III. D ERIVATIVES 29
the-counter are decentralized, less regulated markets for less
standardized derivatives.
Data collected by the Bank of International Settlement shows
that derivatives have been growing at a remarkable rate. Figure 6
shows size of the two markets based on BIS data.
Figure 6: Notional Values of Derivatives
Source: bis.org
The notional amount represents the value of the underlying asset from
which the derivative is derived. Total notional amount of derivatives
today reaches $330 trillions, up from less than $100 trillions in 1998.
That is, derivatives more than tripled in less than 7 years. In 1986, OE
derivatives were about $614 billions. In two decades the derivatives
markets overall grew by a factor of more than 300. This exceeds the
growth rate of any type of securities or assets in world economy.
30 III. D ERIVATIVES
Futures
“Futures” refer to standardized tradable forward contracts.
Forwards, in turn, represent an agreement to deliver a defined
commodity in a future date for a determined price. Forwards as such
are common to human economic activities, so they are not new.
Tradable forwards were known since the time of Imam M�lik (179H,
circa 800G) in Madinah, where salam (forwards) contracts where
allowed by the M�liki school to be traded in a secondary market (e.g.
al-Dharir [12]). However, forwards involving essential food
commodities (wheat, barely, dates and salt) were not allowed to be
traded in a secondary market, following the instruction of the Prophet
(peace be upon him) that food cannot be sold without being possessed
in advance. In other words, tradable forwards in principle were known
and established more than 1200 years ago.
But these futures differ from contemporary futures in two
fundamental aspects: advanced payment and delivery. In all salam
contracts, the full price must be paid in advance. Further, the
underlying commodity must be delivered at maturity, and there are
several restrictions on subsequent canceling and settling of the contract
without delivery. These two sets of conditions prevented the contract
from being used for pure speculative purposes, whereby it ends up in
exchanging money for money, a result that Muslim scholars
unanimously consider to be void and null.
Organized futures, where most contracts end up in settling
price differences, are relatively recent phenomenon. The first such
III. D ERIVATIVES 31
organized market was probably established in Japan in 1730 (Teweles
and Jones 1987, p. 8), where no delivery would take place.
In 1848 the Chicago Board of Trade established the first
organized futures exchange in the West. In the beginning, however, it
was an exchange of forwards, i.e. commodities with future delivery.
Only in 1865 where futures started trading (see: cbot.com; 12.2005).
In 1877 futures trading became more formalized, and “speculators”
would be recognized as market players (ibid). Subsequently, the futures
market grew in size, and other exchanges introduced futures trading
(Teweles and Jones, 1987).
Today, futures are traded for all kinds of assets: equities,
bonds, currencies, interest rates, indices, volatilities, etc.
Options
In its basic form, the idea of a stipulated sale with penalty is
quite old. cUrbun was one such contract, where the buyer would pay a
down-payment with the condition that, if he cancels the contract, he
would lose his down-payment. It was known since the time of the
second Caliph cOmar ibn al-Khattab (22H, circa 700G) (al-Dharir
�
[12]). However, as such it was not used for speculation, i.e. fixing
current price to benefit from future price movements, but for real
trade transactions; i.e. they were “real options” (see al-Suwailem,
1999).
Options were actively traded in Amsterdam in the seventeenth
century. In the U.S., options appeared in the same time as stocks, the
early nineteenth century (Sullivan, 2005). In addition to speculation,
32 III. D ERIVATIVES
put-call parity was used in mid 1800s to advance loans for much
higher interest rate than allowed by usury laws (Chance, 1995).
Option trading, however, remained limited until Black, Merton and
Scholes published their formula for pricing (stock) options in 1973. At
the same year, Chicago Board of Options Exchange was founded after
years of study and planning (cboe.com, 12.2005; Sullivan, 2005),
where call options started to be traded. Put options had to wait until
1977, with careful monitoring by SEC (Sullivan, 2005).
Other forms of derivatives, e.g. swaps, short-selling, etc., have
their own histories, which go beyond the scope of this paper.
Struggle for Legitimacy
Since its early appearance around the middle of the nineteenth
century, derivatives, mainly futures and options, were subject of
prolonged and intense discussions on whether they were legitimate
business and trading instruments or merely gambling tools. According
to legal scholar Roy Kreitner (2000), “at common law it was accepted
that transactions for future delivery of property, including stocks and
commodities, in which the parties did not intend actual delivery, but
rather only settlement according to price differences, were
unenforceable because they were mere wagers” (p. 1103). This made
courts in many instances not sympathetic to these contracts. In one
case in 1888, the court expresses it opinion as follows:
We are clearly of opinion that dealing in “futures” or
“options,” as they are commonly called, to be settled
according to the fluctuations of the market, is void by the
common law; for, among other reasons, it is contrary to
III. D ERIVATIVES 33
public policy. It is … a crime – a crime against the state, a
crime against the general welfare and happiness of the
people, a crime against religion and morality, and a crime
against all legitimate trade and business.
This species of gambling has become emphatically
and pre-eminently the national sin. … Clothed with
respectability, and entrenched behind wealth and power,
it submits to no restraint, and defies alike the laws of God
and man. … Through its instrumentality the laws of
supply and demand have been reversed, and the market is
ruled by the amount of money its manipulators can bring
to bear upon it. (Kreitner, 2000, p.1110.)
Although not all courts were of this position, as Kreitner points out,
the general trend in the first half of the nineteenth century was in this
direction (Swan, 2000, p. 219).
A critical difference between a legitimate future contract and a
wager was delivery of the promised commodity. Courts frequently
used the “intent test” to decide whether the parties intended to deliver,
and thus the transaction was enforceable, or intended to settle in
differences, whereby the transaction was a wager (Kreitner, 2000;
Swan, 2000, pp. 212, 219).
There were many attempts to have the Congress illegalize
futures and options, backed mainly by farmers and their supporters
(Freeman, 1993; Saber, 1999b, pp. 201-202; Swan, 2002, pp. 217,
245; Santos, 2004). In 1890, a Congressman expressed the opposition
to derivatives:
Those who deal in “options” and “futures” contracts,
which is merely gambling, no matter by what less offensive
name such transactions be designated, neither add to the
supply nor increase the demand for consumption, nor do
they accomplish any useful purpose by their calling; but
on the contrary, they speculate in fictitious products. The
34 III. D ERIVATIVES
wheat they buy and sell is known as “wind wheat” and
doubtless for the reason that it is invisible, intangible, and
felt or realized only in the terrible force it exerts in
destroying the farming industry of the country. (Teweles
and Jones 1987, p. 11.)
More recently, in 1993 representative Henry Gonzalez, chairman of
House Banking Committee, described derivatives trading saying: “You
can call it whatever you want, but in my book it is gambling”
(Steinherr, 2000, p. 151).
Several US states at some point in time did prohibit dealing in
options and futures. According to Santos (2004), the Illinois
constitution in 1867 forbade dealing in futures, but this was repealed
by 1869. In 1879 California’s constitution invalidated futures, but was
repealed in 1908. In early 1880s, Mississippi, Arkansas and Texas
passed laws that equated futures trading with gambling, thus making
futures trading a misdemeanor. Options on agricultural commodities
were outlawed on most exchanges (ibid), and were not officially
legalized until 1983 (Freeman, 1993). Despite repeated attempts to
illegalize futures, all failed except one: in 1958 the Congress passed a
bill to prohibit futures trading in onions (Teweles and Jones, 1987).
It is worth noting that the legality of futures is related to
organized exchanges. According to Kreitner (2000), “Private
individuals cannot create enforceable contracts with one another for
futures, unless they actually intend delivery” (ftn. 28).
This legal transition apparently affected the laws of some
Muslim countries early past century. The Egyptian law used to classify
futures as wagering until 1909, when the law made futures traded in
III. D ERIVATIVES 35
organized exchange as legal (al-Dharir [12]; pp. 619-620). The law
however confines this exception to organized exchanges, so that any
forward contract settled through price differences outside the
exchange is still considered void (ibid).
Economic Debate
The debate wasn’t confined to legislative circles. Economists
and investors were also involved. Many economists believe that
markets, in principle, are efficient, and therefore whatever market
players agree to trade would serve their needs and consequently the
social good. This is the prevailing view, and expressed most notably by
economists like Merton Miller and others who generally accept the
efficient market hypothesis (see e.g. Financial Economists Roundtable,
1994).
On the other hand, many mainstream economists and
investors express concerns about the behavior of financial markets in
general, which extends naturally to derivatives, as the most important
tools for speculation. Keynes (1936) was among early economists who
expressed dissatisfaction with gambling-like financial market:
Speculators may do no harm as bubbles on a steady
stream of enterprise. But the position is serious when
enterprise becomes the bubble on a whirlpool of
speculation. When the capital development of a country
becomes the by-product of the activities of a casino, the
job is likely to be ill-done (p. 159).
About 70 years later, Noble laureate M. Allais (1993) describes such
markets as “casinos where gigantic games of poker are played” (p. 35).
36 III. D ERIVATIVES
While acknowledges the value of forward arrangements for hedging,
particularly for real goods and commodities, Allais questions the value
of forwards on securities, like stocks and bonds (p. 37). Further, he
explicitly states, “speculation on security price indices must be
eliminated” (ibid).
On the business front, Warren Buffet, one of the most
successful investors and Columbia University graduate, takes a strong
position against derivatives. In his letter to shareholders he describes
derivatives as “time bombs, both for the parties that deal in them and
the economic system” (p. 13). Further, Buffet argues that derivatives
can exacerbate the risks at the firm’s level and at market level, and
that the “macro picture is dangerous and getting more so” (p. 14). He
concludes the discussion stating that: “In our view, however,
derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction, carrying dangers
that, while now latent, are potentially lethal” (Buffet, 2002, p. 15).
General Electric, one of the largest corporations in the U.S., is
involved in financial business through its subsidiary, GE Capital
(GECS), which owns more assets than most U.S. banks. GE’s position
regarding derivatives is summarized in its 2001 annual report: “As a
matter of policy, neither GE nor GECS engages in derivatives trading,
derivatives market-making, or other speculative activities” (cited in
Partnoy, 2003, p. 380).
Derivatives and Risk
Proponents of derivatives argue that these instruments can
efficiently distribute risks among involved parties, such that agents
III. D ERIVATIVES 37
become more productive and the economy more prosperous. The
classical example cited is of a producer (of agricultural commodities or
energy products) who is uncertain of future prices. He can hedge
against this uncertainty using futures, thus real production may not be
hindered by uncertainty. The counterparty to such contract would be
one who is more able to take price risks, and this is the speculator.
Thus, for every hedger, there is a speculator. This transfer of risk from
hedgers (real producers) to speculators is supposed to improve
efficiency and productivity of the economy. In other words, derivatives
manage risks but do not create them (Spence, 1997).
Critics, however, point to aspects that this reasoning ignores:
Willingness vs. Ability to Take Risks
One aspect is that risk can be traded and “unbundled” only if
it’s severed from the underlying activity. This separation raises the
question of the ability of traders to manage these risks. For example,
credit default swaps allow banks to transfer the risk of default of
borrowers to other parties like insurance companies. But banks by
design are better able to monitor borrowers and uniquely have the
access to necessary related data. Insurance companies are less able to
manage these loans and thus to assume these risks (Partnoy, 2003, pp.
380-381). This is reinforced by the mounting evidence of prevailing
informational asymmetries and other imperfections in capital markets.
These asymmetries make it costly to third parties to perform the same
functions as the owners of original assets, and thus performance and
pricing might be distorted significantly. Unbundling of risks therefore
38 III. D ERIVATIVES
is built on the assumption of perfect markets with full and symmetric
information, which modern information theory has shown to be
largely inconsistent with reality. In 2001, George Akerlof, Michael
Spence and Joseph Stiglitz were awarded Nobel prize for their work
on information economics. In his Nobel lecture, Stiglitz (2001)
explains how his direct experience conflicted with economic models he
was taught 40 years ago. His subsequent research, as well as that of
many prominent economists, has shown how information changes the
way agents behave, and thus significantly affects market equilibrium.
The assumption therefore that risk can be traded separately is simply
inconsistent with large evidence that this cannot produce efficient
results. Lenders are better able to monitor their borrowers, and thus to
minimize their risks. Once this specific relationship is severed, risks are
likely to develop rather than be controlled.
Derivatives markets allow risk to be transferred to those more
willing to take them, but not necessarily those who are more able to
manage them. Greenspan (2002) implicitly points to the difference:
“The development of our paradigms for containing risk has
emphasized dispersion of risk to those willing, and presumably able, to
bear it” (emphasis added). This presumption, however, is not
necessarily warranted, as these two concepts are independent. There
are certainly many speculators who are more willing to take risks but
are less able to bear them. This is particularly the case for low net-
worth, cash-constrained agents who might be more willing to take risks
if they are paid upfront, even though they are less able to bear such
risks. They gain needed cash for certain, but have less to lose if they
III. D ERIVATIVES 39
fail. This is the classical adverse selection problem that arises in
relation to imperfections and asymmetric information. Consequently,
the system might end up allocating risks to those least able to bear them,
but are the most willing to take them. As will be pointed later, this in
fact might be the case.
Commoditizing Risk
Derivatives unbundle risk from real economic activity and
make it traded separately, thereby transform risk into a “commodity”
(Steinherr, 2000, p. 101). Since risk as such is not desirable—in fact,
harmful—it becomes a “bad” not a “good” commodity, just like toxic
waste. From a social point of view, risk shall be minimized, not
promoted. Creating a market for risk, however, raises serious
questions on whether this would reduce risk or make it multiply. Since
market players seek profits, some players, particularly speculators, will
be better off if the market grows and expands. Speculation through
derivatives thrives on a growing market of risk, while producers and
consumers are better off if risk is minimized. The tension between the
two reflects the zero-sum nature of derivatives. Commoditizing risk
therefore is likely to make risk multiply and proliferate, making the
economy more risky and less stable. Moreover, just as toxic waste
might frequently end up buried in poor and less developed countries,
risk might end up born and suffered by poor and less developed
countries, with Asian and Latin American crises as clear examples.
The same applies with respect to individuals in a given country, where
ordinary people and taxpayers end up paying the real costs of
40 III. D ERIVATIVES
speculation (e.g. Steinherr, 2000, p. 91). Thus, commoditizing risk not
only makes it proliferate, but also disproportionately distributed.
Artificial Risks
Derivatives allow for unbundling and repackaging risks in any
manner players find suitable for their preferences. But this feature
means that these instruments end up with risk-reward structures that
differ greatly from those of the underlying real assets (Tumpel-
Gugerell, 2003). This production of artificial risk profiles creates
arbitrage opportunities that are independent of real opportunities,
which opens the door to pure speculation to take advantage of these
artificial structures. Thus, as Tumpel-Gugerell (2003) rightly points
out, players are given, and frequently make use of, the opportunities of
pure speculative positions that are not related nor offered by the real
economy. In other words, artificial risk structures create artificial
arbitrage opportunities that can be exploited through pure speculation
with no connection to real economic activities. Pure speculation in
turn distorts assets prices, leading to negative impacts on real
investment opportunities. Consequently, capital committed to such
speculation becomes exposed to risks unrelated to the real economy.
Not only these risks are reflected back to the economy, they also
distort asset prices, leading to negative impacts on real investment
opportunities.
III. D ERIVATIVES 41
Severance of Risk
Derivatives by construction separate and sever risk from
ownership and thus from real activities, as discussed above. Once risk
is separated from the real sector, there is no boundary on kinds of risk
traders may bet on, be it the rating of some selected companies, the
completion of a certain takeover, the weather in New York city, or any
other imaginable risk (e.g. Buffet, 2002). In addition, a derivative could
be derived from another derivative, not a real asset. Thus there are
options on futures, futures on options, options on options (Saber,
1999b, p. 122), etc. And all these compounded derivatives could be
based on market indices or volatilities, where no ownership of any sort
exists. This shows how derivatives diverge away from real activities
when they are severed from each other. Accordingly, their size and
growth move independent of the real sector. Since the real economy is
naturally more complex and is subject to more constraints than the
abstract world of risk, derivatives markets grow at a higher rate than
do real assets (LiPuma and Lee, 2005; Chorafas, 2003, p. 144). Given
the size of real resources committed to this huge market, derivatives
therefore expose real resources to risks that could have been avoided
in the first place.
From this perspective, derivatives make the economy more
risky. As Lawrence Summers (1989) points out: “The freeing of
financial markets to pursue their casino instincts heightens the odds of
crises. … Because, unlike a casino, the financial markets are
inextricably linked with the world outside, the real economy pays the
price” (al-Yousef, 2005, p. 83).
