Book excerpt: This book challenges the interventionist stance of Islamic economics as well as its presumption that "riba" equals interest. An Islamic economy, it argues, is essentially a market economy, but it differs from capitalist economies because both its institutions and the structure of, for example, property rights are specifically Islamic, deriving from Qur n and other sources of Islamic law. The book also focuses on the similarities and differences between "riba" and interest, establishes the often neglected connection between the two, and explores the ramifications of this connection for Islamic financial systems.