Financing Agriculture Through Islamic Commercial Transactions

Food is one of the basic and essential necessities for the nourishment and survival of human life. Among the multiple sources of food, Allah (SWT) has created, agriculture, undoubtedly, remains the most important one which allows farmers to grow food for them and for others to meet the current and future food demand. The work force that is making a living from this sector includes both poor and elite classes; however, the number belonging to poor class is dominant. The poor class, owing to its financial constraints and meagre resources, is unable to get maximum benefit from their efforts. Consequently, they remain in need of money at the various, and at times crucial, phases of the harvesting cycles. But a Muslim farmer is prohibited by Islam from getting interest based loans. An alternate source, therefore, is needed to provide financing to a Muslim farmer under the Shariah conforming modes.The present work is the first comprehensive work on islamic agricultural finance in the history of islamic finance.It provides theoritical and practical guideline to islamic banks and other islamic financial institutions to finance the agrcultural sector both for crop and non crop activities.