42 III. D ERIVATIVES
Risk and Time
Severance of risk in many aspects is similar to severance of
time from real transactions. Time and risk are highly inter-related,
and they are in fact two sides of the same coin (Bernstein, 1996, p. 15).
Severance of risk eventually leads to greater risks and higher costs of
risk management, as discussed earlier. The same happens when time is
separated from real transactions through interest-based lending. This
results in increasing levels of debt and thus higher costs of financing
through higher costs of debt services.
Just as interest accumulates and compounds on past debts
leading to enormous divergence of finance from real activities,
derivatives similarly compound and multiply farther and farther from
real activities. And just as compounded interest costs the economy
much more than costs of real finance, derivatives cost the economy
much more than costs of real risks. Not surprisingly, interest-based
debt has been considered a major factor in facilitating speculation and
thus contributing to financial crises (Chapra, 2004).
Market Distribution
The argument that severance of risk increases speculation is
supported by data on the distribution of market players. Number of
speculators in derivatives markets far exceeds that of hedgers. Data
also show that derivatives markets are highly concentrated in few
major banks, and most trading takes place among these banks.
According to Office of Comptroller of the Currency (OCC),
only five commercial banks account for 96% of total notional amount
III. D ERIVATIVES 43
of derivatives in the commercial banking system in the U.S. Further,
only 2.7% of total derivatives are used by end users, i.e. corporations
assumed to hedge their risks, while the remaining 97.3% is used by
dealers (OCC, 2005). And according to the Bundesbank (2003), “less
than 10% of OTC transactions in derivatives is conducted with end
customers outside the financial sector” (p. 37). This shows that end
users, and thus hedgers, are minorities in the derivatives market.
Speculators dominate the market.
Furthermore, according to Group of Thirty (1997), these
institutions dominating the market tend not just be each other’s
counterparties, but also to have extensive dealings with many of the
same customers, and be members of the same clearing houses and
exchanges. According to Tumpel-Gugerell (2003):
This results in a random, zero-sum, large volume
redistribution of wealth which affects all types of market
participant, including those whose motivation was to
invest in the real economy.
Further, the concentration of risks contributes to economic instability,
because if any of these large institutions get into difficulty the
contagion effect would be more serious and far reaching (Steinherr,
2000, pp. 190-193; Tickell, 2000, p. 91). The end result therefore is
that derivatives markets concentrate risks instead of diluting them, and
thus add to market instability rather than reduce it.
44 III. D ERIVATIVES
Law of Large Numbers
The large number of speculators, it may be argued, helps
diversify and neutralize the risks they are bearing and thus helps
provide liquidity to the market. This could be true as long as these
risks are independent, as the law of large numbers requires. But if this
is not the case, risks might compound. Nobel laureate Kenneth Arrow
(1971) points to specialization of speculators to assume risks. He
explains:
This specialization is a social gain, both because
speculators normally have greater knowledge of the
uncertainties than the average individual and because of
the operation of the law of large numbers. However, if the
speculators’ forecasts tend to be interdependent, this law,
which depends upon the independence of the random
events consolidated, may be inoperative and the situation
may actually be worse than without speculation. (p. 24, emphasis
added.)
Whether risks are independent or interlinked cannot be determined by
pure theory. Only history can give indications of the answer.
Observers generally agree that world markets are becoming more and
more interlinked. Asian crisis in 1997 and Russian crisis in 1998 each
had measurable impacts on Western markets. Derivatives by design
tend to interlink markets in increasingly unpredictable manners
(Steinherr, 2000, p. 158; Tickell, 2000, p. 90). The collapse of Long
Term Capital Management fund shows clearly how markets can
suddenly move in lockstep and away from “convergence” (Lowenstein,
2000, p. 144; Partnoy, 2003, p. 259).
III. D ERIVATIVES 45
Consequently, risks of derivatives markets cannot be
considered independent. This is confirmed by “herding behavior,” i.e.
investors mimicking each other in the market. This behavior stems
from a variety of informational and psychological factors, and leads to
bubbles and crashes that cannot be accounted for by fundamentals
(Shiller, 2000; Sornette, 2003). Accordingly, speculators’ behavior
cannot be totally independent, and possibilities for unison movements
are highly likely. This raises concerns that speculators end up
exacerbating market risks rather than reducing them, as Arrow
pointed out.
Systemic Risk
Advocates of derivatives argue that derivatives cannot make
the economy more risky since they are zero-sum trades, as mentioned
earlier. This implies that what one party loses is essentially what the
other party gains. There cannot be a net loss, and thus derivatives
cannot make the system worse off (Slutz, 2004).
Critics, in contrast, point that this argument does not take into
account how zero-sum transactions affect aggregate variables.
Economic activities, particularly if leveraged, create a web of financial
relations among market participants. These relations interlink agents
with each other, such that the collapse of one agent would likely affect
many other agents beyond those with immediate contact. These links
make the market more efficient but at the same time more vulnerable
to external shocks.
46 III. D ERIVATIVES
Positive-sum activities naturally create additional wealth. This
additional wealth would balance the additional risks created through
inter-linking of agents. In normal circumstance, the additional wealth
might well more than offset the additional risks. Consequently, the
economy becomes more efficient and more stable.
In contrast, a market of zero-sum transactions by design does
not create additional wealth to balance the additional risks created
through inter-linking of agents. The system creates risks without
generating wealth to balance them. What starts as zero-sum at the
micro-level, ends up to be negative-sum at the macro-level. (More on
risk and zero-sum structure in section IV.)
These arguments for systemic risks of derivatives are supported
by the realities of the markets. When the hedge fund Long Term
Capital Management (LCTM) was near collapse in 1998, with assets
exceeding $100 billions and more than $1 trillion in derivatives, the
Federal Reserve had to intervene to prevent a potential financial crisis.
According to Federal Reserve authorities, the failure could have
triggered the “worst financial crisis in half a century,” and that the
sudden liquidation of the fund in already unsettled markets “could well
have induced further financial dislocations around the world that
could have impaired the economies of many nations, including that of
the United States” (Partnoy, 2003, p. 261). This clearly shows how
derivatives may impair entire economies, as large as that of the U.S.
Derivatives therefore might well make economies more volatile
and unstable. According to Bernstein (1996), despite the “ingenious”
tools created to manage risks, “volatilities seems to be proliferating
III. D ERIVATIVES 47
rather than diminishing” (p. 329). The data presented in the past
section show clearly that markets are becoming increasingly volatile. If
any thing, this shows that, overall, contribution of derivatives to
stability is questionable. Alfred Steinherr (2000), general manager of
the European Investment Bank, goes even farther:
Recent financial history provides ample evidence that the
growth of derivatives markets has made financial crises
considerably more virulent, and the fast growth and
widespread use of derivatives has increased the risk of
financial disturbance (p. 177).
The Two Edges of Derivatives
It is important to note that a derivative can be used for both
hedging and speculation alike. Intention does not impose any
structural difference on the used instrument. Consequently, a
company using a derivative for hedging might end up speculating, as
the nature of the instrument is identical for both uses (Saber, 1999a, p.
111). Kenneth Arrow (2003) notes that “derivatives and securities that
offer methods of reducing risks are not necessarily used for that
purpose. They are neutral and can be used to reduce risks, but people
gamble on them.” He adds: “That means speculators are adding to
the swings rather than reducing them.” Tumpel-Gugerell (2003) also
notes that: “It is impossible to distinguish between speculative
positions that are, in essence, bets, and positions that are triggered by
the resources allocation process of the real economy.”
48 III. D ERIVATIVES
Accordingly, risk trading may divert corporations from their
real business to pure speculation, exposing real capital to major risks
totally unrelated to their normal business. This happened to a long list
of companies, see e.g. Bernstein (1996) and Partnoy (2003). As some
writers put it, “It seems that most farmers start speculating two years
or so of hedging” (Chance, 2003). Incentives to make money are
sufficiently strong that more than 97% of derivatives are used for
speculation. In this sense, derivatives are not really neutral.
Limits to Derivatives’ Protection
It should be noted that derivatives are not risk free. They are
obligations, and as with any obligation, they carry their own risks:
counter party risk, operational risk, legal risk, etc. (e.g. Banks, 2004).
Further, derivatives contracts commonly include a force majeure
clause that permits the parties to the contract to terminate it without
performance if an event occurs that has a pervasive effect on markets
(Steinherr, 2000, pp. 181, 89). This apparently explains why hedge
contracts did not help when Russia devalued its ruble and declared a
moratorium on its ruble-denominated treasury debt in 1998. Investors
faced huge losses despite their hedging contracts against the ruble. The
crisis caused a “flight to quality” since traditional hedge instruments
did not help. This eventually led to the collapse of Long Term Capital
Management fund, which threatened the global financial system
(Lowenstein, 2000). According to Steinherr (2000), “hedges may
evaporate in situations of severe market disruptions” (p. 199).
III. D ERIVATIVES 49
Derivatives can be used to hedge specific risks, but it is rarely
possible to hedge every risk. According to Allan Kessler, vice president
of J.P. Morgan of foreign exchange, “There isn’t a company on earth
that has 100% hedging program” (Sparks, 2000). One example is the
case of the US subsidiary of Metallgessellschaft (MGRM). The
forward program of MGRM, although serves as a textbook hedge
model, caused huge losses to the company, which forced its board to
liquidate and close all its positions. Although the decision was
controversial, it was clear that a hedge strategy cannot be perfect, and
MGRM was not able to hedge all risks (Steinherr, 2000, p. 68).
Since derivatives are marked to market, losses and gains on
derivatives have to be settled in cash daily, while overall value of the
hedge appears only at maturity. This means that for a hedge to be
effective, the agent has to be able to sustain short-term losses for a
prolonged period of time (ibid). If the agent has no sufficient funds, the
hedge fails. This also was one reason behind the collapse of LTCM,
where the fund was unable to survive short-term losses because of lack
of sufficient liquidity (Lowenstein, 2000).
Derivatives are designed to deal only with known risks,
approximated with past performance and behavior. As Steinherr
(2000) points out: “The most important, and typically rare, future
events are most likely to be totally unanticipated today. Therefore
there is no hedge for them” (p. 104). Together with the force majeure
clause, derivatives’ hedging appears like an umbrella that works well
when the weather is clear, but fails when it rains.
50 III. D ERIVATIVES
We shall see later that other strategies for hedging provide
better design and lower costs than derivatives do.
Who Ultimately Bears the Risk?
Derivatives are highly leveraged by construction, as Greenspan
(2003) notes. This leverage makes the financial system highly
vulnerable. Greenspan makes it clear that managing the risks of such a
system “will not lie with the private sector alone.” He explains:
Leveraging always carries with it the remote possibility of
a chain reaction, a cascading sequence of defaults that will
culminate in financial implosion if it proceeds unchecked.
Only a central bank, with its unlimited power to create
money, can with a high probability thwart such a process
before it becomes destructive.
He thus points out that the burden of risk of extreme outcomes will be
“allocated between the public and private sectors.” In other words,
governments are the ones who eventually bear the risks of speculators.
According to Stiglitz (2002), speculators do not make money from
each other, as this is a highly risky activity that on average makes a
zero return. “What makes speculation profitable is the money coming
from governments” (p. 198). Greenspan admits the negative
consequences of such intervention, mainly moral hazard that might
make the system even riskier (Lowenstein, 2000, p. 230).
The resulting allocation of risks of derivatives between private
and public sectors is rightly described as a system where ‘profits are
privatized, but losses are nationalized’ (Stiglitz, 2002, p. 209;
Chorafas, 2003, p. 135). The system rewards speculators but punishes
III. D ERIVATIVES 51
ordinary persons and businesses that were supposed to transfer their
risks to those same speculators. Instead of speculators bearing the risks
of ordinary agents (hedgers), the system makes hedgers eventually bear
the much greater risks of speculators. Steinherr (2000, p. 120) points to
costs of derivatives and who in fact pays them:
As for an individual, so also for society, nothing comes for
free. Yes, derivatives are a great social advance. The cost
is much increased volatility, more frequent and vicious
crises, less scope for government intervention. A price
worth paying, probably, but still quite high. The major
winners are those selling derivatives and many users.
Those who pay [the price] are all market participants hit
in a crash.
Winner and Losers in Derivatives
Recall that a derivative is a zero-sum trade, and thus for each
contract there is a winner and a loser. There have many studies
conducted on some derivatives that examine numbers of winner and
losers, particularly among end users.
One early study was by Hieronymus (1977), who examined
462 speculative accounts of a major futures brokerage firm. For less-
regular traders (beginners), they lost 92% of the time. Among regular
futures traders, he found that 41% made profits, while 59% lost.
Overall the market showed its zero-sum nature, as net profits for the
whole group were almost zero.
Teweles and Jones (1987) review several studies with similar
results, and present their own. They examined about 4600 accounts of
a large brokerage firm for 10 years starting 1962. The results “confirm
52 III. D ERIVATIVES
that the average expectation of a trader making net profits in any
given year will be one in four” (p. 319). To make profits consistently
over several years, the probability drops significantly. The authors
estimate that, from the 25% who win in any given year, only 2% can
consistently win (p. 320).
Moving to options world, Summa in 2003 examines the
records of Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). The study examines
expiring and exercised options covering the period 1997-1999. The
results show that 76% of all options held to expiration at CME expired
worthless (out of the money). The author concludes, “option sellers
had better odds than option buyers for positions held until expiration.”
These results show that the majority of traders in options and
futures are more likely to lose. This adds another dimension of risk in
derivatives beyond those previously discussed.
Risk Dilemma
The above discussion does not deny any value of derivatives.
After all, the Qur’�n points to some benefits of maysir or gambling:
“They ask you concerning wine and maysir. Say: In them is great sin as
well as benefits to people, but the sin is greater than the benefit”
(2:219).
Derivatives provide value through management and
distribution of risk. However, they are also perfect tools for gambling,
and consequently would distort incentives in a manner that defeat
their legitimate purpose. As Arrow (2003) points out, derivatives can
be used for reducing as well as compounding risk. Derivatives make
III. D ERIVATIVES 53
hedging and gambling undistinguishable. The question therefore is:
how can we obtain the benefits of hedging meanwhile avoid harmful
speculation? This issue is still not resolved, even though derivatives are
widely used.
As discussed earlier, futures and options were considered
against the common law a century ago. Today, they are part of daily
economic life. This transition, according to Kreitner (2000), was not
achieved by changing the common law, or by discovering a formula to
differentiate legitimate risk taking from illegal wagering. What
happened is that “the question of gambling was eventually swallowed
and internalized, as if the problem were solved. However, no
analytical formula could distinguish gambling from risk allocation”
and that the contract law “stopped worrying and learned to love risk”
(p. 1096).
The same dilemma arises in the economic arena. The
difference between arbitrage, that improves efficiency of the market,
and gambling, which destroys market fundamentals, was and still, a
subject of prolonged debate. Although it is easy to agree on the two
opposite extremes, no “analytical formula” is developed to filter out
the two in the vast majority of mixed situations in between.
Further, economists are well aware of two sorts of incompatible
human behavior: Insurance and gambling. People purchase insurance
to avoid risk, but do gamble and thus volitionally take risks. There are
several attempts to explain this conflict (e.g. Arrow, 1971, pp. 22, 29;
Shapira, 1995, p. 11), but apparently the conflict is not yet resolved.
This again points to the two opposite extremes of risk. While there is a
54 III. D ERIVATIVES
human preference for risk taking, there is also a preference for risk
avoidance. How to distinguish desired risk-taking from abhorred risk
exposure is an age-old problem. The following sections explore the
Islamic approach for resolving this dilemma.
IV
THE ISLAMIC APPROACH
More than 670 years go, Ibn Taymiah (728H – 1328G) wrote:
Risk falls into two categories: commercial risk, where one
would buy a commodity in order to sell it for profit, and
rely on Allah for that. This risk is necessary for merchants,
and although one might occasionally lose, but this is the
nature of commerce.
The other type of risk is that of gambling, which
implies eating wealth for nothing (�WÉædÉf �ɪdG �cCG). This is
what Allah and his Messenger (peace be upon him) have
prohibited. ([2]; pp. 700-701.)
This phrase shows that Muslim scholars were aware of the dual forms
of risk. Although there might be cases where it is difficult to distinguish
between the two, the overall framework nonetheless is clear. The
above statement shows that there are two types of risk:
1. Risk associated with normal economic transactions, i.e.
value-adding and wealth-creating activities.
2. Risk associated with “eating wealth for nothing”, or zero-
sum activities, where no net additional wealth is created.
We shall address the first type of risk in this section, leaving the second
to the next section.
