Malaysia is rising as a digital hub and more people should pay attention.Kuala Lumpur — The world’s first Digital Free Zone Initiative was announced. The news was announced by Jack Ma, Prime Minister of Malaysia and CEO of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation. It is scheduled for launch in mid-2017.This announcement comes in the wake of an MOU signed by MavCap and Elixir Capital to set up a $250 million Global Islamic Economy Fund to nurture an end-to-end ecosystem within the Islamic economy. The partnership was announced at the inaugural Global Islamic Economy Entrep...

Salaam all.  After falling into apathy on social media, I have resolved to try harder.  Well, middle age is tough you know!  I like leather-bound notebooks, manual gearsticks and broadsheet newspapers.  A world made for millennials is a scary place for us dinosaurs!Anyway, in the spirit of re-engaging, let me tentatively put my foot back in the sea of blogging.  Islam Channel in the UK have just launched a new show hosted by Sohail Nawaz called The Islamic Finance Show.  The producers and Sohail have done a wonderful job.  I appeared last Wednesda...

Once again, I would like to thank you all for returning to this page. Your ongoing feedback from each article I have written over the last few months is a great inspiration. The dialogue is a reflection of the desire to both discuss and to make constructive suggestions for resolution. Keep up the good work please.This month I would like to use a theme that I have been using for several months now, which appears to resonate quite well with many different types of audiences all over the world. That theme is “Relevance, Trust and Impact.”Relevance applies to individuals as well...

The need for growing infrastructure project is a crucial component of the growth equation for any country. However, states cannot afford taking big investment project alone anymore due to budget constraints, global recovery slow down and the fall in raw materials prices. In fact, basic social needs should maintain a parallel growth similar to the demographic growth as to satisfy the population’s demand. The lack of financial resources breaches this rule leaving the way to disequilibrium within the society which can put the stability of states in jeopardy. Consequently, public sector...

Corporate governance is composed of two terms, viz., corporate and governance. Corporate emanates from the term, Latin “corporare”, which means “to embody”. The term “governance” stemmed from the Latin word “gubernare,” or originally from the Greek word “kubernaein,” that means “to steer”. I define the term “corporate government” as the system of rules, practices and processes by which an Islamic bank is directed and controlled where tawheed and governance of contract matter.In this article, I draw your atten...

How relevant will financial institutions, their products and their delivery channels be in 2020?  How relevant will the regulators of those FI’s be in 2020? As always, I would like to thank you all for returning to this page. Your feedback from last month’s article was both reassuring and inspirational. It clearly touched a nerve and there is doubtless a great deal of work to do. Some of which is already being undertaken.I would like to turn my attention this month to area of our business that is gaining in traction and requires considerable thought, analysis and atte...

There is no point of developing a standard, any standard for that matter, if it is of no use for the humanity or special community living on this planet. The same is true with a Shariah standard. Any standard which is to be developed must have a clear set of deliverables in terms of its relevance and impact. What are these deliverables? The following points are based on my own intuitive understanding or perhaps, to some extent, expectation and aspiration.The most important aspect that this standard aspires to achieve is to dispel the prevailing understanding in the community that gold is a u...

 As always, I would like to thank you all for returning to this page. Your feedback and encouragement are a constant source of inspiration to me.  This month I would like to focus on an area that I consider of great significance and one that I have written about frequently in the last year or so. The focus is the alignment of Maqasid al Shariah with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).This is a topic that I have commented on several times before in this column and I should like, with your indulgence, to give you the latest thoughts and updates that I have bee...

 During the last few decades, the Islamic Banking industry witnessed a sustained growth that resulted the total asset size exceeding over two trillion dollars. Now the Islamic Banking is no longer an alien in the global financial industry.Besides the forerunner countries in the industry, such as Malaysia, UAE, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain, many Non-Muslim cities are becoming increasingly popular as an Islamic Banking hub. Despite such increasing visibility globally, there is a need for self-check for the Islamic Bankers in order to sustain such growth in the future.In th...

During the last few decades, the Islamic Banking industry witnessed a sustained growth that resulted the total asset size exceeding over two trillion dollars. Now the Islamic Banking is no longer an alien in the global financial industry.Besides the forerunner countries in the industry, such as Malaysia, UAE, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain, many Non-Muslim cities are becoming increasingly popular as an Islamic Banking hub. Despite such increasing visibility globally, there is a need for self-check for the Islamic Bankers in order to sustain such growth in the future.In this five-...