Islamic Finance & Sharia-Compliant Investing
Learn the core principles of Islamic finance, how stocks, sukuk, funds, gold and crypto are screened for Sharia compliance, and how to calculate zakat and purification amounts so you can build a structured, Sharia-aware investment plan.
Self-study course Self-study course: written lessons, videos and downloadable materials for independent learning. There is no supervision, assessment, individual feedback or tutoring. Self-check quizzes are evaluated automatically in your browser — we do not see your results.
All 12 lessons free
Before you start
- Basic percentage calculations
- A first idea of what shares, bonds and funds are
- Interest in investing according to Islamic principles (no religious training needed)
What you will be able to do
- Explain riba, gharar and maysir and recognise them in everyday financial contracts
- Screen a company by business activity and by debt, cash and interest-income ratios under different methodologies
- Compare murabaha, ijara and musharaka financing with a conventional loan using simple cash-flow calculations
- Describe how a sukuk is structured and how its risks differ from a conventional bond
- Calculate zakat on an investment portfolio and the purification amount for dividends using stated assumptions
- Write a Sharia-compliant investment plan with screening rules, allocation limits and a review routine
Lessons in this course
Principles of Islamic finance: riba, gharar and maysir
Understand the three core prohibitions of Islamic finance and the positive principles of risk sharing and asset backing that replace them.
Halal and haram business activities and screening
Learn which business activities are excluded from Sharia-compliant investing and how the 5% tolerance for mixed revenue works.
Financial ratio screening: debt, cash and interest-income limits
Calculate the debt, cash, receivables and interest-income ratios used by major Sharia standards and see why different denominators change the result.
Islamic banking products: murabaha, ijara and musharaka
See how cost-plus sale, leasing and partnership contracts replace interest-bearing loans, and calculate their payments.
Sukuk: how Islamic bonds are structured
Understand how sukuk give investors a share in assets, how the main structures work and how sukuk risks differ from conventional bonds.
Sharia-compliant equity funds and ETFs
Learn how Sharia-compliant funds and ETFs screen, monitor and purify their holdings, and how screening changes portfolio concentration and costs.
Zakat on investments: general calculation principles
Learn the general principles for calculating zakat on cash, gold, shares and funds, and work through a complete annual calculation on paper.
Gold and silver in Islamic finance: spot trading rules
Understand why gold and silver have special exchange rules, what the AAOIFI gold standard requires, and how to check common gold products against these rules.
Cryptocurrencies and Islamic finance: scholarly views
Get an overview of the main scholarly positions on cryptocurrencies and a structured way to check a crypto activity for riba, gharar and maysir.
Islamic finance in Germany and Europe: products and providers
See how Islamic banking is regulated in Germany, what kinds of accounts and financing are offered, and how to check a provider and compare a financing offer.
Purification of income and dividends
Learn why and how investors purify income from small non-compliant revenues, using the dividend method and the per-share method with full calculations.
Building a Sharia-compliant investment plan
Combine screening, products, zakat and purification into a one-page written investment plan with allocation, rebalancing rules and an annual calendar.
Growing an Online Business: Marketing, Sales & Customers
To apply these skills to building and running your own venture, continue with the course "Growing an Online Business: Marketing, Sales & Customers".
View course outline