The role of Islamic social finance assumes great significance, as it can be potentially tapped to address the global shortage of humanitarian aid. It can be provided to aid countries made vulnerable by conflicts and poverty. Islamic social funds include zakat (compulsory tax on wealth), sadaqah (charitable acts) and waqf (endowment).To fulfill this objective, it is imperative to first know the extent to which Islamic social funds can meet the resource requirements for poverty alleviation, and whether the current distribution of Islamic social funds to the poor have been effectively managed...

There has been a lot of positive feedback from “The Virtuous Cycle” post. We are glad. The cycle is an intuitive and powerful idea. In this post, we would like to explore the foundation for a virtuous cycle. Simply put, governance is profoundly important in getting the cycle started and in keeping it effective.Governance is a big term and people interpret it in different ways. For our purposes, governance is a blend of procedures, programs, controls, and culture that help a company operate in an ethical manner and best position the company for long-term success. When the term i...

Securities Commission Malaysia's Zainal Izlan Zainal Abidin outlines plans for green Islamic finance:The Asset’s Daniel Yu talks to Zainal Izlan Zainal Abidin of Securities Commission Malaysia about the country’s strategy for socially responsible and sharia-compliant investing. Zainal, who was appointed the deputy chief executive in April 2018, says the combination of green and shariah compliance enables issuers to achieve finer pricing when issuing a sukuk. As Malaysia is the leading global centre for sukuk, it has a natural advantage to lead global activity for green sukuk...

An article published in Islamic Finance News - January 2018. Halal

In the prior blog posts we discussed that each of us has “A Duty of Care” and that duty is guided by our faith. Fortunately, the common themes in the guidance across all major faiths, along with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), help us increase our individual impact through the power of numbers and through collaboration.There is something else at work that helps us improve. We can’t see it, so we can take it for granted. Think of it as a virtuous and self-reinforcing cycle. The cycle exists in cultures where good things are routine.In a society, when we see peo...

At the conclusion of our last blog post, we discussed “A Duty of Care." This duty goes beyond ticking the box. It is guided by important objectives such as the Maqasid. In individual ways each of us across all faiths can have impact by living our duty.To have big impact, people must work together. The power of collaboration can be profound. It has been very emotional watching the citizens of Malaysia open a door to a brighter future through the recent election. The sort of power we recently saw in Malaysia is available on many topics.Getting people to work together requires shared...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 8th April 2018Say Hello to IslamicMarkets.com The world's first platform for global Islamic markets, providing learning, financial intelligence and investments.London, United Kingdom: IslamicMarkets.com, the world’s first platform for the burgeoning $3.9 trillion 1 global Islamic economy, was launched today. The platform offers industry-led learning, financial intelligence and connects investors to opportunities.IslamicMarkets.com was launched by the team behind IslamicBanker, a reference point for the Islamic banking industry.Commenting on the...

What an exciting time to be in the Islamic economy!  From Islamic finance to halal food and pharmaceuticals, halal travel, modest fashion, Islamic fintech and Islamic education, they’re all picking up enormous pace, driven by the increase in economic development and private wealth of 1.8 billion Muslims.You may have been following recent developments at the UK Islamic FinTech Panel as well as the work being undertaken by Gateway Islamic Advisory and Elipses to harness the Islamic economy in a uniquely productive way.  We’re not just focusing on the $2.2 trillion of Isla...

It is a pleasure to introduce our third ‘thought piece’ explaining why and how Islamic Finance is more than Shariah compliance. We have titled the piece “More than This” as that describes our feelings about the subject in just three simple words. The following comments should give you a good understanding of why Islamic finance is indeed about a great deal more than just Shariah compliance.Following the Maqasid al Shariah is much more than a compliance issue. It is a way of life. We often hear about ‘form over substance’ or conversely ‘substance ov...

Islamic worldview for Islamic banking conductsDr Hanudin AminBY DEFINITION, Islamic worldview is best described as a vision of reality and truth that appears before our mind’s eyes revealing what existence is all about - for it is the world of existence in its totality that Islam is projecting (Al-Attas, 1995).Following Chapra (2009), Islamic worldview attempts to define the meaning and purpose of human life, the ultimate ownership and objective of the limited resources at the disposal of human beings, and the relationship of human beings to each other and to their environment.As s...