The Critical Shariah Issues of Sukuk

In view of the importance of sukuk as a dominant Islamic capital market instrument, and the enormous size of their market share within the Islamic finance industry, deliberation on their Shariah issues acquires special importance, especially in light of the controversies harboring some of them. The paper treats the three most critical Shariah issues of sukuk, which govern the legitimacy of sukuk from issuance to redemption. They relate to guaranteeing the capital invested and the return to the sukukholders, the sukuk being real representative of ownership of the underlying assets and the tradability of the sukuk.