While the production, investment, and pricing of many commodities that play a large role in many Muslim countries' economies are affected by the use of derivatives instruments for risk management and trading in the international market, these derivative instruments generally evolved in non-Islamic environments and systematic study of their noncompliance or disharmony with precepts of Islamic finance is necessary if they are to be adopted by Muslime economies. Here, Al-Amine (Shariah Compliance Department Manager, Unicorn Investment Bank, Bahrain) reviews and evaluates the studies by such institutions as the Islamic Fiqh Academies in Jeddah and Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and by individual Muslim jurists in terms of what issues have not been well elaborated or have been excluded from discussion. In the main, he addresses the possibility of admitting forward and futures contracts into Islamic law; conducts an Islamic evaluation of the different functions performed by the clearinghouse, the futures brokers, and the regulation of the futures markets; evaluates the permissibility of options contracts and a possible Islamic alternative; and assesses the possible relationship between options and gambling. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)