EN
TR
Evaluating the Shariah Compliance of the Bank of England’s Alternative Liquidity Facility (ALF) Through Its Sukuk-Based Investment Structure
Öz
This study aims to provide the first comprehensive Shariah appraisal of the Bank of England’s Alternative Liquidity Facility (ALF), a landmark liquidity management tool introduced in 2021 for Islamic financial institutions operating in the United Kingdom. ALF represents a pioneering step by a Western central bank in addressing the structural liquidity challenges of Islamic banks, which traditionally lack access to interest-based liquidity facilities. By investing deposits in high-quality sukuk and providing returns from Shariah-compliant assets, ALF is designed to give Islamic banks a functionally equivalent alternative to conventional repo-based liquidity tools while maintaining adherence to Islamic jurisprudential principles. The research evaluates ALF’s operational framework, examines its contractual underpinnings, and scrutinizes the Shariah legitimacy of its investment instruments, especially the sukuk issued by the Islamic Development Bank (Is DB), which constitute the backbone of ALF’s portfolio. The study examines the short-term liquidity problem in Islamic banks, which are restricted from using repurchase agreements (repos), the dominant short-term liquidity management tool worldwide. Although Shariah-compliant alternatives exist in some Muslim-majority countries, significant gaps remain due to limited high-quality liquid assets and weak legal infrastructures. ALF thus emerges as a unique case study of how Islamic financial requirements can be accommodated within a conventional regulatory system without compromising Shariah compliance. Using a descriptive and analytical methodology, the study analyses the tripartite relationships within ALF’s structure: the relationship between BEALF (the facility’s dedicated company) and participating banks, the agency relationship between BEALF and the Bank of England, and the regulatory implications for early withdrawal and capital guarantees. The research classifies the relationship between BEALF and participating institutions as an investment agency (wakālah) contract in which BEALF invests client funds in sukuk on their behalf in return for a fixed fee. While broadly permissible, the study argues that such contracts should be binding in this context to ensure operational stability and protect third-party rights. A key focus of the study concerns ALF’s capital guarantee mechanism and the right of early withdrawal. The facility guarantees invested capital but not profit, raising Shariah concerns since Islamic jurisprudence prohibits an investment manager from guaranteeing principal except in cases of negligence or misconduct. The study evaluates whether early withdrawal can be framed under the jurisprudential concept of takhāruj, an amicable exit mechanism that allows an investor to relinquish profit in exchange for recovering capital, provided no loss has occurred. This interpretation is supported by AAOIFI standards, though it requires careful implementation to avoid implicit capital guarantees. The study then turns to a critical Shariah evaluation of the sukuk underlying ALF’s investments. It also provides a critical Shariah assessment of the IsDB sukuk underlying ALF, highlighting issues related to capital redemption at par, return stabilization, and SPV dependence. The research highlights that SPVs used for sukuk issuance, while legally separate, are treated as substantively connected to the issuer under Shariah, particularly when guarantees are involved. Thus, the supposed independence of the SPV does not resolve concerns about capital guarantees. The study also explores contemporary juristic opinions suggesting that investment managers may bear liability for capital loss if feasibility studies were misleading or if misconduct cannot be ruled out. This shifts the burden of proof toward the manager and aligns modern investment realities with the principles of Shariah, under which liability must be proportionate to actual negligence or breach. Overall, the study concludes that the ALF represents an important contemporary attempt to address Islamic liquidity-management needs within a central-banking framework. However, its structure continues to raise significant Shariah concerns, particularly in relation to capital guarantees, SPV dependence, and aspects of the sukuk design, all of which require further juristic and structural refinement. The study contributes both theoretically and practically by identifying how Islamic liquidity tools can be harmonized with contemporary central banking structures while adhering to foundational Shariah principles. The findings are valuable for regulators, Islamic banks, sukuk designers, and Shariah boards seeking to balance innovation with compliance.
Anahtar Kelimeler
Teşekkür
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK) for supporting me as a visiting fellow at INCEIF University during 2024–2025, a period in which I conducted the research that forms the basis of this study.
Kaynakça
- Abū Dāwūd, Sulaymān ibn al Ashʿath. al-Sunan. ed. Shuʿayb al Arnaʾūṭ-Muḥammad Kāmil Qarah Ballī. 7 Volumes. Cairo: Dar al-Risalah al-‘Alamiyyah, 2009.
- Abū Ghuddah, ʿAbd al-Sattār-Khūjah,ʿIzz al-Dīn Muḥammad. Qarārāt wa tawṣiyyāt Nadawāt al Barakah lil Iqtiṣād al Islāmī (1981–2001). Jeddah: Dallah Al-Baraka Group, 6th ed., 1422/2001.
