The principal amount of an instrument (sukuk), a debt (qard, zhemam or receivables, etc), or an account (deposit). For example, the face value of an issue of sukuk represents the initial investment provided by the sukuk holders. This amount is not guaranteed according to shari’a because sukuk holders share the risk of underlying assets. In line with this, a sukuk issuer is not permitted to undertake to purchase the sukuk back at their face value. For a qard, the borrower is under obligation to return the face value of the loan, with any excess amount or benefit amounting to riba.

In murabaha transactions, face value is the amount of a murabaha receivable that is determined by the price agreed between the purchaser and the seller (Islamic bank) including the latter’s markup on the transaction. In practice, short-term and long-term murabaha receivables are recorded at the time of the transaction at their face value.

Face value is also referred to as nominal value.