56 IV. T HE ISLAMIC APPROACH
Risk in Islamic Economics
If we define risk as possibility of loss, then it becomes clear
from an Islamic perspective that risk as such is not desirable. Islamic
principles clearly call for the preservation and development of wealth.
Exposing wealth to loss cannot be a goal in itself. In fact, al-Qarafi
clearly states that daman, i.e. protection of wealth, is desirable for
�
rational agents (cited in al-Suwailem [10]).
This is the same position towards hardship (á�°ûe). Although
many Islamic deeds involve hardship of some sort, such hardship is
not desirable in itself. According to Ibn Taymiah ([4]; pp. 10:620-622):
Reward of deeds is based on their usefulness, not their
hardness. A good deed might be hard, but its goodness is
for a reason other than being hard. Reward may be larger
if involved hardship is larger, not because hardship is the
objective of the deed, but because the deed implies
hardship.
In other words, hardship is secondary in determining the value of the
deed. The primary factor is its usefulness. Accordingly, value would
reflect its hardness, but only to the extent that it is useful.
The same reasoning applies to risk, as it is a form of hardship.
Risk as such is not desirable, although it is intrinsic to virtually all
economic activities. However, the value of an economic decision is not
determined primarily because of risks it involves; rather, it is determined
according to wealth it creates and value it adds. Risk is reflected in
value accordingly, but not that risk in its own determines the value.
IV. T HE ISLAMIC APPROACH 57
Whenever taking risk is praised it is because of the added value
and created wealth that follows, not that risk as such is desirable. This
represents a vital difference between legitimate and undesirable risk:
Risk is legitimate when it is necessary for value creating. But when no
value is added, it is a form of gambling.
Hedging
Hedging is used generally to denote neutralizing and
minimizing risk. In this respect, it naturally belongs to Islamic
economic objectives. As such, this is not an issue and should not raise
any concerns. The issue, however, is how to reach this goal, and what
means is used to meat this end. If the means involves pure speculation
and gambling-like activities, it would be illegitimate, even if the
objective is. Ends do not justify means (Ibn al-Qayyim [6]), and thus
noble ends necessitate noble means. Obaidullah (2005) rightly notes,
“the provision of hedging facility is hardly an adequate rationale for
tolerating qim�r and maysir. The Shar�cah does not disapprove of
hedging, since it brings in some maslaha. It is the zero-sum nature of
� �
the game that the Shar�cah finds objectionable, as in it lie the roots of
social disharmony and discord.” (p. 176.)
To achieve legitimate hedging without maysir therefore is a
challenge that both Islamic and conventional finance are facing. The
objective of this paper is to explore and highlight milestones of the
Islamic approach through which legitimate means can be developed to
reach this essential goal.
58 IV. T HE ISLAMIC APPROACH
Tolerable Risk
Muslim scholars discussed the conditions under which risk can
be tolerated, and those under which it is not. Generally, they point
that risk is tolerable if it satisfies the following conditions:
1. It is inevitable.
2. It is insignificant.
3. It is unintentional.
(See al-Dharir [12], pp. 587-612, and Hassan [7], pp. 464-469).
The first condition implies that the same level of added value
of the concerned activity cannot be achieved without assuming risk of
loss or failure.
The second condition concerns the degree of this risk. It states
that likelihood of failure shall be sufficiently small. Scholars were clear
that likelihood of failure should be less than that of success in order for
involved risk to be acceptable (al-Dharir, op. cit.). We shall see later
how this condition distinguishes the Islamic approach from
conventional, Neoclassical approach.
The third condition follows from the first two. The objective of
a normal economic activity is the value it creates, not the risk it
necessitates. This risk therefore cannot be the intended part of the
transaction.
Inevitability of Risk
The condition that risk shall be inevitable implies that risk is
inseparable from real, value-adding transactions. As discussed in the
IV. T HE ISLAMIC APPROACH 59
last section, separating risk from real transactions creates even more
risks and makes the economy highly unstable.
From Shar�cah point of view, exchange of pure liability for a
given price (Üɪ°†dG ��Y á°VhÉ©e) is unanimously prohibited (al-Suwailem,
1999). This is consistent with the general trend of Islamic finance to be
always linked to real transactions. Since derivatives by construction
separate risk from ownership and thus from real activities, they appear
in direct opposition to Shar�cah principles. Not surprisingly, several
Fiqh councils ruled that options and futures are unacceptable from
Shar�cah point of view (e.g. OIC Fiqh Council [14]).
From an economic point of view, risk is necessary for economic
progress and wealth creation. According to Alan Greenspan:
The willingness to take risk is essential to the growth of a
free market economy. If all savers and their financial
intermediaries invested only in risk-free assets, the
potential for business growth would never be realized.
(cited in Bernstein, 1996, p. 328.)
President of IMF, Horst Köhler (2004), reiterates this meaning:
“Indeed, it is the willingness to take risk and tackle uncertainty that
drives innovation and technical progress—and helps create jobs and
build prosperity.”
Thus risk by nature is inseparable from economic activities.
Islamic requirements that risk may not be severed from real
transactions therefore are only natural and conform to economic
reality. Artificially severing risk will not make it disappear; rather, it
will come back in even more dangerous forms, as discussed earlier.
60 IV. T HE ISLAMIC APPROACH
Likelihood of Failure
It is clear from classical sources of fiqh that for risk to be
tolerable the likelihood of failure shall be less than that of success. This
is true regardless of the magnitude of the outcomes of the decision.
This is in sharp contrast to expected utility rule (and many
competing rules for this matter), where decision is based on expected
terms, i.e. the product of probability of the outcome times its
magnitude. The difference between the two can be seen most clearly
in lotteries.
In a lottery, an agent has an extremely small probability of
wining the prize. Probability of losing the ticket’s price is substantially
large. From an Islamic point of view, this cannot be acceptable since it
is almost certain that loss will materialize. Expected utility rule, in
contrast, is based on the expected value regardless of which state is
more likely to prevail. This is true even if probability of loss exceeds
99%, as long as the prize is sufficiently large. This rule leads to a kind
of “wishful behavior,” where an agent behaves according to his
preferences or wishes more than to objective reality.
This kind of behavior is rightly described as deception and
delusion, or gharar. The decision maker is deceived by the size of the
prize such that he behaves as if it is more likely to obtain, when in fact
it is more likely not.
Causality
The condition of dominant likelihood of success is equivalent
to saying that the action shall lead or “cause” the successful outcome
IV. T HE ISLAMIC APPROACH 61
to materialize. A cause needs not lead to the final outcome with
certainty. It is sufficient that it does so more often than not (al-
Suwailem, 2002).
From an Islamic perspective, uncertainty requires the decision
maker to take proper causes to achieve desirable results, and entrust
Allah to avoid possible but less likely failures. Taking proper causes is
viewed as mandatory and not merely preferable. Entrusting Allah thus
compliments rational decision-making and never substitutes for it.
Taking an action that is more likely to lead to failure is a violation of
Islamic teachings.
This clearly shows that playing a lottery is not acceptable since
it is almost certain that the player will not win the prize and thus will
lose the price. This is also true for any economic decision for which
likelihood of failure dominates that of success.
Investment vs. Gambling
The causality rule can clearly distinguish investment from
gambling. The key difference between the two is confidence of success.
An entrepreneur starts a project because he is confident that the
project would succeed. A gambler knows in advance that he is more
likely to lose than to win. However, the size of the prize deceives him
to engage into such a losing project.
This difference is consistent with the concept of causality
according to Islamic principles. An action that leads to failure more
frequently than success cannot be considered as a cause of success. It is
a cause of failure.
62 IV. T HE ISLAMIC APPROACH
Expected utility rule in contrast does not differentiate between
a cause and a non-cause. It mixes the likelihood of the outcome with
its magnitude, and decision is based on the final product. No attention
is given to how the outcome is reached, whether systematically or by
blind luck. This is not the way agents normally evaluate their
decisions. According to Ben-Ner and Putterman (1998):
Individuals care about the manner in which they
themselves and others behave, including the ways in
which they attain outcomes of interest. ... Uncommon is
the individual who is indifferent about whether he has
achieved his income through honest work or blind luck,
whether he has cheated others or treated them fairly. (p.
20)
Choice under Uncertainty
Conventional theories of choice, most obviously expected
utility, cannot distinguish investment from gambling. Rather, decision
under uncertainty is viewed simply as a choice among lotteries (e.g.
Varian, 1992, and Jehle, 1991). Not only this is inconsistent with the
Islamic view, it is also inconsistent with real decision making in
business environments.
Studies by MacCrimmon and Wehrung (1986) and Shapira
(1995) show that business managers rarely take risk as given. They
consistently attempt to adjust risks such that they are confident of the
successful outcome. According to Shapira: “Managers see themselves
as taking risks, but only after modifying and working on the dangers so
that they can be confident of success” (p. 74; emphasis added). In this
IV. T HE ISLAMIC APPROACH 63
context, risk taking “is an endeavor where a manager can use his
judgment, exert control, and utilize skills”. This is absent from
gambling (p. 48). Shapira concludes that the “gambling metaphor
appears as an inadequate description of managerial risk taking” (p.
120). James March, decision scientist at Stanford University, writes:
Although theories of choice tend to treat gambling as a
prototypic situation of decision making under risk,
decision makers distinguish between “risk taking” and
gambling, saying that while they should take risks, they
should never gamble. They react to variability more by
trying actively to avoid it or control it than by treating it as
a tradeoff with expected value in making a choice. (1994,
p. 54)
These results point to the fundamental difference between risk taking
associated with real business activities, and gambling where likelihood
of failure is dominant, but the size of the outcome deceptively makes
the choice acceptable.
A Causal Decision Rule
If we want to amend the expected utility rule in the light of the
above discussion, one way to do so is to impose a constraint on the
likelihood of success. Suppose that an action a would lead to outcome
x i � 0 in state i , i =1, ..., n , with probability pi . Probabilities could
be objective or subjective, as long as they satisfy axioms of probability.
Let v(x i ) be the payoff (utility) function of the decision maker in state
i , and let c(a) be the cost of action a. Expected utility requires an
action a is admissible as long as:
64 IV. T HE ISLAMIC APPROACH
n
[1] U (a) = � pi v(x i ) � c � 0 .
i=1
For example, the action could be to purchase a lottery ticket for which
the prize is, say, one million, and c =1 is the price of the ticket. Then
the outcomes are either to win the prize, whereby x1 =1000,000 , or
not, whereby x2 = 0 . The action is admissible as long as the expected
payoff is non-negative. If the probability of winning is one in million,
and the payoff function is linear, then we have:
v1 =1,000,000 , v2 = 0 , c =1 , p1 = 1,000,0001
, p2 = 1,000,000
999,999
.
Consequently, U (a) = 0 . Thus, purchasing the ticket would be
admissible. To exclude this sort of behavior, we have to impose a
restriction on admissible probabilities. This can be achieved by
subjecting [1] to the constraint that probabilities of success are larger
than those of failure. Let S be the set of outcomes for which
v(x i ) � c � 0 , and let S � be its compliment, i.e. for which v(x i ) � c < 0 .
The set S represents the set of successful outcomes, while S �
represents unsuccessful ones. Then action a is admissible as long as:
n
[2] U (a) = � pi v(x i ) � c � 0 , and
i=1
[3] �i�S
pi > � pi .
i�S �
IV. T HE ISLAMIC APPROACH 65
The constraint [3] requires that total probability of success exceeds
that of failure. Since total probability of all outcomes equals one, then
condition [3] is equivalent to requiring that � pi > 0.5 for i � S .
This condition therefore excludes outcomes with low probabilities that
might be chosen merely because of the associated large payoffs, i.e.
gambling.
Statistical Measure
A more direct representation of the causal rule can be obtained
by invoking statistical measures of probability distribution. The
expected utility rule is equivalent to the mean of the payoffs
distribution. The mean is a measure of the central tendency of the
distribution, defined as the sum of the values of the random variable
weighted by their respective probabilities.
An alternative measure is the median. The median is commonly
defined as the point that divides total distribution into two equal parts,
each with probability of 50%. A more general definition, suitable for
both discrete as well as continuous distributions, is provided by
DeGroot (1986, p. 207). The median is defined as a value m of a
random variable x� such that:
[4] prob( x� � m) � 0.5 and prob( x� � m) � 0.5 .
That is, the probability distribution on either side of the median is at
least 0.5. The two sides therefore need not be equal. For the outcomes
of a given action a, the median payoff v̂ is defined as:
66 IV. T HE ISLAMIC APPROACH
[5] prob(v( x� ) � v̂) � 0.5 and prob(v( x� ) � v̂) � 0.5 .
A decision rule based on the median would require that an action a is
admissible if the median payoff is non-negative, i.e.:
[6] U (a) = v̂ � c � 0 .
To apply this rule to the lottery example, recall that there are two
payoffs (assuming linearity of v ):
v1 =1,000,000 with p1 = 1,000,000 1
, and
v2 = 0 with p2 = 1,000,000
999,999
.
The median of this distribution is v2 , since it satisfies the conditions in
[5]. To see this, note that prob(v( x� ) � v2 ) = p2 . That is, probability to
get at most a zero-payoff (which is the smallest payoff) is greater than
0.5. Next, prob(v( x� ) � v2 ) =1 . That is, a player is certain to get zero or
more. (The reader may want to verify that v1 violates [5] and thus
cannot be a median.) Since the median is zero, the utility of
purchasing a lottery ticket becomes negative, and therefore the
decision is not admissible.
Note that this result is obtained regardless of the shape of the
utility function. This makes the median rule robust with respect to the
specification of risk preferences of the decision maker. Statistically, it is
well known that the median is more stable than the mean, and
IV. T HE ISLAMIC APPROACH 67
represents the central tendency of the distribution more accurately
(DeGroot, 1986, pp. 208-209).
It is somewhat surprising that while the median is more robust
than the mean, it is also more consistent with Islamic and moral
principles regarding wagering and gambling. The rule succeeds, at
least to some extent, in distinguishing acceptable risk taking from
gambling, a problem that puzzled lawmakers and economists alike.
The median rule is consistent with results of evolutionary game theory,
which point that “nature abhors low probability events” (Gintis, 2000,
p. 117). From an evolutionary point of view, low probability events
add little to agents’ fitness, and thus are evolutionarily unimportant.
Since few studies examine the median as a decision rule under
uncertainty, further investigation is needed to explore and better
understand its implications.
Derivatives
As discussed earlier, trading derivatives, such as futures and
options, results in losses more than 70% of the time. Since likelihood
of failure exceeds that of success, such instruments are considered as
factors of loss, not of gain, which violates condition [3] above. Further,
using the median rule in [6], the decision to trade derivatives becomes
inadmissible. Only in expected terms might they appear profitable.
But the expected utility rule is questionable, both from an Islamic
perspective as well as real business decision-making, as explained
earlier.
68 IV. T HE ISLAMIC APPROACH
From the above discussion, none of the requirements of
tolerable risks are satisfied by derivatives. This raises deep questions
about Islamic legitimacy of these instruments.
The fact that derivatives by design are zero-sum games is
another dimension of the subject that will be treated in the following
section.
V
THEORY OF GHARAR
The word gharar in Arabic language means risk. It also has the
meaning of deception and delusion (al-Dharir [12]). The two
meanings coincide most clearly in prospects with low probability but
large magnitude, as in lotteries and all forms of gambling. The size of
the payoff entices the agent to engage into an almost losing game. This
is the essence of gambling that conventional choice rules fail to
exclude, as discussed earlier.
While the previous section focused on individual decision-
making, this section focuses on bilateral or interactive decisions. In
such interactions gharar takes a definitive structure. It becomes
equivalent to a zero-sum game with uncertain payoffs (al-Suwailem,
1999). This structure is consistent with Shar�cah measures of gharar.
The measure can be used as a basis for evaluating as well as
developing risk management instruments consistent with Shar�cah, as
will be discussed below.
Types of Games
The term “game” is used for a variety of settings and
arrangements. Here it is used to denote a for-profit exchange among
70 V. THEORY OF GHARAR
two or more agents, whereby agents’ payoffs are uncertain at the
beginning of the game.
Games can be classified according to the sum of players’
payoffs into three categories: positive-sum, zero-sum, or mixed-sum
games.
1. Positive-sum games are games in which players have
common interests, and thus they gain together or lose together (see
Figure 7). Since agents are assumed to be rational, the losing outcome
will not be their objective of the game. The positive outcome therefore
is the objective of the game, and for this reason it is described as a
positive-sum game.
In Figure 7, (A , B) denotes players of the game. The right
branch denotes the positive payoffs for each (the first is the payoff of A
while the second is that for B). The left branch denotes negative
payoffs. At the start of the game, it is not known which branch they
will arrive at. However, each player is assumed to seek the positive
outcome rather than the negative one, and thus the objective of the
game becomes mutual gain. If agents follow the median rule discussed
earlier, then the positive outcome will be more likely to materialize.
