1   I ISLAMIC FIACE: A OVERVIEW Mirza Vejzagic ∗ Edib Smolo ∗∗ ABSTRACT Islam is a divine revelation for all people and the Prophet (s.a.w.s.) has been sent as compassion to Muslims as well as all humanity. It embraces whole life including economic and financial aspects that contain paths which lead to a social order along with social justice and economic prosperity. This conception is deeply adorned in the objectives of Shari’ah, also known as Maqasid alShari’ah. Islamic finance, as a part of this extraordinary conception, could be relatively classified in three main areas: Islamic banking, capital markets and insurance (takaful). Maqasid alShari’ah is considered to be the cornerstone or the guiding principle of Islamic finance. It applies to everything: laws, conduct, opinions, products, transactions, activities, and services. It outlines the objectives and wisdom (hikmah) as prescribed by Shari’ah in all its rulings to protect and preserve the benefits and interests (maslahah) of society. Furthermore, Maqasid al Shari’ah facilitate the needs of human being, ensure the wealth is circulated among as many as possible in a fair way, avoid dispute and ensure stability, promote maslahah and avoid harm, promote transparency and accountability and uphold and promote justice in acquiring wealth. In facing or solving current issues in the aspects of social, economics, politics and finance, the application of Maqasid alShari’ah is an important element that needs to be incorporated by all Muslims. In addition, there should be continuous emphasize on the importance of Maqasid al& Shari’ah in all Islamic finance fields. It must be underlined through recommendation to all relevant financial bodies to promote these gracious Shari’ah objectives in the markets and provide application for them correspondingly in the relevant industries for better future of Islamic finance. Keywords: Maqasid alShari’ah, Islamic Banking, Islamic Capital Markets (Sukuk), Takaful ∗ Mirza Vejzagic is a Ph.D. candidate at International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF), Malaysia. He can be contacted at mirza_vejzagic@yahoo.com . ∗∗ Corresponding author – Edib Smolo is a Ph.D. candidate at INCEIF andÉ a researcher at International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA). He can be contacted at edib@isra.my or hfz.edib@gmail.com .