The conference, hosted by King Abdulaziz University (KAU), adopted a number of important recommendations to promote Islamic economics in the world. Nearly 1,000 delegates from across the globe, including several pioneers in Islamic economics, attended the forum.
The organizers presented 19 recommendations and proposals at the concluding session based on papers presented at the event. The proposals emphasized the need to focus more on training professionals to run Islamic banks and financial institutions.
While talking about the new strategic vision for research in Islamic economics, Dr. Najatullah Siddiqui, winner of the King Faisal International Prize for Islamic Studies and author of 30 books, urged researchers to be more creative and explore new horizons rather than wasting their efforts on conventional topics.
Siddiqui, who has worked for 22 years as a professor at KAU’s Islamic Economics Research Center (IERC), called for rebuilding Islamic economics on the basis of moral values rooted in spirituality. “This is essential for making sacrifices for noble goals, disregarding vested interests,” he said.
He added that the KAU conference came at a time when capitalism had failed to address major international economic issues including poverty, inflation and unemployment. “We should present Islamic economics to the world as the best solution to its problems in a convincing manner,” he said.
The conference urged universities and research centers in Muslim countries to prioritize Islamic economics and encourage research in the field. It also called on Islamic banks and financial institutions to fund such research projects, especially on topics relating to boosting economic development and fighting poverty and unemployment.
“Studies on waqf (endowment), Zakah and public finance during the time of the Caliphs must be given importance,” it added.
Dr. Abdullah Omar Bafel, undersecretary for higher studies and scientific research at the university, presided over the concluding session. He commended speakers and other delegates for their active participation to set out a new strategy for Islamic economics that would involve the whole Ummah.
The conference called for more efforts for the development of Islamic financial engineering — based on the objectives (maqasid) of Shariah — to present new products that would meet current and future needs, said Dr. Abdullah Turkistani, director of IERC.
“We believe that Islamic teachings, if applied properly, can fight poverty and thus we can contribute to fighting world poverty,” said Dr. Abdul Raheem Saati of KAU.
Dr. Usamah Uthman, associate professor at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran, described Islamic economics as a relatively new discipline that required more study.
“Knowledge of fiqh (jurisprudence) is essential for researchers in the field.”
He added that although Islamic banks have made remarkable progress, “many of us are not happy with its direction. Some of them have deviated from the set principles.”
Uthman was apparently referring to the present focus of Islamic banks on corporate financing to maximize profits, neglecting its original goal of social development.
Professor M.A. Mannan, founder chairman of Social Investment Bank (SIB) in Bangladesh, also emphasized that Islamic banks should give priority to fighting poverty. “They are now focusing on corporate financing, hunting for profit,” he told Arab News.
He also believed that ideal Islamic banking products could not be marketed in a corrupt society and called for the training of professionals to manage the wealth of Muslim countries. “Many Muslim businessmen invest their money in Western countries because we don’t have skilled professionals to manage them,” he said.
Attendees also stressed the importance of training a new generation of distinguished researchers in Islamic economics. “Students of Islamic economics should be given due support including scholarships and grants,” the recommendations said, adding for the need to inject new blood into research projects and that research should be translated into Arabic, English, France, Turkish, Persian and other languages.
The concluding session was lively as delegates competed with one another to make vital proposals. Women delegates were equally enthusiastic as one of them said the recommendations were more generalized without addressing specific issues.
Dr. Afaf, another woman delegate, said Islamic economics should focus on problems in the Muslim world and finance small-scale projects.
“We have hundreds of satellite channels for sports and entertainment and why don’t we launch a channel for Islamic economics,” was a question raised by one delegate. Such a channel will also help provide distance education on the subject.
Abdul Wadood Khan from Pakistan called for a concrete plan to replace interest-based banks with Islamic banks. Another delegate suggested the Saudi government allocate a small portion of its budget to promote the research of Islamic economics in the world.
“How can we achieve development and justice together,” was the topic given by a delegate to potential researchers. “This is an area where others have failed,” he added.
Many delegates called for the teaching of Islamic economics from the high school level and creating public awareness programs on the subject. They urged organizers that the recommendations should not remain in paper and called for an executive committee to translate them into action plans.