This makes the game Pareto-optimal, since both players are likely to
be better off playing the game compared to not playing it.
An example of a positive-sum game is partnership or
musharakah. Since each partner contributes capital and labor, both
would gain if the project succeeds, and both would lose if it fails.
V. THEORY OF GHARAR 71
(A , B)
(– , –) (+ , +)
Figure 7: Positive-sum Games
Note that the size of the payoffs need not be equal for the two parties.
But the sign must be identical; that is, they gain together and lose
together, although the contribution of each might not be equal.
2. Zero-sum games are games in which one party gains and the
other loses (Figure 8). Gambling is the most obvious example: Two
players put, say, 1000 each, and a coin is thrown. If it comes head, A
wins 2000, otherwise B wins.
(A , B)
(+ , –) (– , +)
Figure 8: Zero-sum Games
Obviously, there is no possibility that the two could both win. One
player wins only at the expense of the other. Again, the magnitudes of
gain and loss need not be equal. The term “zero-sum” indicates that
the interests of players are in direct opposition. As textbooks on game
72 V. THEORY OF GHARAR
theory show, such games can always be reformulated so that the
payoffs add to zero (Friedman, 1990, pp. 79-80; Binmore, 1994, pp.
276-277). We shall use the term “zero-sum game” to indicate games of
direct opposition, regardless of the size of payoffs. Zero-sum games are
Pareto-inferior, since they do not allow mutual gain of players. Agents
are better off not playing the game (al-Suwailem, 1999).
3. Mixed games are games that include both sorts of outcomes:
the zero-sum outcome as well as the positive-sum outcome (Figure 9).
(A , B)
(+ , –) (+ , +)
Figure 9: Mixed Games
These games allow for mutual gain, but also imply the possibility of
conflict of interest. Examples of mixed-games include sharecropping
or muzara c ah, ja c alah, and c urbun (see al-Suwailem, 1999). In fact,
most economic activities are mixed or non-zero-sum games, as
Schelling (1980) points out. Life therefore is not a gamble, as many
writers claim. It is a mixed game that could end up in conflict or in
cooperation. Wright (2000) argues that evolution, both social and
biological, progresses towards non-zero-sum interactions. We shall see
V. THEORY OF GHARAR 73
later how the structure of mixed games can be useful in developing
Islamic hedge instruments.
Measure of Gharar
In a zero-sum game, one party gains at the expense of the
other. It is a pure transfer of wealth for no counter-value. Since each
party is seeking profits not donations, it becomes therefore a sort of
“eating wealth for nothing,” strictly condemned in the Qur’�n.
Further, a zero-sum game is a game with direct conflict of interests,
which represents the source of enmity that accounts for the prohibition
of maysir or gambling in the Qur’�n: “Satan only wants to plant enmity
and hatred among you through wine and maysir” (6:91).
On the other hand, gambling represents the purist form of
gharar (al-Dharir [12], p. 622). Since gambling is obviously a zero-sum
game, it follows that gharar must be unacceptable to the extent that it
possesses the zero-sum structure. Accordingly, the circle of gharar is
wider than that of gambling. For this reason, some transactions might
contain gharar (i.e. a zero-sum outcome) but they are still acceptable if
it the zero-sum component is dominated by the positive component, as
in sharecropping and ja c alah.
From Shar�cah point of view, generally speaking, the
acceptability of such mixed games depends on the likelihood of the
cooperative, positive-sum, outcome. If this outcome is dominant, the
game generally is acceptable. In this case, the zero-sum outcome is
considered as “minor gharar.” If the zero-sum outcome is dominant, it
becomes “excessive gharar” and thus not acceptable.
74 V. THEORY OF GHARAR
Technical formulation of this measure, as well as detailed
discussion of several examples and applications, is provided in al-
Suwailem (1999).
Characteristics of Zero-sum Games
Although it might appear fuzzy, the zero-sum property, in its
basic form, is quite clear: Whatever one party gains is what the other
loses. The following points help clarify how this structure applies to
different forms of transactions.
1. First, note that in any zero-sum game, uncertainty at the
time of contract is an essential condition. If it were known upfront, the
game would not have been played. For example, if it were known on
which side the coin will land, there is no point of betting. This is not
the case in games with mutual gain. In a normal sale, where relevant
variables are known upfront, the sale takes place with full information.
Even if all future information were known at the beginning, the sale
will still be performed if it satisfies the needs of the two parties.
2. It should be noted also that gains and losses in a zero-sum
game are determined bilaterally, i.e. between the two parties of the
contract. That is, an actual net transfer of wealth takes place at
maturity from one party to the other, with no counter-value in
exchange. If one buys a good on spot basis, and its price subsequently
falls, this loss is not a direct gain to the first seller, except as foregone
losses. But contractually, no counter party has these losses credited to
V. THEORY OF GHARAR 75
his account as gains, and thus no net transfer of wealth takes place.
Although trading of shares or commodities might at times appear as a
zero-sum game, it is only at the system level. Individually, however,
spot trading, with predetermined prices and parameters, cannot be a
zero-sum game since the relationship between the two parties ends the
moment the trade is concluded. Only in presence of uncertainty
during the contract that a zero-sum exchange might, but not
necessarily, arise.
3. Derivatives are clear examples of zero-sum games. They are
obligations to exchange certain amounts of money in a future date.
The difference between prices at the time of contract and at maturity
is debited from one party and credited to the other, and that is why
they are called contracts for differences. With mark-to-market system,
this is done on daily basis. Even if the derivative is traded in a
secondary market, the obligation as such survives throughout the life
of the contract, and whoever becomes party to it has to settle these
differences.
4. Financial markets as a whole might appear at times as zero-
sum systems. Pyramid schemes are also zero-sum systems. But this
applies to the system as a whole, not to individual contracts as such.
Zero-sum systems arise because of misuse of normal, non-zero-sum
contracts. However, with zero-sum contracts, the system by design will
have a zero-sum structure. That is, systems of zero-sum contracts are
76 V. THEORY OF GHARAR
zero-sum overall, but systems of non-zero-sum contracts may or may
not be zero-sum overall.
For this reason the Prophet, peace be upon him, has put
further conditions on normal sale, e.g. not to sell before possession or
to sell what one doesn’t have. These conditions help make the system
overall positive-sum and prevent what Shiller (2000) calls “naturally
occurring Ponzi processes” (pp. 64-67). During speculative bubbles,
the market as a whole behaves as a Ponzi scheme: early investors get
returns from newcomers, and newcomers profit from those joining
afterwards, and so on, but latecomers eventually bear the cost when
the market crashes. While financial markets in principle are useful and
provide important economic functions, they need to be regulated in
order to minimize such Ponzi processes from taking over. For
example, James Tobin (1978) and Lawrence and Victoria Summers
(1989) propose a transaction tax to reduce frequent trading and thus to
curb speculation. Allais (1993) calls for abandoning continuous
quotation of prices, and having a single quotation per day. He also
insists that margins on forwards should be considerably increased to
avoid harmful speculation (p. 36). Recall that in Islamic forwards, i.e.
salam, the full price must be paid in advance, which points to the
economic rationale for this condition. Detailed discussion of financial
markets reform is beyond the scope of this paper, but the point should
be clear: non-zero-sum contracts might lead to Ponzi, zero-sum
systems if not properly regulated.
V. THEORY OF GHARAR 77
The above discussion hopefully clarifies the difference between
zero-sum contracts and zero-sum systems. The former implies the
latter, but the opposite is not necessarily true.
Expected vs. Actual Measures
The zero-sum measure is based on actual, realized outcomes of
the transaction. Derivatives and all forms of gambling are zero-sum
games in this respect. In expected terms, however, they might be
considered as mutual gain deals. In other words, they might be win-
win games ex ante, but win-lose ex post. The two measures are clearly
incompatible, and thus a choice must be made between the two.
Economic success obviously is based on, and measured in
terms of, actual and realized performance. In expected terms, LTCM
might have been a profitable investment. In early 1998, the fund’s
value-at-risk (VAR), which measures the maximum daily loss in any
single day with 95% confidence, was less than 1% of its capital. The
probability that the fund would lose all its capital within a year was
10�24 . That is, it would take several multiples of the lifetime of the
universe for this event to occur (Lowenstein, 2000, p. 159; Partnoy,
2003, p. 257). Few months later, the fund collapsed when losses wiped
out most of its capital. In other words, failure also is measured in ex
post terms. Bankruptcy is decided according to actual, not expected,
results. Similarly, profits and losses of derivatives are calculated daily
through marking to market, not based on the overall, expected, value
of the contract. Consequently, whenever expected and actual
measures are in conflict, the latter obviously will have the precedence.
78 V. THEORY OF GHARAR
This is supported by the nature of uncertainty. Uncertainty
reflects our ignorance of the reality. It therefore exists only in human
minds. In reality, things either exist or do not exist. Nothing in the
outside universe is random or undetermined. “God does not play
dice,” as Albert Einstein famously affirmed (Pais, 1982). The Qur’�n
clearly states: “Verily all things We created in (precise) amount”
(54:49), “And every single thing is before Him in (due) proportion”
(13:8). Uncertainty and risk therefore cannot exist outside human
mind.
Accordingly, risk per se is not in fact traded, as it cannot exist
in reality. What is actually traded is money for money. Kenneth Arrow
(1971) points to this fact with respect to commercial insurance. He
describes it as an “exchange of money for money, not money for
something which directly meets needs.” (p. 134.) Since this exchange is
contingent on a certain event, the contract ends up in payment in one
direction only. If the event occurs the insurer pays to the insured more
than the latter has paid, and thus the net-payment becomes money for
nothing. The opposite is true if the event does not occur. In either
state one party pays something for nothing. Only in expected terms
that there is a mutual exchange. Ex post, however, no mutual
exchange takes place, and it becomes a sort of eating wealth for
nothing.
This clearly reflects the discrepancy between actual and
expected measures in case of zero-sum games. This discrepancy is
closely related to that between the mean and the median discussed
earlier. The discrepancy arises in case of “outliers,” i.e. outcomes with
V. THEORY OF GHARAR 79
low likelihood but large magnitude. It is such cases where gambling
arises, and the need for careful discrimination of types of risk is called
for. The zero-sum measure provides an important landmark in
achieving this objective.
Risk and Zero-sum Structure
There are several reasons why a zero-sum market is more risky
than a normal market:
1. Earlier we argued that a zero-sum market does not create
additional wealth to balance the additional risks created through
interaction of agents. This is particularly true when the market is
highly leveraged, as it is the case with respect to derivatives.
2. A zero-sum structure by design is relative: The payoff of one
agent is the negative of the other. Relative payoff makes agents’
behavior highly sensitive to each other. Consequently, a feedback loop
is created as changes in an agent’s behavior feeds back to itself through
the behavior of others. The positive feedback loop and recursiveness of
the system makes it increasingly nonlinear and thus prone to chaotic
episodes, as several writers have pointed out (Sornette, 2003; Tumpel-
Gugerell, 2003; Mandelbrot and Hudson, 2004; Bennett, 2004).
3. A derivative by design is derived from an underlying asset or
variable. Movements in this variable would register profits for one
party and equal losses to the other. In a zero-sum market, where all
transactions are zero-sum games, any change in relevant economic
80 V. THEORY OF GHARAR
variables will necessarily create losses to some parties. The market has
no room for mutual gain and common reward. Since risk is defined in
terms of exposure to loss, a zero-sum market almost by definition
becomes more risky than a normal one.
For example, in a futures market of a certain commodity, any
change in the price of the commodity registers profits to one party and
equal losses to the other. In a salam contract, in contrast, the price is
paid in full in advance. The advanced payment provides the seller the
possibility to utilize it in a manner that could compensate for moderate
price increases of the commodity. On the other hand, since delivery is
destined to a future date, the paid price is lower than the spot price.
This discount provides a cushion for the buyer against moderate price
declines. Therefore, the advanced payment provides a “safety margin”
for both parties against moderate price fluctuations. This is in contrast
to leveraged futures, where any price fluctuations presents a gain to
one party and a loss to the other (al-Suwailem, 1999, pp. 84-85).
As another example, consider companies that provide their
employees options to buy shares of the company at a predetermined
price. Rise in the share’s price above that given to employees is a gain
to the employee and a cost to the company. However, this cost is
utilized as an incentive to employees, so the final result of the contract
is a win-win outcome (notwithstanding possible misuses of stock
options). That is, wealth created through employee’s effort
compensates for the loss arising from the increase in the share’s price.
In contrast, in a call option, any changes in the price of the underlying
will register gains to one party and losses to the other.
V. THEORY OF GHARAR 81
Derivatives deliberately sever wealth-creating activities from
risk management, making them by construction zero-sum games. A
derivative contract does not require the creation of wealth that
balance the losses involved. The argument that risk trading promotes
value-creating activities, if true, reinforces the Islamic position, since
integrating the two will not be harmful. The integration would
produce effectively the same result, but provides better incentives to do
so.
4. In a zero-sum market all players are in direct conflict. This
results in players taking advantage of each other when economic
variables move unfavorably to some. Thus the likelihood of failure of
inflicted players will rise beyond that determined by exogenous
economic forces. This apparently what happened to LTCM, when
investors became aware of the losses the fund suffered after the crisis of
Russian bonds and other emerging markets in 1998. Traders started
betting against LTCM, causing further losses to the fund. In the words
of Partnoy (2003, p. 260): “Other traders smelled blood at LTCM,
and began betting against the hedge fund, trying to weaken its
positions.” LTCM was acting as “bank of volatility,” and thus suffered
“a classic run.” According to Lowenstein (2000): “It made no
difference whether banks were consciously trying to profit at Long-
Term’s expense or merely protecting themselves … Either motivation
would have produced the same behavior” (p. 174, emphasis original). The fact
that investors while protecting themselves necessarily attacked LTCM
is a characteristic feature of zero-sum games. Since interests were in
82 V. THEORY OF GHARAR
direct opposition, the benefit of one party necessarily implies the harm
of the other.
Together with moral hazard, this shows that incentives react to
the payoff structure in a manner that might distort behavior and thus
create additional layers of risk to the system.
Since the zero-sum structure creates unnecessary risks, it
becomes consistent with a widely held view that gambling is
characterized by involving artificial risks (e.g. Borna and Lowery,
1987; Raines and Leathers, 1994). The zero-sum structure therefore is
a sufficient condition to consider a certain transaction as gambling
regardless of the tools used to implement it.
Two Measures of Gharar
In the last section we argued that taking risk would be
acceptable, in a real transaction, if success was more likely than failure.
A deal that is more likely to fail is more of a gamble than an
investment. It is therefore a form of gharar. Here we argued that gharar
is a predominantly zero-sum game. That is, we have two measures of
gharar:
1. The likelihood measure.
2. The zero-sum measure.
The first is related to individual decisions, while the second is related
to interactive decisions. But how these two measures are related to
each other?
V. THEORY OF GHARAR 83
First, note that in a zero-sum game, there is no way that both
players could win with probability greater than 0.5. Suppose that one
player is likely to win with probability 70%. Since it is a zero-sum
game, then if one party wins the other must lose. This means that the
other player must lose with probability 70%. That is, a zero-sum game
does not allow success to be more likely for both players. Thus the
zero-sum measure implies the likelihood measure.
Next, the likelihood measure in principle is more general the
zero-sum measure. To see this, consider an investment decision that
has negligible chances to payoff. For example, a speculator decides to
build a shopping mall in uninhabited area. Although the contract with
the construction agent is a legitimate transaction, in terms of its final
objectives it is a gamble on the side of the speculator. Thus, a
legitimate, real transaction could be used for illegitimate purposes.
This shows that the likelihood measure is broader than the zero-sum
measure.
However, in a competitive economy, such highly risky
decisions would eventually be transformed into zero-sum games. If an
investor is willing to spend money for a highly risky project, then
another agent would step in and offer to take less money in exchange
for a higher return but with low likelihood. Ex ante, both parties are
better off, and thus highly risky projects cannot continue for a long
time. Accordingly, the likelihood measure, while pertain to individual
decision-making, naturally leads to the zero-sum measure.
The two types of gharar might help clarify two widely used, but
still ambiguous, terms: speculation and gambling. We might describe
84 V. THEORY OF GHARAR
the first type of gharar as “speculation,” and the second type as
“gambling.” Speculation thus is to use a legitimate contract for highly
risky purposes. It describes a mixed game where the zero-sum
outcome is more likely to obtain. Gambling, on the other hand,
implies a stronger connotation, as both parties are involved in direct
conflict or a strictly zero-sum game. From the above discussion,
speculation eventually transforms into gambling. Further, speculation,
in this context, transforms a market of non-zero-sum contracts to a
zero-sum system, like Ponzi or pyramid schemes.
