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The Letter of Credit (LC) serves as an instrument of payment in international trade. Its aim is to facilitate trade between seller and buyer in different countries. To date, the Islamic banking environment promotes the use of the Islamic LC as a method of financing in international trade, particularly to Muslims and to the general public as a whole. Thus far, this facility is offered not only by Islamic banks, but also by all commercial banks. It is basically governed by the same rules of the UCP 600 that regulate the conventional LC. Realising the peculiarity in the application of this conventional rule to the Islamic LC, this paper focuses on the aim of harmonising the practice of the Islamic LC with the requirements of Shar  ah principles where elements such as interest (riba) and uncertainty (gharar) are prohibited. It begins by giving the background of the Islamic LC in Malaysia. Next, it discusses the definition and types of Islamic LCs, murabahah (cost-plus sale), wakalah (agency) and musharakah (partnership), as the issuance of the Islamic LC is based on these three concepts. In addition, it highlights comparisons between these three concepts. Furthermore, the focal point of discussion is on Shar  ah issues in the practice of the Islamic LC, such as governing rule, subject-matter, interest, INCOTERMS and insurance, contract ('aqd), discrepancy fee, and exclusion of risk of goods in the Islamic LC. Discussion of these issues leads us to identify whether they are in compliance with Shari'ah principles. In relation to this, various proposals are suggested to harmonise the rules applicable to the Islamic LC and Shari'ah principles.

<p>A compact ultra wideband (UWB) antenna for operation at 6 GHz intended for microwave medical imaging (MMI) application is proposed. The microstrip patch antenna (MPA) was design in hexagon shape which is contain H-slot at the centre top of the patch and a slot at the ground. Those slots method is utilised to enhance the operating bandwidth as well as minimising the antenna’s impedance mismatch caused by its proximity to material. Results shows that, the implementation of slot on the patch has profoundly enhance the bandwidth (BW) of the antenna to 503.54 MHz. Measurement of fabricated antenna produce significant result in term of producing wide bandwidth of 520 MHz, with slightly shifting on operating frequency. Therefore, it has been proved that the required performance of UWB antenna has been achieved successfully.</p><p><em> </em></p>

Shariah compliance is the backbone of Islamic banks. As an institution established within the ambit of Shariah, Islamic banks are expected to ensure that their aims, activities, operations and management adhere to the Shariah principles and values. Failure to comply with Shariah, will expose Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs) to Shariah non-compliance risk. Subsequently, it is an essential duty of the IFIs to manage Shariah risk properly. In order to effectively manage the risk vulnerability of the IFIs, proper measures for risk management have been put in place in different frameworks that are either domestic or international based. In the Malaysian context, IFIs are guided by relevant regulations such as the Shariah Governance Framework 2010, IFSB principles and Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 with regards to Shariah risk management. This research examined the regulatory requirements of the Shariah risk management process for Islamic financial institutions that operate in Malaysia, in the context of the Guidelines on Shariah Governance Framework 2010 issued by the Central Bank of Malaysia. The paper discusses the concept of “risk”, “Shariah risk” and “Shariah non-compliant risk” in the context of Islamic Financial Institutions and also examines the process adopted by the Malaysian IFIs in managing the Shariah risk. The hypotheses that the paper seeks to establish are that there are differences between the concept of Shariah risk and Shariah non-compliant risk; and that the Shariah risk management process adopted by the IFIs are different than the conventional risk management process due to the unique features and requirements of the IFIs.   Keywords: Shariah, Risk management, Islamic Financial Institutions.   Abstrak: Pematuhan Syariah adalah tulang belakang bank Islam. Sebagai sebuah institusiyang ditubuhkan dalam bidang Syariah, bank Islam dijangka memastikan bahawa matlamat, aktiviti, operasi dan pengurusan mereka mematuhi prinsip dan nilai Syariah. Kegagalan mematuhi Syariah, akan mendedahkan Institusi Kewangan Islam (IFIs) kepada risiko ketidakpatuhan Syariah. Selepas itu, adalah tanggungjawab penting IFI untuk menguruskan risiko Syariah dengan betul. Untuk mengatasi kelemahan risiko IFI secara berkesan, langkah-langkah yang sewajarnya untuk pengurusan risiko telah dilaksanakan dalam rangka kerja yang berbeza sama ada di dalam negeri atau antarabangsa. Dalam konteks Malaysia, IFI dipandu oleh peraturan yang berkaitan seperti Rangka Kerja Tadbir Urus Syariah 2010, prinsip IFSB dan Akta Perkhidmatan Kewangan Islam 2013 berkaitan dengan pengurusan risiko Syariah. Kajian ini mengkaji keperluan pengawalseliaan proses pengurusan risiko Syariah untuk institusi kewangan Islam yang beroperasi di Malaysia, dalam konteks Garis Panduan mengenai Rangka Tadbir Urus Syariah 2010 yang dikeluarkan oleh Bank Negara Malaysia. Makalah ini membincangkan konsep “risiko”, “risiko Syariah” dan “risiko tidak patuh Syariah” dalam konteks Institusi Kewangan Islam dan juga mengkaji proses yang diterima pakai oleh IFI Malaysia dalam menguruskan risiko Syariah. Hipotesis ini bertujuan untuk melihat perbezaan antara konsep risiko Syariah dengan risiko tidak patuh Syariah; dan proses pengurusan risiko Syariah yang diterima pakai oleh IFIs adalah berbeza daripada proses pengurusan risiko konvensional disebabkan oleh ciri-ciri unik dan keperluan IFI.   Kata kunci: Syariah, Pengurusan risiko, Institusi Kewangan Islam.