Does Islamic Finance Understand?Rushdie Siddiqui

INSIDE04

Innovation the way forwardDaud Vicary 10

Marketing Islamic FinanceJoy Abdullah14

Islamic Finance EducationSadia Karim20

Islamic Investments in SMEsBlake Goud

22 Need for IFI's to train scholarsShafique Jakhura

29

Islamic Finance today has come of age and covers almost all applications as does conventional finance, all of it grounded in the Islamic value system that eschews interest components. Indeed scholars have been pleasantly surprised to find that long abandoned financial instruments such as esham grounded in Islamic values operating in countries like Ottoman Turkey could be upgraded to suit modern day requirements as noted by Daud Vicary of INCEIF in his interview Innovation the way forward published in this issue.

As Ikram Thowfeek opines in his call for Building A New Bankable Universe, Islamic finance must first of all be perceived not as a religious business proposition confined to Muslims only, but as a solution provider to humanity through its product and service offerings in line with globally accepted ethical standards. As he asks, has the IMF, WB or IDB provided focused solutions to uplift the downtrodden masses? Rather, as you read, there are over 3 Billion people, almost 50% of the world's population, living on a mere $2 per day or less, which is below the poverty threshold.

One important area Islamic Finance needs to focus on is to cater to SME's, especially in providing micro-finance solutions to uplift the economically depressed sections of society as pointed out by Blake Goud, Community Leader, Thomson Reuters Islamic Finance Gateway in his interview titled Islamic Investments in SMEs vital for growth. By doing so, Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs) will not only be helping the really deserving sections of society, but also winning their hearts and earning their goodwill, which should go a long way in creating a favourable impression of Islamic values among them while at the same time countering growing Islamophobia, especially in the West

As rightly pointed out by Joy Abdullah in his paper on Marketing Islamic Finance, Islamophobia is a reality today and one that needs attention from an Image of Islam perspective. A possible way to counter and turn this negative perception to a positive one, he suggests, is to have continuous news about the benefits of Islamic finance with major industry luminaries highlighting them in the media.

Also interesting is the somewhat radical yet very valid suggestion by Fazna Fazmi in her paper on People In Islamic Finance, that it would be a good practice if every counter in an Islamic bank served as an outreach unit as well, conveying the moral teachings of Islam to those of other faiths along with the value propositions which it can bring into their communities and countries at large as a solution to the existing financial realities.

We at Islamic Finance Today, hope that these views presented in this issue take form in the coming months and years and redeem the good name of Islam which has provided solutions for ages past.

Asiff HusseinEditor-in-Chief

Islamic Finance Today

Reaching out to People Through Islamic Finance

Islamic Finance Today is a monthly magazine exclusively dedicated to Islamic Finance & Banking published by Pioneer Publications (Pvt) Ltd. It contains a variety of interesting articles including exclusive interviews, news and views on various aspects of the industry.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the prior written permission of the publisher. Views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher.

Editor in Chief - Asiff Hussen

Layout & Design - Nimry Marikkar

Marketing & Circulation - Anfas Anees

No 4, Collingwood Place, Colombo 06, Sri Lanka. Phone: +94 11 7395090-3

EDITORIAL

Islamic Finance is more relevant today than ever before in this era of Islamophobia. In a

context where Muslims and Islamic religious beliefs are coming under increasing fire, it is high time we assertively promoted Islamic Banking and Finance as a viable alternative to the conventional industry that has been responsible for the world's economic woes and got away with it all this while.

“Islamic Finance Today’’ Pioneer Publications (PVT) Ltd,#4, Level 1, Collingwood Place, Colombo 06, Sri Lanka.Telephone: +94 11 7395090-3, Hotline: +94 77 7626967

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