Value of Risk Management
As point out earlier, hedging is valuable and consistent with
Islamic economic objectives. However, conventional instruments,
mainly derivatives, cannot separate hedging from speculation. They
are used indistinguishably for both purposes, but mostly, 97%, for
speculation. How can we realize the value of hedging and risk
management without incurring the increasing costs of speculation?
From an Islamic perspective, the answer may not be very
difficult. Islamic rules of exchange, being revealed from Allah (s.w.t)
and thus entail His perfect wisdom and knowledge, provide the right
framework for achieving this challenging objective. The general
principle, which is a matter of consensus, is that risk cannot be severed
and separated from real transactions. This will make risk transfer a
zero-sum game and thus a form of eating wealth for nothing, which is
strictly and explicitly prohibited by the Qur’�n (e.g. 2:188, 3:29).
V. THEORY OF GHARAR 85
To achieve desirable risk transfer, therefore, we have to utilize
structures that allow for mutual gain, i.e. nonzero-sum games. Such
games, while imply the possibility of a zero-sum outcome, permit a
positive-sum outcome, and thus provide a room for mutual benefits.
This is the general strategy for developing risk management tools that
are consistent with Islamic principles. The following sections attempt
to implement this strategy.
VI
FINANCIAL ENGINEERING:
AN ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE
The term “financial engineering” has many connotations, and might
have different meanings in different contexts (Marshall and Bansal,
1992). In conventional financing, it relates mostly to derivatives. But
the term is broader than that. For Islamic finance, the concept takes a
special importance, as we shall see.
Definition and Concept
According to Finnerty (1988, 1994), financial engineering
involves the “design, development and implementation of innovative
financial instruments and processes, and the formulation of creative
solutions to problems in finance.” The objectives of financial
engineering are to lower transaction costs and achieve better returns
(Merton, 1992).
Innovation by nature is unpredictable. If it were, it is no longer
innovative. Thus, attention should be directed towards tools and
techniques that facilitate innovation and creativity. Financial
engineering therefore can be better described as: principles and strategies
for developing innovative financial solutions.
88 VI. FINANCIAL ENGINEERING
The difference between tools for innovation and innovation
itself is emphasized by de Bono (1970). He coined the term “lateral
thinking” to describe thinking strategies and techniques that permit
and encourage creativity. Creativity therefore is a consequence rather
than the subject of analysis. Similarly, financial engineering should be
concerned with tools and techniques for developing creative
instruments and innovative products (see also Mason et. al., 1995, p.
xiii).
From an Islamic point of view, there are Shar�cah principles
that should be observed for developing financial products. Thus the
definition emphasizes both principles and strategies for financial
innovation.
The definition mentions financial solutions rather than
instruments or contracts (al-Suwailem [8]). This highlights the added
value of innovation. A “solution” is something that satisfies a genuine
need that was not possible before. This is general enough to include
processes, instruments, or products that result in better efficiency and
returns, as emphasized by Merton (1992). According to Mason et. al.
(1995), financial engineering shall not be measured by the complexity
of mathematical models involved or of the legal documents required.
Rather, it is measured by the expanded economic and managerial
flexibility it offers (p. xiii).
Value of Innovation
Innovation is a change, and change creates instability.
Instability obviously is not desirable, and thus innovation in itself is not
VI. FINANCIAL ENGINEERING 89
a goal. Only when innovation creates value, which offsets the
instability it creates, that it becomes desirable. Innovation therefore is
a tool and a means for generating value. Mason et. al. (1995) rightly
note that relevance of financial innovation is measured by its impact
on the effectiveness of the financial system, not by its novelty. Leathers
and Raines (2004) point to the negative effects of derivative
innovations, and that such innovations are inconsistent with the
Schumpeterian view of creative destruction. This confirms the need
for innovations within a different framework and in a different
direction.
Shar�cah and Creativity
Shar�cah provides a comprehensive set of rules governing and
guiding human behavior. Although these rules restrain behavior in
many respects, this does not hinder creativity. In fact, the opposite is
more likely to be true, since creativity is stimulated by constraints.
Elster (2000) shows how and why rational agents in some cases might
be better off when they have fewer options. In such cases, less is more,
which has been supported by many experimental studies (Gigerenzer
et al., 1999). Elster also shows how artists, for instance, deliberately
choose to restrain themselves in order to be more creative. Silber
(1983) provides evidence that constraints were a major force behind
financial innovations that improved economic performance and
welfare.
Thus, constraints need not hinder creativity. This is especially
true with respect to Divine rulings. Such rulings imply the ultimate
90 VI. FINANCIAL ENGINEERING
wisdom of Allah (s.w.t.), and their observance therefore will only
improve human life. Islamic teachings in general provide the right
environment for valuable creativity and innovation. The Qur’�n
frequently emphasizes reflecting and pondering upon signs of truth,
and condemns those who blindly follow inherited culture even if it
contradicts the facts. Again, contrarious thinking is not necessarily a
virtue in itself, but a means to discover the truth and avoid deceitful
perceptions.
Regulatory Arbitrage
Merton Miller (1986) argues that a major impulse for financial
innovation is to avoid regulation. Given the increasingly globalized
financial markets, investors face different regulatory environments.
This creates an opportunity to overcome local regulations using
suitably designed instruments (mostly derivatives) issued across the
boarders. Free-market advocates particularly see regulations hindering
economic efficiency, and thus consider circumventing regulations via
financial innovation as a means to restore market efficiency (Partnoy,
1997).
This might be relevant for outdated or artificial regulations
that serve little or no social function. However, regulation in principle
serves a crucial role in stabilizing the market and minimizing systemic
dangers. Regulations regarding disclosure and capital requirements,
for example, are essential for self-discipline and risk control.
Circumventing such regulations, through financial innovation and
VI. FINANCIAL ENGINEERING 91
accounting manipulation, very likely leads to undesirable
consequences, with Enron and similar episodes as visible examples.
Similarly, from an Islamic point of view, circumventing
Shar�cah principles would negatively affect market performance and
jeopardize objectives of Islamic finance in the first place. More on this
point later in this section.
State of Financial Innovation
Professor Peter Drucker (1999) argues that financial-services
industry is now declining. The reason, he writes, is simple: “The
dominant financial-services institutions have not made a single major
innovation in 30 years.” Instead of inventing new services to
customers, financial firms are mostly trading for their own accounts,
thus involved in a “zero-sum game,” since the gain of one firm is the
loss of the other. The only innovations during the past three decades,
he argues, have been “allegedly ‘scientific’ derivatives,” which are no
more scientific than systems used in Monte Carlo or Las Vegas. “As a
result, the industry’s products have become commodities and
increasingly both less profitable and more expensive to sell.”
Drucker argues that there are now three possible roads the
industry can take. The easiest is to keep the current practices and
trends. The industry may survive, but will continue to decline. The
second is for the industry “to be replaced by innovating outsiders and
newcomers.” The third is for the industry players “to become
innovators themselves and their own ‘creative destroyers’.” With the
increasing change in world economy, the first road is not really an
92 VI. FINANCIAL ENGINEERING
option. Thus, the industry either changes itself, or outsiders will do so.
Not surprisingly, he titles his article: “Innovate or die.”
This points that the Islamic industry has a good opportunity at
this stage to provide genuine and value-adding financial services that
the industry is seriously lacking.
Principles of Islamic Financial Engineering
From an Islamic perspective, we can identify four principles for
financial engineering, two concern objectives: principle of balance and
principle of integration, and two concern methodology: principle of
acceptability and principle of consistency.
Principle of Balance
This principle reflects the comprehensive approach of Islamic
principles to human incentives. It stresses the balance between self-
regarding and others-regarding interests, between for-profit and non-
profit activities, between competitive and cooperative relations.
Islamic rules draw clear and decisive boundaries between the two
domains, and successfully achieve internal balance and equilibrium
between the two. The obligation of zakat and prohibition of riba are
two clear examples. Capitalism stresses for-profit and market-oriented
approach for nearly all economic problems. Communism, on the
other hand, relies mainly on non-profit mechanisms to solve the same
problems. Islamic economics, in contrast, takes a balanced approach.
Both for-profit and non-profit mechanisms are essential for satisfying
economic needs.
VI. FINANCIAL ENGINEERING 93
No economy can thrive solely on for-profit transactions. In
fact, the existence of the society, through families and communities, is
based on cooperative rather than for-profit bases. Nonprofit
organizations account for about 90% of all non-governmental schools
and colleges, and two-thirds of all hospitals in the U.S. (Hansmann,
1996).
Accordingly, many financial and economic objectives can be
achieved through cooperative, rather than for-profit, arrangements.
The most obvious example is insurance. While commercial insurance
is widely considered unacceptable from Shar�cah point of view,
cooperative and mutual insurance is unanimously accepted.
Cooperative arrangements can be more efficient than commercial
instruments, and thus better able to serve relevant needs.
Interdependence
It is important to note that cooperative arrangements differ
from donations and charity. Professor Stephen Covey (1990) classifies
human relations into three stages depending on their degree of
maturity:
1. Dependence
2. Independence
3. Inter-dependence
The first stage is dependence, where one relies on others to satisfy his
or her needs. This is especially true in the early stages of life, where a
child is largely dependent on his parents and family. Afterwards, one
94 VI. FINANCIAL ENGINEERING
builds up his identity and tries to be independent from others. The
most advanced stage is inter-dependence. It is a mutual relationship
between independent persons that utilizes benefits of cooperation to
achieve results no single person can.
These three stages have their counterparts in economic
behavior. Dependence corresponds to reliance on donations and
charities. The receiver is dependent on the donor. At any point in
time, there are always people who cannot satisfy their needs on their
own, and must depend on others for that. Independence corresponds
to self-interest, for-profit, transactions. Agents get what they want
through their own resources. The most advanced stage, inter-
dependence, corresponds to mutual and cooperative behavior. It is
also called reciprocal relations (e.g. Gintis et. al., 2005; Sobel, 2005).
These are neither pure for-profit nor pure charity, but combine
properties of both to achieve higher objectives. While communism was
concerned mainly with solving the problem of dependent agents,
capitalism is concerned mainly with achieving independence through
self-interest and market forces. Islamic economics acknowledges these
two types of relations, but adds to them the more mature relation:
cooperation and inter-dependence.
As we shall see later, cooperative insurance is built on
reciprocal, inter-dependent relations, rather than pure charity and
donation.
VI. FINANCIAL ENGINEERING 95
Principle of Acceptability
This principle belongs to methodology but logical sequencing
requires presenting it at this point. The principle states that all
economic dealing are generally acceptable unless otherwise stated by
Shar�cah (e.g. Ibn Taymiah [3]).
The principle is based on the assumption that economic
interactions aim to satisfy normal human needs and preferences. Islam
views man to be driven by nature to the good, and thus normal
interactions will normally lead to the good of the society. Obviously,
evil exists, and this is why there are rules to govern economic
behavior.
These rules are on the preventive side with respect to for-profit
activities, but are on the affirmative side with respect to non-profit
activities. The reason is the nature of human incentives. According to
al-Shatibi [11], whenever there are sufficient incentives to pursue
legitimate objectives, like seeking profits, the Qur’�n will not overly
insist on it to avoid extreme responses. On the other hand, when there
are less than sufficient incentives to pursue some objectives, like giving
donations, the Qur’�n will particularly emphasize it to compensate for
reduced incentives. This explains why most Shar�cah regulations of
for-profit transactions are on the preventive side. Nonetheless, the
Qur’�n in many verses praises commerce and trade (e.g. 73:20).
The principle of acceptability is a corner stone for innovation.
There are no limits on human imagination and creativity, as long as it
does not cause more harm than good. One needs only to check that
96 VI. FINANCIAL ENGINEERING
none of the prohibited dealings contaminate the transaction. Beyond
that, all possibilities are open.
Accordingly, if two views are presented regarding a certain
product, one considers it acceptable while the other doesn’t, then the
burden of proof is on the latter. Those who accept don’t have to prove
it, since this is the default position of Shar�cah.
Roots of Prohibited Dealings
Based on the principle of acceptability, we need to worry
mainly about prohibited dealings with respect to for-profit activities.
Generally speaking, most regulations of for-profit activities serve to
prevent the most serious unjust dealings: Riba and gharar. We have
already discussed the concept of gharar in detail, so we will focus here
on riba , as well as the common aspects of the two.
Riba or usury, is essentially interest on lending. Islam is not
unique to prohibit riba , since all divine religions do (Chapra, 2004).
The objective of finance in general is to promote growth and fair
distribution of real resources. Prosperity and welfare are determined
ultimately by real wealth. Accordingly, the financial sector works to
serve the real sector.
Riba separates finance from real transactions. Since the two
counter-values of a loan are identical, it follows that interest becomes
purely the cost of time, or the cost of pure finance. Pure debt creation
is less constrained than real wealth creation; it takes only the
agreement of the two parties to postpone a due debt for additional
interest. Consequently, growth of debt tends to exceed that of the real
VI. FINANCIAL ENGINEERING 97
economy. With compounded interest, debt services grow much faster
than real income, and will take an increasingly dominant share of it.
For example, debt services in 2003 took more than 80% of exports of
Lebanon, 63% for Burundi, and in 2001 it was 82% for Sierra Leon
(World Bank, 2005). Thus the real sector will be servicing the financial
sector, instead of the other way around. The economy obviously
cannot normally continue to grow, since interest-based debt, if not
checked, threatens to absorb economic wealth through its unlimited
growing services.
The devastating consequences of interest-based debt make it
necessary to regulate financing from the beginning to avoid
uncontrollable results. Islamic principles therefore make finance an
inseparable part of real activities. That is why there is no “pure
financing” instrument in Shar�cah. Islamic instruments have debt
finance as an integrated component of real transactions, as in deferred
sale and salam. As long as debt is integrated with real activities, there is
no issue in taking its costs into account. Such costs are controlled by
real transactions, and thus debt cannot grow on its own.
This points to the difference between interest on lending and
mark-up in credit sale. Interest is a self-replicating mechanism that
makes debt grow and multiply independent of the real economy. As
mentioned above, this eventually drains real resources, obviously to
the benefit of lenders. Mark-up, on the other hand, is time value
integrated into the real transaction. This eliminates the possibility of
self-replication of debt. Time value as such is not the issue; rather it is
the growth of debt independent of real wealth that threatens social
98 VI. FINANCIAL ENGINEERING
welfare. By integrating time value with real transactions, this
replicating mechanism is eliminated.
The difference between integrated and separated debt is very
much like the difference between a normal and a cancerous cell. A
cancerous cell grows and multiplies in a disorderly and uncontrollable
way. It escapes the control mechanism that keeps cells growing in their
normal and orderly way (Buckman, 1997, p. 9). When debt evades
control mechanisms, it grows on its own, just as cancerous cells do.
The control mechanism is what keeps cells synchronized and
integrated to perform normal body functions. Islamic regulations of
debt represent the necessary control mechanism that keeps debt
synchronized with the real economy. Interest makes debt evade
control, and thus become a threat to the economy.
Principle of Integration
Both riba and gharar work to sever subjective preferences from
objective wealth. Riba applies to time, while gharar applies to risk.
Time and risk, as pointed out earlier, are in fact two sides of the same
coin. Separating one implies separating the other. It is not surprising
therefore that Shar�cah prohibits both.
The separation of time and risk from real activities leads to
divergence of the financial sector from the real sector. However, the
separation is inconsistent with the nature of economic relations, and
thus is not sustainable. This makes it increasingly costly to keep the
two sectors apart. The rising costs of separation defeat its original
purpose, namely efficiency and reduced transaction costs. Eventually,
VI. FINANCIAL ENGINEERING 99
the real sector will pay much more for separation than it costs to keep
the two sectors integrated. Shar�cah, therefore, insists on the
integration between two sectors to achieve balanced and sustained
economic growth. This is an essential principle in developing Islamic
financial products.
Integration and Specialization
Integration can be seen as a constraint on economic behavior,
but it is a productive constraint. As already pointed out by Elster
(2000), not all constraints are inefficient. North (1990) explains how
institutional constraints help reduce transaction and informational
costs. Specialization, which drives economic progress, as economists
recognized long time ago, is a sort of self-constraints to improve
productivity and discipline activities. Integration builds upon
specialization at the input level to synchronize the output of various
sectors. As Milgrom and Roberts (1992) point out, “specialization
requires coordination” (p. 25).
