Al Jazeera Net correspondents
Doha With a desire for the volume of assets in the field of Islamic finance to reach 10 trillion dollars compared to the current situation, which does not reach 4 trillion dollars, a number of representatives of financial, Islamic and academic institutions and bodies stressed the importance of working to confront the challenges that stand as an obstacle to the development of the Islamic finance industry and pushing it to the next level. Prospects are broader than the current situation.
The 7th International Conference on Islamic Finance was launched today in Doha, which is organized by the Center for Islamic Economics and Finance at the College of Islamic Studies at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in partnership with the Qatar Financial Center under the slogan “Towards a Rooted Future for Islamic Finance”, with the participation of 30 representatives of many financial bodies from Asia, Europe, Africa and Australia. And North America.
Discussions focused on issues of environmental stewardship, social justice and the formulation of innovative financial products compatible with Islamic Sharia of a sustainable nature, the possibility of ethical innovation in Islamic finance and the potential of Islamic social finance in alleviating poverty through mechanisms including zakat, endowment and financing.
Challenging debt rates
Dean of the College of Islamic Studies at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, Recep Chanturk, confirmed to Al Jazeera Net that there are a number of global challenges facing Islamic finance, which requires us to work to develop solutions to them with the aim of developing the Islamic financial sector, pointing out that these challenges include digital currencies, advanced technology, and the possibility Its application in the field of Islamic finance.
Chanturk continued that among the challenges is the high rates of debt, which is an obstacle to improving people’s lives, asking: Can we as Muslims provide solutions or not to these challenges because we are already part of them? He explained that this conference focuses on developing solutions to such challenges.
He pointed out that among the challenges also is how to use financial technology (FinTech) to advance Islamic finance and enhance its ability to meet contemporary social and economic needs and its growing role in reformulating economic systems in a way that supports development, and exploring its role in financial and monetary policies.
He added that the actual volume of Islamic money in Islamic banks currently amounts to about 3.5 trillion dollars, while it could reach about 10 trillion dollars, because much of the money of Muslim people is in non-Islamic banks, and we also find that Muslims’ money and their financing procedures It is done through non-Islamic banks, which imposes on us the importance of working to revive and revitalize Islamic banks.
Unprecedented transformations
For his part, he said Nasser Al-Taweel Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of the Qatar Financial Center The world is going through a period characterized by unprecedented transformations, starting with technological achievements that are redefining industries and how we live, passing through environmental crises that require urgent action, all the way to social and economic transformations that contribute to exacerbating inequality in parts of the world. Many of the world.
Al-Taweel added in an interview with Al Jazeera Net that although these developments constitute an undeniable challenge, they also open the door to wonderful opportunities for growth and creating a better future, and to confront the challenges posed by these transformations, we must – continues the same speaker – use innovative solutions based on values that… They not only meet immediate needs, but also enhance long-term resilience.
Al-Taweel revealed that there is an increase in interest in Islamic finance tools as one of the logical solutions to many of the social, economic and environmental concerns that we face today, pointing out that one of the main factors behind the significant growth of this industry is the increasing acceptance of the benefits provided by ethical and sustainable financial solutions.
The Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of the Qatar Financial Center revealed that between 2021 and 2022, the value of Islamic finance assets reached $3.96 trillion, and is expected to exceed $5.94 trillion by 2025-2026.
Renewing Islamic finance visions
For his part, Vice Dean of Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, Alaa Al-Fuqaha, told Al Jazeera Net that Islamic finance has developed fundamentally over the past years, and that the early scholars established its basic structures on the foundations of social justice and economic equity, and then subsequent generations continued to build on them and develop them through… Creating financial products compatible with Islamic Sharia that meet diverse economic needs.
He continued that in the recent period, the need to renew the visions of Islamic finance to suit the challenges of the future has intensified in light of the increasing instability that the global financial scene faces, represented by economic disparities, environmental deterioration, and revolutionary technological changes, which are challenges that Islamic finance is not far from.
He pointed out that from this standpoint, the conference aims to address these challenges by combining the ethical foundations of Islamic finance with emerging opportunities in the accelerating world.
He explained that the conference includes researchers, practitioners and policy makers from around the world to present original research and case studies linking Islamic principles and contemporary approaches to finance, in an effort to promote a future for Islamic finance that is flexible, ethical and sustainable.
An ethical financial industry
For his part, the head of the Equitas Financial Corporation in Switzerland, Muhammad Hammour, told Al Jazeera Net that the conference focuses on formulating and consolidating the future of the Islamic finance industry so that this industry is based on ethical, Sharia and religious foundations, pointing out that the future of Islamic finance faces many challenges.
He pointed out that the current Islamic monetary system has fixed some of these challenges, but it does not fully represent the values of Islam or Islamic rooting. Therefore, the conference attendees are discussing how to develop an alternative to the current monetary system based on Islamic principles and ethics, such as formulating a digital synonym for cash called digital gold and nourishing it with values and ethics. Islamic technology to be the optimal technical solution to current challenges.
