This excellent study offers a critical analysis of the Islamic economic system, particularly as it
has evolved in Pakistan after being defined by the traditional ulma and embellished by various
Islamic economists. It is a pioneering effort to present a comprehensive view of the issues
involved, from riba to the status of women in Islam. These issues are encompassed in a broader
discussion of the country's identity: was Pakistan to be an Islamic state or a Muslim state?
Amid Boko Haram's persistence, an increasingly specialized literature emerges - Hilary Matfess, Women and the War on Boko Haram: wives, weapons, witnesses. London: Zed Books (pb £14.99 – 978 1 78699 145 4). 2017, 270 pp. - Scott MacEachern, Searching for Boko Haram: a history of violence in Central Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press (hb £21.99 – 978 0 19 049252 6). 2018, 248 pp. - Abdulbasit Kassim and Michael Nwankpa (eds), The Boko Haram Reader: from Nigerian preachers to the Islamic State. London: Hurst (pb £25 – 978 1 84904 884 2). 2018, 384 pp.