Sukuk (pl. Of sakk) An Islamic financial certificate. Similar characteristics to that of a conventional bond with the key difference being that they are assets backed; sukuk represent proportionate beneficial ownership in the underlying tangible asset(s) of particular projects or investment activity. Because the conventional interest-bearing bond structure is not permissible, the issuer of sukuk sells an investor group the certificate, who then leases it back to the issuer for a predetermined return in the form of rental charges. The issuer also makes a contractual promise to buy back the bonds at a future date at par value. Sukuk must be able to link the returns and cash flows of the financing to the assets purchased, or returns generated from an asset purchased. This is because trading in debt is prohibited by the Shari’ah; as such, financing must only be raised for identifiable assets