UK - PUBLICATIONS - Norton Rose :Takaful: An introduction

www.nortonrose.com / article here

Introduction

Takaful is the word used to describe Shariah compliant insurance.  It stems from the Arabic verb kafala, which means to guarantee.
A number of principles found in conventional contracts of insurance make them impermissible in Islam.
The most well known is that of interest (riba).  The presence of interest in both the contract of insurance and the investment of premiums renders the contract unlawful (haram).
Therefore in Takaful, the contract itself as well as any investment of the fund money would have to be Shariah compliant; investment of fund money should be transparent and monitored by a Shariah supervisory board and funds, banking and investments should be free of interest.
Aspects of gambling (qimar) and uncertainty (gharar) also pose problems in terms of the permissibility of insurance contracts.  Shariah law does allow uncertainty in certain circumstances, for instance in voluntary contracts; therefore the basis for the payment of a member’s contribution in Takaful is that of donation to fellow members.  In contrast to conventional insurance, the contract is one of donation rather than compensation.  (source)

UK - Oasis Group targets UK investors for Islamic funds

South African asset management company, the Oasis Group, a leading provider of Islamic and socially responsible investment products, is aggressively expanding its overseas operations and is set to open an office in London later this year as part of its expansion strategy. (source)