Menara Syariah and INCEIF University held a symposium aimed at bringing together industry experts, scholars, and practitioners in exploring and addressing Islamic finance on Thursday, August 8, 2024.
Established in 2005, the International Center for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF) University is a postgraduate university that specializes in Islamic finance, which is created by the Malaysian Central Bank, Bank Negara Malaysia.
The symposium focuses on leveraging Islamic financial principles in fostering sustainable Waqf (endowment) practices and climate investments. The event serves as a platform to discuss strategic collaboration to enhance the impact and reach of Islamic finance in addressing global challenges.
Notable guests included Harianto Solichin, Commissioner at Menara Syariah, and Prof Dr. Aishath Muneeza, Associate Dean at INCEIF University.
Key themes include digital transformation in Waqf management; financing climate action through Islamic finance; innovative digital financial instruments and regulatory frameworks for digital Islamic finance.
The discussion centered on how digital platforms can facilitate the creation, management and transparency of Waqf endowments using blockchain technology in the project.
It also brought together Islamic finance principles like risk-sharing and ethical investing to address climate change challenges, exploring sukuks and other instruments in financing green projects, infrastructures, and sustainability.
“Today we get to hear not only to discuss the concept of Waqf but to explore this potential as a powerful tool for sustainable development and social equity,” Harianto Solichin said in his opening remarks of the symposium.
According to him, Waqf is an Islamic tradition that embodies the spirit of giving and community support. It represents commitment to social, education, and healthcare and empowerment of the underprivileged. In our rapidly changing world the principles of Waqf are more relevant than ever.
“Right now, we seek innovating solutions to address pressing social-economic and environmental challenges,” he said.
The symposium brought together a diverse group of Muslim leaders and practitioners and advocates who are delegated to harnessing the power of Waqf for sustainable development through various experts from various fields including finance, social entrepreneurship, and community development.
“Their insights have us understand how we can elaborate Waqf to a sustainable initiative, that not only meet immediate needs but also foster longer and resilience and growth,” Harianto said.
Prof Muneeza cited that Menara Syariah and INCEIF have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to take Islamic finance knowledge to the next level.
Furthermore, INCEIF and Menara Syariah have a common objective in the sense that Menara Syariah wanted this to be the Sharia knowledge hub.