Advocates of derivatives argue that separation of risk from
underlying assets makes it more efficient to manage risk, since it is a
form of specialization and division of labor. But risk is a purely mental
construct, as discussed earlier, and thus cannot actually exist outside
human mind. Separation of risk therefore is an abstraction from reality
rather than specialization. While specialization naturally imposes
greater discipline on economic behavior, abstraction by design lifts
most boundaries and constraints that arise from the complexity of
reality. Since abstraction is not sustainable, the real sector eventually
100 VI. FINANCIAL ENGINEERING
pays most of the costs of the undisciplined behavior resulting from
abstraction. It is therefore necessary to assure the integration of the
real and financial sectors from the beginning to avoid serious problems
of coordination failure.
Evaluation of Financial Products
A direct implication of the principle of integration is that
money-for-money instruments are unacceptable if performed for
profit. An acceptable transaction therefore must incorporate a real
component, e.g. goods, utilities or services. Although the real
component is necessary for integration, it is not sufficient. In some
cases goods are used only for artificial integration. Legitimate
contracts involving real goods or services might be used in a manner
that defeats the purpose of integration; namely to create real value. It
is quite possible to combine acceptable contracts such that the final
result is unacceptable. This is called hila (artifice) or hiyal (artifices). In
� �
artifices to circumvent usury, for example, real components are used
for the purpose of lending. Real goods therefore are used to obtain
financing, instead of financing used to facilitate real objectives.
The problem of artifices arises from the tension between
substance and form of financial arrangements. Which side has the
precedence over the other and when, determines the solution. It is
useful to note, however, that this problem is not confined to Islamic
jurisprudence. We already noted that the same problem arose in the
late nineteenth century in the West with respect to futures and options.
It arises now with respect to over-the-counter derivatives, as well as
VI. FINANCIAL ENGINEERING 101
accounting rules pertaining to such derivatives. Manipulation in both
domains is common, as reflected in Enron and similar scandals (e.g.
Partnoy, 2003). The manipulation hinges on the tension between the
letter and the spirit of the law, between form and substance of the
financial product. What makes Islamic jurisprudence different,
however, is its moral dimension. The intention of evading the
commands of Allah (s.w.t) is considered a major sin, regardless of
whether or not it could be proven in court.
There are theoretically two extremes with respect to the
relation between form and substance: to consider either form only, or
substance only, and ignore the other. Both are Islamically not
acceptable. As Ibn Taymiah [1] clearly shows, hiyal were unanimously
�
condemned by the companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him.
Ibn al-Qayyim [6] therefore reports that no prominent Muslim
scholar endorses all kinds of artifices. This implies that form or means
cannot have an absolute precedence over substance or ends. On the
other hand, all scholars agree that good intentions are not enough to
approve a certain transaction. This means that ends do not justify
means. Accordingly, neither of the two extremes is acceptable, nor in
fact practical.
This implies that scholars generally agree that there must be a
balance or consistency between form and substance. Thus, differences
among scholars in this regard can be attributed to differences in
determining the degree of consistency, not regarding consistency in
principle. This leads to the next principle of Islamic financial
engineering:
102 VI. FINANCIAL ENGINEERING
Principle of Consistency
This principle states that form and substance of Islamic
products must be consistent with each other; i.e. form should serve
substance, and means should conform to ends. This principle relies on
generally acceptable fiqh maxims, like “actions are based on
objectives,” and “meanings supersede litters” (e.g. Ibn al-Qayyim [6]).
Accordingly, evaluation of a product should go through the following
steps (Figure 10):
product evaluation
design
no substance
revise
acceptable?
yes
no form
acceptable?
yes
product
acceptable
Figure 10: Process of Product Evaluation
VI. FINANCIAL ENGINEERING 103
1. Evaluate the substance or the end result of the product. If
acceptable, go to step 2. Otherwise, go to step 3.
2. Evaluate the form of the product. If acceptable, the product is
acceptable. Otherwise, go to step 3.
3. Revise the product, and then go to step 1.
Note that we start with substance, and then move to form. Both are
necessary for final approval of the product. Neither one, however, is
sufficient alone for full approval.
To give an example, consider two contemporary financial
products: murabaha and ceinah, including organized tawarruq. Both are
�
used for financing, but murabaha requires the financier (bank) to
�
purchase the good the customer requests, then sell it to the customer
for a profit on deferred-payment basis. In tawarruq, the financier sells to
the customer a good for a deferred price, then sells it again on the
customer’s behalf for cash, and deposits the money in the customer’s
account.
In terms of substance, the objective of murabaha is to provide
�
the good the customer needs for a deferred price. The final result
therefore is a normal sale. The objective of tawarruq, on the other
hand, is to provide liquidity. The customer eventually gets cash in
exchange for a debt of a larger magnitude. It therefore ends in pure
debt financing. Obviously, in terms of substance, murabaha serves a
�
legitimate objective, but tawarruq serves simply the same objective of
riba. Not surprisingly, therefore, murabaha is widely accepted, while
�
104 VI. FINANCIAL ENGINEERING
organized tawarruq is highly controversial (the Fiqh Academy in Mecca
in fact rejected the latter in its ruling in 2003).
Given that the objective of murabaha is legitimate, we have to
�
be sure it is implemented properly. The process must observe the
detailed Shar�cah rules, like avoiding selling of what you don’t have or
making profit without being liable to the underlying good. Once these
rules are observed, the instrument is acceptable since it passes through
both stages of evaluation. For tawarruq or ceinah, it will not help if all
detailed rules were observed, since the final result is not legitimate.
A good example to further clarify this point is to compare pork
with lamb or beef. Pork is positively prohibited by the Qur’�n, no
matter how the pig was killed, whether slaughtered properly or not.
The means are not relevant if the end itself is prohibited. Lamb, in
contrast, is good in itself, so it has to be slaughtered properly to be
completely acceptable. Obviously, not all animals are sheep, nor all
are pigs. But it is certainly possible that people would differ whether a
certain animal is a pig or a sheep. This would be normally tolerated,
as it is only humane to differ. Thus, in many instances we can view
differences of scholars regarding some artifices as differences regarding
the type of “animal” rather than how it was processed.
Strategies for Product Development
The next step in Islamic financial engineering is to examine
strategies and techniques for developing financial products. There are
generally three strategies, depending on the starting point of the
development process:
VI. FINANCIAL ENGINEERING 105
1. To start from conventional products.
2. To start from Islamic products.
3. To start from the real needs of customers.
Imitation
The first strategy is to have a conventional (but Islamically
questionable) product as a reference, and then use Islamic contracts to
construct an equivalent product with almost identical properties. The
strategy is also called “reverse engineering” (Iqbal, 1999). Examples
include:
• Replicating a conventional loan with interest through tawarruq
or ceinah.
• Time deposits are replicated through reversed tawarruq.
• A financial call option is replicated through c urbun.
• Interest rate swap is replicated through reciprocal tawarruq and
reversed tawarruq, with different markup structures, and so
forth.
This strategy is probably the easiest for developing products, since the
target is already determined. This probably explains why it has been
used for centuries. Imitation might help particularly in early stages of
development of the Islamic industry, but its drawbacks could affect the
long term pace of the industry. The main drawbacks are:
1. First, the strategy gives persistent precedence of form over
substance, and means over ends. Application of Islamic rules becomes
106 VI. FINANCIAL ENGINEERING
a matter of passive and visionless observance of Shar�cah with little
confidence in its economic value.
2. The strategy makes the Islamic industry by design a follower
of the conventional industry. Since it is based on replication and
imitation, conventional industry will always be the leader. This
contradicts the essence of creativity and innovation, and thus the
strategy cannot belong to financial engineering in its true sense.
3. Since imitation implies the same objective of conventional
instruments, but with the additional constraints of Shar�cah rulings, it
follows that Islamic instruments will always be inferior to conventional
ones. This is a well known result in optimization theory where a
binding constraint cannot improve the value of the objective function.
This inferiority arises because of taking the conventional product as
the objective function. The more natural approach is to take Shar�cah
rules as given constraints, then derive an objective function for which
the solution is optimal. That is, we should start from Shar�cah rules
then arrive at the objective function, rather than going in the opposite
direction.
4. Conventional instruments are developed to solve the
problems of the conventional industry. Replicating these products will
make Islamic institutions susceptible to the same problems for which
these products were developed to solve. In other words, the strategy
will bring in new and alien problems to the industry. As these
problems get transmitted, the need for conventional products becomes
stronger. This in turn necessitates replicating more products, which
VI. FINANCIAL ENGINEERING 107
adds more problems, and so on. The circle becomes self-feeding and
the industry risks loosing its identity in the process.
It should be noted that in a healthy competitive market,
imitation will lose its edge and its returns will diminish rapidly. The
strategy therefore is not sustainable.
Mutation
The second strategy is to start from acceptable Islamic
products, and try different variations and modifications on them, and
see how the resulting products could be used. Using the jargon of
genetic algorithms (GA), existing products will be subjected to mutations
and cross-over, then using a selection criterion based on degree of
integration, for example, superior products are retained and poor ones
are dropped. The process is repeated until further improvements
become minimal. Genetic algorithms are used for a wide range of
applications, and can be effective in evolving desirable solutions for
which traditional techniques fail (see for example Mitchell, 1998;
Holland, 1995; and Goldberg, 1989).
The strategy could generate effectively infinite number of
products. Given that the starting point is acceptable products, and
based on the principle of acceptability, a substantial part of evolved
products would be acceptable. This shows that the space of Islamic
products is very rich and open.
This strategy deserves a full study on its own, but we will try to
apply it in a primitive, non-genetic form, in the next section.
108 VI. FINANCIAL ENGINEERING
Satisfaction
The third strategy starts from actual needs of customers, then
go back and see which products or designs could serve these needs.
The strategy works in the opposite direction of the previous strategy,
and therefore the two complement each other.
Choosing the real needs for developing products is the natural
process of market evolution. Customers to a large extent determine the
direction of the industry. Economic progress in fact can be measured
by the ability of agents to satisfy their needs. Products, whether
financial or physical, are means to satisfy such needs. This is another
example of how in reality ends determine means, not the other way
around.
An example of this strategy applies to lending. Consider a
consumer who approaches the bank seeking a loan. He asks for cash
money. But this is not his actual need, since he must use this money in
another real transaction to satisfy his actual need. For example, he
might use it to purchase an appliance or renew his furniture. Thus the
real need is the final good, not the initial cash. For Islamic banks, this
means that the bank should finance the ultimate good needed by the
customer. If this is difficult for logistic reasons, advanced technology
could greatly eliminate these obstacles, meanwhile improves the
profitability of the bank.
If the customer needs the money to pay an existing debt, the
same process could be applied to the creditor. The creditor, again,
must use the money for real purposes. The bank should be ready to
finance the creditor’s needs using the customer’s money. Money is a
VI. FINANCIAL ENGINEERING 109
veil, as Classical economists long time ago argued. This means that
real transactions are the ultimate objective of economic transactions.
With the advancement of technology and electronic money (e.g.
Shiller, 2003, pp. 73-75), we are approaching the “cashless society”
where money becomes a transparent layer revealing real transactions
behind. Not only this improves the integration of financial and real
sectors, it also makes financing more efficient with less transaction
costs, meanwhile closer to Shar�cah principles. Instead of taking cash
then using it for real transactions, the real transaction is directly
financed without the middle step. This shows that Islamic finance is
potentially more efficient than conventional finance (see al-Jarhi,
2002). In other words, financing real transactions of customers is the
ultimate alternative for lending and tawarruq products alike.
Conclusion
This section outlined some principles and strategies of Islamic
financial engineering. The argument is that credible Islamic
instruments are likely to be more efficient than conventional ones. The
Islamic industry however needs to review applied strategies for
product development to take full advantage of such efficiency. The
following section attempts to apply the above framework for
developing hedging strategies for Islamic instruments.
VII
ISLAMIC INSTRUMENTS FOR HEDGING
The term “hedging” is commonly used to mean minimizing exposure
to risk. Although “hedging” differs from “insurance” (e.g. Bodie and
Merton, 1998, pp. 224-225), we will take the term in its broad
meaning. Risk, in any case, cannot be eliminated from economic
activities. It is now a common view that financial intermediation is
about managing risk, rather than avoiding risk (e.g. Heffernan, 1996,
p. 163). And investors are well aware of the first rule of the game:
“nothing ventured, nothing gained” (Bernstein, 1996, p. 256). Thus
hedging effectively means managing risk, rather than eliminating it.
As discussed earlier, the challenge is to use hedging
instruments that can achieve the benefits of risk distribution but do not
lend themselves to gambling. That is, these instruments shall be
integrated with real, value-adding activities, and may not be “neutral”
with respect to gambling.
There is more than one approach to hedging. Three possible
strategies are outlined:
1. Economic hedging
2. Cooperative hedging
3. Contractual hedging
112 VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS
Economic Hedging
This strategy stems from the decision maker and needs no
explicit arrangements with other agents to achieve desired hedging.
The most obvious and oldest example is to diversify investments.
According to Bernstein (1996): “Investors diversify their investments,
because diversification is their best weapon against variance of return”
(p. 252). Diversification is an essential hedging strategy that stands
alone as well as complements other strategies.
It might appear however that diversification hinders
specialization. By definition, specialization requires concentration and
focus of capital and labor. To the extent that the two strategies
interfere with each other, it is a trade off decision. However,
specialization can compensate for diversification through integrating
the output with complementary products to minimize risk of loss
(Ashkenas et. al., 2002, p. 7). In other words, integration at the output
level may compensate for loss of diversification at the input level.
Further, investors in a company specializing in a certain market can
diversify its risks through holding a portfolio of diversified shares.
Investors therefore are better able to diversify risks than companies, as
Milgrom and Roberts (1992) point out. Thus, specialization at the firm
level can be compensated through diversification at investors level
(op.cit., p. 587).
Alignment of Assets and Liabilities
An important source of risk is the asymmetry between
revenues and costs, or assets and liabilities. This asymmetry exposes
VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS 113
the business to liquidity risks when due payments on the liabilities side
are mismatched with those on the assets side. Further, firms are
exposed to market risks when production is not well aligned with
demand, causing risks of loss due to quick price changes and demand
shifts.
Real business firms are continuously seeking technologies and
strategies to align their revenues and costs. The Japanese “just-in-
time” production, “direct-to-customer” sales strategy of Dell
Computers, and efficient supply systems of Wal-Mart, all are examples
(Evans and Wurster, 2000). Firms are networking with their suppliers
and customers to create “virtual integration” of the supply chain,
making it more flexible and responsive to market changes with less
frictions and minimum costs (Kelley, 1994, pp. 187-189; Ashkenas et.
al., 2002).
Financial firms, in contrast, tend to have persistent
misalignments between their assets and liabilities. Borrowing short and
lending long is the core business of banks. Insurance companies
likewise have imbalanced sheet structure, with huge contingent
liabilities and minor certain assets. Although it opens some profit
opportunities, mismatching creates dangerous risks to the industry as
well as the economy. The creation of central banks and deposit
insurance, although attenuated systemic consequences, contributed to
the persistence of the problem.
Derivatives play an important role in shifting some of the risks
of misaligned balance sheets, and this might help explain their
increasing growth. As these risks are transferred to other players, firms
114 VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS
find it more profitable to further misalign their balance sheets, leading
to additional use of derivatives, an so on.
From an Islamic point of view, it is well known that Islamic
banks are supposed to enjoy much more symmetric and aligned
balance sheets, and thus much more stable structure (Khan and
Mirakhor, 1987). That is, alignment of the balance sheet appears as an
essential property of the Islamic system. The use of derivatives by
Islamic institutions therefore is inconsistent with the nature of their
structure, and would make them experience the same problems of the
conventional industry, as pointed out in the last section.
Natural Hedge
Aligning assets and liabilities to reduce interest rate or currency
risks is called “natural hedge” (Steinherr, 2000, pp. 29, 289). The
exposure to a risk factor thus is offset by an opposite exposure to that
factor (riskinstitute.ch; 3.2006). Balance sheet hedge is done by altering
asset and/or liability repricing characteristics or volumes to reduce the
firm’s interest rate risk exposure without purchasing derivative
instruments like interest rate swaps or futures (americanbanker.com;
3.2006). An exporter with a USD liability may use an expected USD
income stream from future exports to hedge the currency risk
associated with the USD liability (stats.govt.nz; 3.2006). Companies
use natural hedging to avoid costs of derivatives hedging. According to
Goldman Sachs, hedging $500 million worth of earnings cost $26
million (Sparks, 2000). Many companies instead revert to natural
hedging to avoid currency risks.
VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS 115
Heffernan (1996) provides another example of reducing risks
through matching assets and liabilities. A global bank working with
multiple currencies can reduce its currency risk through
“multicurrency-based share capital;” that is, to denominate its share
capital in multiple currencies. An example is the Scandinavian Bank
Group, which reconstituted its Sterling capital in four currencies: US
Dollar, Swiss Franc, Deutsche Mark, and Sterling. If share capital is
denominated in a mixture of currencies to match the volume of
business assets and liabilities, then capital ratios will not change by
much during exchange rate fluctuations. Accordingly, “currency risk is
reduced without using hedging instruments” (p. 194).
Dynamic Hedging
Dynamic hedging refers to trading strategies that can replicate
the payoff of a given derivative using only the underlying security.
Assuming complete markets and frictionless world, an investor may be
able to find a portfolio that pays the same payoff as the derivative pays
at maturity without any payment except the initial investment. The
portfolio is called a replicating portfolio, and the derivative must worth
the same as the replicating portfolio. If it is not, then there is an
arbitrage opportunity (Slutz, 2004). This is also called “delta-hedging.”
According to MIT Laboratory for Financial Engineering, “delta-
hedging strategies are recipes for replicating the payoff of a complex
security by sophisticated dynamic trading of simpler securities”
(lfe.mit.edu; 12.2005).
116 VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS
This strategy is used for pricing derivatives, as was pioneered
by Merton (1973) for option pricing. However, perfect replication is
impossible with incomplete markets and transaction costs. Bertsimas
et. al. (2001) solve for the problem of optimal replication in incomplete
markets. They use stochastic dynamic programming to construct a
self-financing dynamic portfolio strategy involving only the
fundamental securities that most closely approximate the payoff of the
derivative based on mean-square error.
This means that dynamic strategies can be used to replicate
derivatives without actually buying any. Synthetic derivatives (e.g.
synthetic options) can be constructed instead of actually buying
options. Although they are not perfect substitutes, the approximation
can be close enough to satisfy the needs of investors who prefer not to
deal with derivatives. Many writers, however, have pointed to possible
instabilities that dynamic hedging might cause to markets (e.g.
Steinherr, 2000). This should be taken into account in evaluating such
strategies.
Cooperative Hedging
Cooperative behavior is not residual to economic life. It forms
an essential framework for social interactions, as discussed in the
previous section. Accordingly, many important economic problems
can be effectively solved through cooperation rather than for-profit
arrangements, particularly problems of risk sharing and distribution.
According to Shiller (2003, p. 93), reciprocity is necessary for risk
VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS 117
sharing and management, particularly when such behavioral concept
is lacking today.
Although commercial insurance is widely adopted, mutual
insurance is also common. About half of life insurance policies in the
U.S. are issued by mutual insurance (Hansmann, 1996). Cooperative
insurance enjoys the risk sharing and distribution of commercial
insurance, but can reduce problems of moral hazard and conflict of
interests that accompany it. Further, available evidence indicates that
mutual structure might be more stable than stock-ownership
structures. According to Gowland (1994), 60% of shareholder-owned
saving & loans thrifts were facing imminent failure during the S&L
debacle in late eighties, while only 25% of mutually owned were in the
same category (Heffernan, 1996, p. 294).
From an Islamic point of view, commercial insurance is a
gharar contract, and thus is not acceptable. Cooperative insurance, in
contrast, is a non-profit arrangement, and thus can be accepted
despite the large uncertainties involved. The main difference between
the two, from an Islamic point of view, is the liability of the insurance
company. A commercial (stock-owned) insurance company is
obligated to pay the claims regardless of the size of available funds
from subscriptions. Cooperative insurance on the other hand is limited
by the size of available funds: If funds are not sufficient then either
policy holders would voluntarily contribute the deficit, or the
compensation will be reduced in proportion to available funds (al-
Dharir [12], p. 641; al-Suwailem [9]). This not-for-profit and limited-
liability structure enhances incentives to monitor and discipline
118 VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS
members to avoid exploiting the system, and thus problems of moral
hazard are also reduced. Further, since derivatives’ main drawback is
the unproductive speculation they invite in, mutual hedging eliminates
speculation by excluding profits. It becomes an arrangement between
hedgers only, not between hedgers and speculators, as derivatives are.
This brings in the benefits of risk distribution without creating
additional risks that drain real resources and endanger the stability of
the system.
Through cooperative arrangements, therefore, Muslim
investors and Islamic institutions can join to share risks they are facing.
Since it is not-for-profit, the arrangements are quite flexible and can
accommodate any type of risk.
Cooperative Hedging for Currency Risks
Cooperative hedging is an effective strategy for currency risks
for a simple reason: Shar�cah imposes strong restrictions on currency
for-profit trading that makes conventional hedging nearly impossible.
Accordingly, the most suitable risk management strategy for currency
risks is through cooperative, not-for-profit techniques.
One way to do so is for Islamic institutions to establish a
cooperative fund to distribute and share currency risks. Members who
own this fund must have different risk profiles in order to diversify
their risks efficiently. Each member will perform his operations
normally, but would credit any gains or losses of currency exchange to
his account with the fund. Surpluses are kept as reserves to cover
future deficits. Initial deficits are covered from initial capital provided
VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS 119
by members. To the extent that members’ risks are uncorrelated, gains
and losses will be canceled out, and members will be able to hedge
their currency risks. Detailed structure of the fund could be designed
according to members’ preferences, but the basic property is being a
cooperative structure; i.e. all risks of the fund are ultimately borne by
members. This achieves risk sharing in its purist form, without the
negative consequences of speculative trading. Other non-cooperative
techniques for hedging currency risks are presented later in this
section.
Bilateral Mutual Adjustment
Since cooperative structures are not for-profit, there is no
minimum of the number of members involved. Although a large
number of participants would help diversify the risks, the absence of
such condition makes it very flexible in cases where not many agents
might be involved in.
This feature can be used to design bilateral risk sharing
between the financier and the customer in ordinary Islamic finance.
Consider a customer who purchases an asset through a long-term
arrangement. The financier faces risks of changing rates of return, and
would like to hedge against it. If it is a lease contract, the two parties
may agree to renew the contract by mutual consent periodically (say
bi-annually), where the new rent will reflect prevailing prices. But
suppose it was a murabaha, where the price is debt and therefore
�
cannot be increased. How can the two parties arrange a bilateral
hedge?
120 VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS
One way to handle it is as follows. If the rate of return rises, the
customer would pay a higher installment, in exchange for reducing his
balance accordingly. That is, by paying a higher installment the
customer is speeding up the payment of his debt, and thus shortening
the duration of the contract. For the financier, he is getting more cash
and thus can utilize it at the higher rate of return. If the rate of return
declines, the customer would pay lower installments but with a longer
period of payment. The financier gives up some of the liquidity, but
secures predictable future payments. In any case total debt is fixed and
does not increase in any manner. What changes is the amount of the
installment and, consequently, the maturity date. In other words,
variability of the rate of return is reflected in variability of the duration
of the contract. No additional payments beyond those specified in the
contract are made. Since this change is made with mutual consent at
the time the rate changes, no disputable uncertainty exists in the contract.
No party gets something for nothing. Higher installments provide
liquidity to the financier but reduce the duration of the payment.
Lower installments provide liquidity to the customer but extend the
duration of the payment. The arrangement therefore balances rights
and obligations of each party in a cooperative manner.
Contractual Hedging
This strategy focuses on contractual, for-profit, instruments. As
discussed before, risk management for-profit tools in Islamic finance
are inseparable from real activities. Thus a single instrument would
provide finance, risk management as well as ownership together. We
VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS 121
shall review the main Islamic instruments and see how can they be
modified to accommodate risk distribution. The approach taken here
is based on strategies of mutation and satisfaction discussed in the
previous section.
Mudarabah
�
The most ancient form of business financing is mudarabah,
�
where the capital owner (rab-ul- mal ) provides capital and the agent
(mudarib) would utilize it in business projects. Profits then are shared
�
based on predetermined ratios. There are mainly three types of risks
involved. These are:
1. Risk of misreporting
2. Risk of loss
3. Risk of liquidity
Since mudarabah represents a real investment, there is no significant
�
liquidity risk from Shar�cah point of view.
Misreporting Risk
This is the most common risk related to mudarabah , where the
�
agent might announce losses, when in fact the project is making profit.
By misreporting the agent would keep the entire profits to himself.
According to a survey by Khalil et. al. (2002), misreporting is the
prime reason Islamic banks are not applying mudarabah on the asset
�
side of their balance sheets.
122 VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS
Although mudarabah is a sharing arrangement, nothing could
�
prevent banks from due diligence and careful examination of
companies requesting finance. In fact, the current practice of
conventional lending requires banks to extensively study the balance
sheet and income statement of loan applicants, in addition to
management and ownership. The bank will not provide the loan
unless it is sufficiently confident the borrower is able to pay back from
its own generated revenues. Banks therefore are only one step away
from sharing the borrower’s income. Islamic banks should apply the
same level of due diligence for applicants of mudarabah, or even
�
higher, since they are exposed to downside risk. This means that, in
equilibrium, Islamic banks would finance better businesses, and
achieve higher success rate, than those financed through debt (al-
Suwailem, 2005b).
In some cases, however, it is the customer who might refuse
sharing financing, since he prefers to keep all the upside to himself and
not share it with the bank. This should not be an obstacle, since the
two parties can agree to share profits on a regressive scale, i.e. rates
that decline with increasing profits. This may satisfy the customer
preferences without sacrificing the benefits of sharing.
Credit-based Mudarabah
�
For small businesses or single deals, the bank can apply what
might be roughly described as “credit-based mudarabah. ” That is, the
�
bank will not provide capital except after the transaction or the deal is
closed. This is based on the Hanbali view that mudarabah essentially is
� �
VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS 123
a labor contract, and thus capital or money needs not be paid upfront.
It becomes effectively a form of wujuh partnership, also accepted by
the Hanbali as well as the Hanafi schools (Ibn Qudamah [5]).
� �
Accordingly, the bank would sign a mudarabah agreement with the
�
customer, have him arrange the deal with related parties, then share
realized profits. For example, the agent or mudarib would purchase
�
material on short-term credit basis with the right to cancel in 48 hours,
say. Then he sells the material to the purchaser for a profit. The agent
then would present receipts of purchase and sale to the bank, upon
which the bank would pay the seller, receive the purchase price from
the purchaser, then pay the agent’s share in profits as agreed. If the
last deal for any reason is canceled, the first could be canceled also. In
this manner the bank pays only if the deal is closed, and thus risks of
failure and misreporting are brought to minimum.
Capital Risk
In mudarabah, as well as most forms of partnership or
�
musharakah, investors face downside risk, i.e. risk of losing their capital.
Due diligence and conditional payment can greatly minimize these
risks, as discussed above. Other alternatives may also be useful.
One alternative is to combine a deferred sale with partnership.
For example, the financier, instead of providing money to the
company, would sell required inputs, say, in return for a deferred price
plus a defined share of the company’s assets. This allows the financier
to hedge the downside meanwhile share in the upside.
124 VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS
To see the logic of this combination, recall that in a deferred
sale the seller charges a fixed markup for deferring the payment. If the
seller is allowed to secure a fixed and determined profit through the
markup, then having the profit conditioned on the performance of the
purchaser seems more acceptable, since it makes the seller partly
shares the risks the purchaser faces.
Note that this formula is equivalent to a deferred sale with
variable return. The variable return, however, is not linked to LIBOR
or a similar interest rate reference. Rather, it is linked to actual profits
of the customer. This relieves the customer from interest burden, and
at the same time allows the bank to enjoy better returns. There is no
conflict of interest between the two, since the bank gets higher returns
only if the customer does. More on this point later.
Third Party Hedging
Another way to hedge the downside risk is through a third
party. This works as follows. The investor or financier provides money
to the company through partnership or musharakah, by which the
financier becomes a (passive) shareholder in the company. The
investor subsequently can sell all or part of his share to a third party.
For example, the investor may sell a portion, say 95%, of his share for
a deferred price that is equal to his capital, and keeps the remaining
5%. The remaining share allows the investor to participate in the
company’s profits, while the deferred price protects his investment.
The third party (say an Islamic insurance company) enjoys the
participation in the company without advanced payment, and with
VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS 125
relatively low markup cost. What is more important is that the
company doesn’t bear any burden of debt at all. From the company’s
point of view, the investment is still a form of musharakah. Thus the
arrangement allows all parties to gain.
Deferred-price Sale
Sale with deferred price, or bayc �jil, is very common in Islamic
finance. The main risks of deferred sale are:
1. Credit risk
2. Liquidity risk
3. Rate of return risk
Credit risk can be treated mostly the same way conventional credit risk
is. The bank can take collaterals and guarantees to protect its
investment. For late or delayed payment, it wouldn’t help much to
charge the customer and add to his outstanding debt. The reason is
simple: If the customer is not able or not willing to pay, say, 1000, he
will be even less inclined to pay 1200. Charges will give the customer
fewer incentives to repay. The direct solution, applied successfully in
some well known Islamic banks, is to have direct access to the
customer’s income. The bank therefore will be able to deduct the
amount due directly on time. The delinquency rate of on such bank is
less than 0.3%, or 3 in 1000, without late charge fees of any kind.
126 VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS
Liquidity Risk
Since the deferred price is a monetary debt, it is not acceptable
from Shar�cah point of view to sell it for cash. This means that, for
long-term debts, the bank might face liquidity risks, i.e. may not be
able to liquidate these debts or securitize them. There are at least two
solutions to this problem. One is to exchange debt for commodities
instead of cash. That is, the bank may use existing debt to pay for
assets or commodities the bank want to finance through murabaha.
�
The debt will be discounted appropriately, but this raises no
difficulties. Exchanging debt for commodity (dayn bi cayn) is acceptable
according to the M�liki school as well as Ibn Taymiah (al-Dharir [12]).
The second solution is to combine monetary debt with real
assets into one portfolio, with debts not exceeding 50%, and then
securitize the portfolio. Contemporary scholars view this as acceptable
since the majority of the portfolio consists of real assets that can be
traded for cash. Additional solutions are discussed below.
Rate of Return Risk
As pointed out earlier, since the deferred price is debt, it
cannot be increased after the sale is concluded. This means that to
have a floating rate on a deferred sale is incompatible with Shar�cah
maxims. For long-term debt, this exposes both parties to risk of
changing rate of return or markup rate. Since this is a legitimate need,
we are confident that there exist solutions that successfully meet
Shar�cah requirements.
VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS 127
We have already pointed to one cooperative solution.
Variability of rate of return can be reflected in variability of duration
of the contract through changing the installment amount. If market
rate rises, the two parties mutually agree to raise the installment
amount, and thus shorten the duration. Conversely, if the market rate
declines, the two agree to reduce the installment and consequently
extend the duration. Although this does not change the explicit return
on the debt, it provides liquidity to the affected party, which can
compensate for lost return. This solution is cooperative since the
adjustment has to be made with mutual consent at the time of change.
This shall not pose a problem, however, since no party gets something
for nothing, as discussed before. Thus, the arrangement is incentive-
compatible and therefore it is time-consistent. This makes it in the
interest of the two parties ex post to agree on the change.
Diversified Deferred Price
A more general solution is a diversified deferred price (al-
Suwailem, 2005a). Consider a murabaha to a corporate or sovereign
�
entity with payment duration of, say, 20 years, and annual rate of
5.2%. This means that the markup equals 51% of the total payment,
while the principal represents 49%. Instead of having the entire debt
in monetary terms, the mark up could up be in any agreed upon real
asset. It could be a defined amount of commodities, shares, fund
units, sukuk, or any mix of these. This structure provides the following
�
benefits to the financier:
128 VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS
First, the deferred price is liquid, since 51% of it is in real
assets, and thus can be traded for cash. Hence it can be securitized or
issued in form of sukuk.
�
Second, prices of the real assets allow the financier indirectly to
get returns linked to the market. Higher market returns will be
reflected in higher prices, and vice versa. This might be more valuable
than a floating rate, since the floating rate cannot compensate
deterioration in the price currency. For example, based on the US
Dollar index of New York Board of Trade, the Dollar lost about 20%
of its value since September 11, 2001. Further, the DJ commodity
index for example has appreciated in the same period by more than
60% (Figure 11). A floating rate on a Dollar-denominated debt would
have not recovered this lost value, especially with declining interest
rates on the Dollar. With diversified debt, much of the lost value could
have been recovered.
For the debtor, the diversified price would relieve his debt
obligations if the real component closely matches his sources of
revenues. For example, an oil company or oil-exporting country might
choose oil as the main markup asset. A more diversified entity might
choose a more diversified basket of commodities. This means that the
debtor faces less risk than if the markup was predetermined, or was
linked to rates independent of his revenues.
