A new journal on Islamic finance from Islamic finance media entity Yasaar Media, is launching today (March 24) in Dubai.

The Journal, called So Far – the Journal of Strategic Thinking in Islamic Finance, is written and edited by members of an Islamic finance Think Tank and is modelled on traditional academic journals.

The difference with So Far is that the members of the Think Tank are predominantly practitioners rather than academics, drawn from the ranks of committed Islamic finance professionals around the world.

Each issue of So Far is dedicated to a single topic of core importance to the Islamic finance industry – and the launch issue looks at the thorny issue of the problems facing the Sukuk market.

So Far is distributed free in PDF format and is available from a variety of sources including Yasaar Media.

'While global markets reel from the effects of the global financial crisis, the Islamic finance industry is trying to cope with challenges of its own,' stated Paul McNamara, editorial director of Yasaar Media.

'But one of the things that the industry is not good at doing is giving or receiving criticism. The purpose if this new Journal, So Far, is to try to help the industry improve by addressing some of the hitherto taboo subjects with frankness and honesty. Every member of the Islamic finance Think Tank wants to help the industry improve – and we feel this is an important initiative in doing that.'-TradeArabia News Service