- Abozaid, Abdulazeem. “The Critical Shariah Issues of Sukuk”. Journal of Islamic Economics 1/1 (2021). 27-45.
- Aḥmad, Aḥmad Muḥyī al-Dīn. “al-Muḍāraba fī al-ʿUmla wa-al-Wasāʾil al-Mashrūʿa li-Tajannub Aḍrārihā al- Iqtiṣādiyya.” Majallat Majmaʿ al-Fiqh al-Islāmī al-Duwalī bi-Jiddah 11/1 (1998), 435-483.
- Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI). al Maʿāyīr al Sharʿiyyah (Shari’ah Standards). Manama: AAOIFI, 1437/2017.
- Aḥmad, Ibn Ḥanbal. al-Musnad. critical ed. Shuʿayb al Arnaʾūṭ et al. 50 Volumes. Beirut: Muʾassasat al Risālah, 2001.
- Anṣārī, Zakariyya. Asnā al-Maṭālib fī Sharḥ Rawḍ al-Ṭālib. 4 Volumes. Cairo: Dār al-Kitāb al-Islāmī, n.d.
- Bank of England, “Alternative Liquidity Facility ALF, Operation of the ALF”, Access 18 December 2024. https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/markets/bank-of-england-market-operations-guide/our-tools
Ayrıntılar
Birincil Dil
İngilizce
Konular
İslam Hukuku
Bölüm
Araştırma Makalesi
Yazarlar
Yayımlanma Tarihi
30 Haziran 2026
Gönderilme Tarihi
5 Ocak 2026
Kabul Tarihi
5 Mayıs 2026
Yayımlandığı Sayı
Yıl 2026 Cilt: 25 Sayı: 1
APA
Hayat, Z., & Abozaid, A. (2026). Evaluating the Shariah Compliance of the Bank of England’s Alternative Liquidity Facility (ALF) Through Its Sukuk-Based Investment Structure. Hitit İlahiyat Dergisi, 25(1), 479-496. https://doi.org/10.14395/hid.1856680
AMA
1.Hayat Z, Abozaid A. Evaluating the Shariah Compliance of the Bank of England’s Alternative Liquidity Facility (ALF) Through Its Sukuk-Based Investment Structure. Hitit İlahiyat Dergisi. 2026;25(1):479-496. doi:10.14395/hid.1856680
Chicago
Hayat, Zeynelabidin, ve Abdulazeem Abozaid. 2026. “Evaluating the Shariah Compliance of the Bank of England’s Alternative Liquidity Facility (ALF) Through Its Sukuk-Based Investment Structure”. Hitit İlahiyat Dergisi 25 (1): 479-96. https://doi.org/10.14395/hid.1856680.
EndNote
Hayat Z, Abozaid A (01 Haziran 2026) Evaluating the Shariah Compliance of the Bank of England’s Alternative Liquidity Facility (ALF) Through Its Sukuk-Based Investment Structure. Hitit İlahiyat Dergisi 25 1 479–496.
IEEE
[1]Z. Hayat ve A. Abozaid, “Evaluating the Shariah Compliance of the Bank of England’s Alternative Liquidity Facility (ALF) Through Its Sukuk-Based Investment Structure”, Hitit İlahiyat Dergisi, c. 25, sy 1, ss. 479–496, Haz. 2026, doi: 10.14395/hid.1856680.
ISNAD
Hayat, Zeynelabidin - Abozaid, Abdulazeem. “Evaluating the Shariah Compliance of the Bank of England’s Alternative Liquidity Facility (ALF) Through Its Sukuk-Based Investment Structure”. Hitit İlahiyat Dergisi 25/1 (01 Haziran 2026): 479-496. https://doi.org/10.14395/hid.1856680.
JAMA
1.Hayat Z, Abozaid A. Evaluating the Shariah Compliance of the Bank of England’s Alternative Liquidity Facility (ALF) Through Its Sukuk-Based Investment Structure. Hitit İlahiyat Dergisi. 2026;25:479–496.
MLA
Hayat, Zeynelabidin, ve Abdulazeem Abozaid. “Evaluating the Shariah Compliance of the Bank of England’s Alternative Liquidity Facility (ALF) Through Its Sukuk-Based Investment Structure”. Hitit İlahiyat Dergisi, c. 25, sy 1, Haziran 2026, ss. 479-96, doi:10.14395/hid.1856680.
Vancouver
1.Zeynelabidin Hayat, Abdulazeem Abozaid. Evaluating the Shariah Compliance of the Bank of England’s Alternative Liquidity Facility (ALF) Through Its Sukuk-Based Investment Structure. Hitit İlahiyat Dergisi. 01 Haziran 2026;25(1):479-96. doi:10.14395/hid.1856680