Essential Guide to Takaful (Islamic Insurance) - Soft Cover

Author: Dr. Engku Rabiah Adawiah, Hassan Scott Odierno, Azman Ismail

Publisher: CERT Publications

ISBN: 9789834371012

Year: 2008

Weight: 0.550 kg

Pages: 251 pp

Price: RM85

The takaful industry has emerged as an important component of the financial system. The takaful business has been successfully integrated with the other components of the Islamic financial system and is seen as a new emerging sector with products as competitive as the ones offered by conventional insurance The conducive environment through the provision of a sound legal, regulatory and Shariah framework will continue to facilitate further the development and growth of the takaful industry towards greater heights.

The first chapter of this Essential Guide provides the readers with a comprehensive understanding of the philosophy and Shari'ah principles in takaful. The next chapter then explains the various underlying contracts embedded in the various takaful models. This is followed by the chapter on takaful models, products and operations. After reading the first three chapters, the readers will be able to make a clear comparison between the conventional insurance products and the takaful products.

Following the walk through on the takaful products, the Essential Guide then gives an insight into the various models that can be adopted or considered in the practice of pricing and reserving. This is covered under the chapter on "Managing risks in takaful through pricing and reserving practices". To make the Essential Guide on Takaful more complete, the reporting framework and relevant accounting standards are explained together with the various disclosure requirements and other relevant governance standard and code of ethics which a takaful operator is expected to comply with.

This is followed by the two chapters on: the concept and practice of retakaful as a means of spreading individual takaful operator's risks; and the concept and operation of "bancatakaful" as a distribution channel for takaful products. Finally, the last chapter touched on the management of takaful funds and the various Islamic investment products, including the various screening process for Islamic equity investment.

This Essential Guide will prove useful and constructive to readers who want a better understanding of the takaful industry in contemporary Islamic finance.