In fact, the choice of real assets instead of floating interest rates
could help both parties for a macroeconomic reason. It is well known
that interest rate and economic output are negatively correlated. Thus
VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS 129
Figure 11: USD Index and DJ Commodities Index
Source: nybot.com and djindexes.com
a rise in interest rate implies lower economic performance, and vise
versa. An interest-linked debt therefore will generate higher returns to
the creditor exactly when economic conditions are unfavorable to the
borrower. Conversely, when the borrower is making good returns
because of an economic boom, the lender is getting low returns
because of low interest. This conflict of interest is absent if the price is
diversified through real assets.
Commodity-linked Bonds
The diversified structure is somewhat close to “commodity-
linked bonds.” These bonds are structured so that their coupon
and/or principal payments are determined by the price of some
commodity (Dodd, 2005). Among the early references to the idea are
130 VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS
Lessard (1986) and Besley and Powell (1989). The idea has been
implement in late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
(Borensztein et. al., 2004). According to researchers at the IMF,
commodity-linked bonds if issued by governments serve to prevent or
reduce debt crisis, promote international risk sharing, and facilitate
adjustment of fiscal variables to domestic economic conditions
(Borensztein et. al., 2004). Atta-Mensah (2004) from Bank of Canada
argues that commodity-linked bonds provide commodity-producing
countries an opportunity to hedge against fluctuations in their export
earnings.
Commodity-linked bonds differ from diversified price sukuk in
�
that bonds pay money in exchange for money, while a diversified price
pays in kind and money in exchange for a good. Yet both instruments
work to relieve the borrower from interest burden, and thus provide
risk-sharing features. A related instrument is salam, which will be
discussed shortly.
Currency Risk in Murabaha
�
Currency risk can be part of capital risk, and diversification
shall provide an indirect hedge against currency fluctuations.
Alternatively, one simple way to hedge currency risk in murabaha is to
�
have it transferred to the counterparty. If the counterparty is a
conventional entity, it may resort to conventional instruments. For
example, if an Islamic bank provides murabaha to a customer in Euro,
�
but capital is in USD, the customer (debtor) shall pay in USD instead
of Euro. The customer obviously may not take that risk, so it might
VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS 131
arrange a forward with its own bank, such that the conventional bank
issues a payment guarantee to the Islamic bank in USD. Costs of such
arrangements can be included in the overall pricing of the deal. If the
customer is an Islamic entity that may not use forwards, then the deal
can be done through “parallel murabaha ”: the Islamic bank sells to the
�
customer’s bank in USD, which in turn sells to the customer in Euro.
This intermediate murabaha can be performed by a conventional as
�
well as an Islamic entity, as long as it is willing to take the risk. The
point is that currency risks can be hedged within the murabaha
�
transaction, not separately. This is consistent with the overall
approach to integrate risk management with real activities, as
discussed earlier. This allows for risk management to be part of value-
adding transactions, which allows for hedging meanwhile curbs
speculation.
Value-based Salam
Salam has been known much before the time of the Prophet,
peace be upon him. The advancement of payment in exchange for a
specified quantity of a defined good provides financing to the seller as
well as price discount to the buyer. The main problem with salam is the
price value of the good at maturity. This price might be much
different from the expected price, and the gap might wipe out the
benefits of the advanced payment. Price fluctuations were an
instrumental factor behind the emergence of futures markets. From an
Islamic point of view, futures are inconsistent with Shar�cah maxims,
and thus cannot be an adequate solution to the problem.
132 VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS
There are many ways to address price fluctuations, but one
solution deserves careful analysis. It is called “value-based salam” (al-
Suwailem, 2005a). It works as follows. The buyer pays in advance the
full price, say 10,000, in exchange for oil, for example. Traditionally,
the quantity of the oil shall be determined upfront, i.e. number of
barrels to be delivered at maturity. In value-based salam, the value
rather than the quantity shall be determined upfront. Value is defined
as quantity times unit price, or number of barrels times barrel’s price.
Let the value agreed upon is 11,000. This means that the buyer pays
10,000 for an amount of oil the value of which at maturity is 11,000.
At maturity, the barrel’s price is determined from the market, and thus
the quantity becomes also determined (by dividing the value by the
barrel’s price). So if the barrel’s price at maturity is, say, 50, then the
quantity of oil to be delivered is 220 barrels.
This form of salam has been approved by Ibn Taymiah, and his
opinion was cited by Ibn Muflih, a prominent Hanbali scholar,
� �
without objection (al-Rajhi [13]). The buyer in this arrangement is
able to hedge against price fluctuations of the future good. If the price
at maturity declines, quantity to be delivered will rise to compensate
for the price reduction. If the price rises, the quantity declines. Thus
price fluctuations are internalized through the value determined at the
outset.
Discussion
Value-based salam, however, may be questioned on Shar�cah
grounds, for two reasons:
VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS 133
1. It violates the classical conditions of salam, whereby the
quantity of the good must be specified upfront.
2. It is essentially money for money, which makes it an
indirect form of riba.
These two objections can be answered as follows:
1. The condition on the quantity to be known aims at eliminating
the possibility of dispute. Once dispute is absent, the condition
needs not be observed for its own sake. If the value is
determined, no possibility of dispute arises, since all variables
will be determined from the market.
2. The formula is not riba , neither in form nor in substance. The
net result of the transaction is money for goods, not money for
money. The buyer at maturity receives goods not money. The
fact that the value of these goods is pre-arranged doesn’t make
it objectionable. Not any more than murabaha, where the bank
�
buys spot and sells deferred for a markup. Here the bank buys
deferred and sells spot. So the two arrangements, murabaha
�
and value-based salam, are essentially equivalent. The only
difference is the sequence of steps.
3. It should be noted that value-based salam provides an
opportunity for the two parties to gain from the transaction.
To see this, suppose the seller in the previous example is an oil
company. Although the market price at maturity is 50, the
company most likely is able to obtain the oil at a lower price,
either through long-term relations in the industry or through
134 VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS
its own reserves. So if it costs the company, say, 30 per barrel,
this means that total actual cost for the company is 6,600, which
is less than the total price it received. That is, the company is
able to save 3,400, while the buyer is able to make 1,000. Both
parties therefore win. This could not happen in a pure loan,
since the two sides of the loan are identical by design. Here the
two sides are different, and this difference allows the two
parties to gain.
4. Value-based salam differs from artifices of riba , like tawarruq
and ceinah, in an important dimension. In these artifices, the
same commodity could be used successively, by the same agent
or by others, to generate additional debts without limit. There
exists no upper bound on how many times the commodity is
sold for deferred price then resold for cash. A single
commodity therefore could in a very short period generate
huge debts, as it is actually observed. In salam, including value-
based salam, this is impossible, since the moment the
commodity is delivered debt is extinguished. That is, at any
given point in time, a single commodity cannot generate debt
that exceeds its value plus the markup. The instrument self-
regulates the amount of generated debt and internally imposes
an upper bound on its possible size. This is consistent with the
nature of Islamic finance in the absence of artifices, since all
debts are used to finance real transactions. Consequently,
possible debt size is bounded by real activities. This is in
VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS 135
contrast to interest-based economy, where debt can grow
indefinitely, irrespective of the size of the real economy.
Liquidity of Salam
Value-based salam could neutralize the price risk. But what
about liquidity risk, especially for long-term contracts? The majority of
scholars argue that salam cannot be traded because it is a form of sale
before possession. The M�liki school accepts trading salam debt as long
as the sold good is not food or other essential commodity. Ibn
Taymiah accepts trading salam for a price not greater than the initial
price, to avoid making profits without assuming liability.
However, parallel salam can be used as an alternative. The
buyer may sell a new salam contract with the same characteristics of
the original one. The difference is that he is now liable for the new
salam. If the original seller fails to deliver, the buyer (new seller) has to
deliver. The liability of salam traders in this structure is similar to that
of negotiable instruments. The law requires traders of these
instruments to be liable if the originator did not perform, unless it is
stated to be “without recourse” (e.g. West’s Encyclopedia, 1998). This
shouldn’t be a problem if the creditworthiness of the original seller was
sound. With large number of traders trading small fractions of the
good, the risk becomes reasonably tolerated.
136 VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS
Rate of Return Risk
Value-based salam may allow for capital protection, as
murabaha does, but it does not allow for market-linked, variable return.
�
To allow for this option, we need to adopt a similar structure to that of
diversified murabaha . The deferred good now consists of two
�
components:
1. Value-based component to minimize capital losses.
2. Quantity-based component to allow for market return.
That is, the classical form of salam is useful in exposing investors to
market return. However, the downside is hedged through the value-
based form. This “hybrid salam” therefore manages both capital risk as
well as return risk. Liquidity risk is managed through parallel salam.
Other Applications of Value-based Salam
Value-based salam has been suggested as a suitable instrument
for equity issuance. In corporate finance, there are theories of how
firms decide on their capital structure in terms of equity or debt. One
widely accepted theory, “picking order theory,” is built on the
assumption of informational asymmetry between managers and
outside investors. If outside investors are less informed than inside
managers, then issuing equity might send a bad signal about the firm.
Investors suspect that the firm’s existing assets are overvalued and thus
managers are trying to exploit this by issuing new equity with
overvalued price. Accordingly, issuing equity puts downward pressure
on share prices. To avoid negative signals of overvalued assets, Stewart
VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS 137
Myers (2001), professor of finance at MIT, suggests that firms issue
“deferred equity” based on value (p. 95). If inside information is likely
to be revealed in, say, one-year time, then the firm can issue an
unspecified number of equities for a fixed price of, say, $1000, such
that a year later investors get a number of shares equal $1000 divided
by the share price prevailing at that time. This instrument avoids the
informational problems of issuing equity since no specific valuation is
given to equity at time of issuance, and by the time of maturity inside
information could be revealed. This shows that value-based salam has
intrinsic economic value and not merely an artifice for pure financing.
The instrument can also be used to create a “local currency.”
According to Gates (1998, pp. 155-156), in 1990 some communities in
the US issued a local “dollars” redeemable in food. That is, the local
dollars are issued in exchange for a specific number of US dollars, and
can be redeemed six months later, say, for food with same value.
These local dollars then started to circulate given the confidence in the
issuer. This helped the community overcome the problem of limited
sources of financing by creating their own “currency.” Again, this
shows the richness of value-based salam and its wide range of
applicability.
Payoff Structure of Contractual Hedging
The above instruments have in common a payoff structure
similar to that of mixed-sum games. They allow for win-win outcomes,
but also imply the possibility of a zero-sum, win-lose, outcome. For
example, in value-based salam and diversified murabaha, the debtor
�
138 VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS
might not be able to obtain the commodities at reasonable costs.
Similarly, when combining deferred sale with sharing the debtor might
fail to generate profits and thus becomes a loser. As already discussed,
mixed games are acceptable as long as the positive outcome is the
objective of the game.
This structure combines risk transfer with mutual gain, while
derivatives in contrast perform pure risk transfer with no room for
mutual gain. This means that Islamic instruments provide the benefits
of risk transfer without the costs of conflict of interests and relative
behavior. Further, derivatives shift risks to those who are more willing
to bear them, but not necessarily those who are better able to manage
them. Islamic instruments, in contrast, are likely to shift risks to those
more willing and more able to bear them. This follows from the
objective of the game which is mutual gain, whereby the two parties
seek to create value not merely to trade risk. Accordingly, risk is likely
to be transferred to those who are better able to contribute to value-
creation, not merely to bear risk. This implies better ability to manage
such risks in a more productive manner.
Specialized Institutions for Risk Management
The above discussion also points to the need for specialized
Islamic institutions for managing risk. Third party hedging, for
example, requires such an entity. Mutual hedging of currencies and
other risks is another. The entity performing intermediate murabaha
�
for currency hedging is a third example. While Islamic insurance
VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS 139
companies represent a step in that direction, the traditional insurance
business falls short of comprehensive investment risk management.
We have argued earlier that risk shall be integrated with real
transactions, and this might appear inconsistent with the call for
specialized institutions. There is no contradiction in fact between the
two, since such institutions would still manage risk in an integrated
approach, as suggested in third party hedging. Further, mutual
hedging requires devoted institutions for managing such mutual
arrangements. Thus, the need for specialized institutions arise from
the general need for professional Islamic risk management, be it based
on for-profit or non-profit techniques.
Summary
Table 2 summarizes suggested Islamic instruments for hedging.
Other examples are provided in al-Suwailem [10]. Overall, there is no
limit on risk management tools based on Shar�cah standards. The
general principle of mutual gain and win-win payoff structure is
sufficient to generate a variety of instruments that allow for risk
transfer without conflict of interest and systemic instability. The above
examples point to how the strategy works; otherwise, each instrument
deserves independent research whereby detailed structure and
conditions are laid down in order to satisfy the specific needs of
Islamic institutions.
140 VII. HEDGING INSTRUMENTS
Table 2: Islamic Hedging Instruments
No Instrument Risks Hedged
1 Asset-liability alignment General
2 Delta-hedging General
3 Mutual hedging General
4 Natural hedge Currency, rate of return
5 Bilateral mutual adjustment Rate of return
6 Credit-based mudarabah Capital, misreporting
�
7 Musharakah & deferred sale Capital, rate of return
8 Third party hedging Capital, rate of return
9 Diversified deferred price Capital, return, liquidity
10 Parallel murabaha Currency
�
11 Value-based hybrid salam Capital, return, liquidity
VIII
CONCLUSION
Risk is a challenge, for Islamic as well as conventional finance. Despite
all ingenious techniques invented for risk management, global markets
are becoming increasingly volatile, and financial crises appear more
frequently and more severely. As we have seen, conventional risk
instruments raise concerns about systemic instability, in addition to
legal and moral issues. These instruments can be used for both
hedging and gambling, as Kenneth Arrow points out, and no
guarantee exists they are directed for productive uses. In reality,
however, statistics show clearly that they are used for speculation and
gambling-like activities much more than for hedging.
Specialists agree that risk can be managed but not eliminated
from economic activities. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained” is the
first maxim in the business world. Economic progress cannot be
achieved without assuming risk. Entrepreneurial spirit is the driving
force of prosperity, and thus risk-taking is an essential moral value.
The challenge therefore is to be able to distinguish these two
opposite ends, and find instruments that selectively serve valuable risk
management but discourage gambling and unproductive behavior. As
it has become clear, human mind, left to its own, falls short of solving
142 VIII. CONCLUSION
this dilemma. The Divine guidance, however, points to the right path
to the solution. Teachings of the Qur’�n and Prophet Muhammad,
peace be upon him, provide the necessary framework for finding the
answer to this age-old challenge. At the heart of this framework is the
integration of risk management and value-creation. This integration
improves economic efficiency while it opens the door for unlimited
creativity.
The paper is an attempt to outline this framework together
with practical examples. Suggested instruments cover wide range of
risks, including capital risk, liquidity risk, rate of return risk, as well as
currency risk. Major Islamic modes of finance, i.e. mudarabah ,
�
musharakah , murabaha , and salam, are discussed, and how related risks
�
can be managed. The discussion shows how Shar�cah is abundant with
genuine solutions that integrate risk management with value-creation.
These examples and instruments however are by no means conclusive
or final, but hopefully point to directions for fruitful and rewarding
future research.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sami Ibrahim al-Suwailem obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Science
from King Saud University in Riyadh in 1987. He obtained his
Mater’s degree from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale in
1990, and in 1995 obtained his Ph.D. from Washington University in
St. Louis, Missouri, both in Economics. He joined Al Rajhi Bank in
1995 as a senior consultant, and in 1998 became Manager of
Research & Development in the Shari’ah Group at the Bank. He
joined IRTI in December 2004.
ABOUT THE BOOK
The last decade witnessed an increasing trend in markets’ volatilities
and financial crises. During the same period, derivatives, the most
common instruments for hedging, have been growing at an
exponential rate. Apparently, derivatives did not help to stabilize
markets and attenuate financial crises. This is not difficult to explain,
since derivatives are also the main instruments for speculation. More
than 97% of derivatives are used for speculation, while less than 3%
are used for hedging. The challenge therefore is to search for
instruments that allow for productive risk management without
harmful speculation. This is the theme of Islamic finance that the
paper explores. Based on Shari’ah rules of gharar, the paper therefore
suggests several instruments for managing and hedging risks
associated with Islamic modes of finance.
Topics
I. Introduction
II. State of Risk: Volatilities of Financial Markets
III. Derivatives
IV. The Islamic Approach
V. Theory of Gharar
VI. Financial Engineering: An Islamic Perspective
VII. Islamic Instruments for Hedging
VIII. Conclusion
