Research in Islamic Economics by Muhammad Aslam Hanif

Top 20 FREQUENT WORDS

research 121 islamic 108 economics 79 funding 39 finance 34 institutions 34 areas 26 malaysia 25 funds 20 universities 18 foundations 15 important 15 banking 14 fund 14 economic 13 theoretical 12 development 11 sufficient 11 university 11 years 11

DOCUMENT KEY POINTS

• in the first international conference on islamic economics was held in makkah al mukarramah bringing together economists jurists and scholars of other related disciplines for the first time to discuss issues of concern to the muslim ummah leading eventually to the birth of the discipline of islamic economics
• thousands of articles books and seminar papers have been written numerous islamic economic research and teaching institutions have been set up while many universities and institutions of higher learning have introduced courses programs on islamic economics and its related fields

• the paper will try to argue that we must devote sufficient resources both financial and human to do research in what is called the a missing fard a ayn component in islamic economics banking and finance ie the foundations or usul of islamic economics for a detailed analysis of the role and development of islamic institutions in the economic development of malaysia see mohamed aslam haneef a the development and impact of islamic economic institutions the malaysian experience in k
• despite the active interest in the area of islamic banking and finance one is still faced with the fact that research in islamic economics has declined the enthusiasm of the late s and s has waned the growth rate of people still actively working in islamic economics has declined and the second third generation of islamic economists have become quite a rare breed

• while the total numbers and the growth rate in the last decade may give an impression that islamic economics is gaining popularity and is on the right track it would probably be accepted that a huge proportion of these publications would be in the area of islamic banking and finance not in islamic economics especially in areas dealing with theory and foundations
• the numbers of research output in the form of articles books conference papers and a other materials till is quite significant at ite miss progress was especially visible in the s where output more than doubled from the previous decade mainly due to the establishment of islamic financial institutions

• even the number of active teachers and researchers who are fully dedicated to the teaching of and research in islamic economics as opposed to islamic banking and finance is less than of its faculty indicating a serious need to re focus on creating the next generation of islamic economists

• secondly if we accept the statement that the a industry realizes the importance of academic research to its own survival we must also ask who sets the agenda of research does a theoretical academic research in islamic finance answer to the demands of industry or does academic research chart out the future path of the industry while logic will say that it is a two way process my view is that it has been and is still the industry that determines the direction of theoretical research in academia and this trend is ever increasing
• in terms of funding it does not take a genius to figure out that if left to its own private financial institutions will fund research in areas and in directions that it sees important and not easily fund research in areas that only seem to be theoretically stimulating but with no apparent a practical outcome

• before the west developed such sophisticated analyses of islamic finance did they not dedicate sufficient resourcesfinancial human and timeto the development of solid theoretical foundations in economics and finance unfortunately in islamic economics after less than years of writings in economics and its foundations we islamic economists abandoned our own field and many decided to join the juggernaut of islamic finance
• while industry led research has sufficient funding he admits that research in other areas is very constrained due to limited funding relying on general all purposes grants from universities or institutions or from personal funds

• the following tables show the amounts of funding since and as an example look at the funds that went to the national university of malaysia ukm
• while much of this is spent on infrastructure ie the setting up of new schools and universities more attention is being paid to human resources and r d as well

• fundamental research grant scheme frgs a rm million while the first two are administered by the ministry of science technology and innovation the third is handled by the ministry of higher education and was set up to cater for a fundamental research that leads to further research and development
• in addition smaller amounts of research funds are made available to universities to administer especially via the establishment of about a center s of research excellence

• the frgs is meant to provide funding to all disciplines especially keep in mind also that since we are focusing on research funding for islamic economics we are leaving out leave out the funds from the private sector thus far as these have been primarily for research in islamic banking and finance
• for example the iium has limited funds of rm contingency funds rm short term funds and rm medium term for research in all areas of knowledge

• it is as if the government in their race to develop s t expertise has forgotten the equally important task of dealing with the soft side of development and of important foundations but less commercial of islamic economics banking and finance while private funding is available for research in islamic banking and finance the same cannot be said of islamic economics

• in less than decades we ceased to be interested in these a foundations and moved to more downstream applied areas ostensibly to provide solutions to current problems some even look down on research and publications that deal with a mere conceptual work and see only applied work or user friendly research as being worthy since a practical solutions are needed

• what can we take from modern economics banking and finance how to a sift modern economics so that we do not accept ideas and values that are contrary to that of islam how to integrate our heritage with modern knowledge in a genuine way so that we can create the solutions for the problems of muslim and of humanity at large this needs research into the foundations of knowledge in this case islamic economics
• i do not also think we should hold our breath for the private sector to fund this a less commercial area although the government could ask all islamic financial institutions to contribute a certain percentage of their profits to fund this type of research

• universities as key stakeholders in the case of research in islamic economics i agree that universities and or dedicated research centers in universities especially public universities should also be the leading stakeholders if needed part of the funding may need to be used to strengthen these institutions
• autonomy and accountability do not over regulate and control but allow individual universities research centers to determine research agenda based on expertise preference for a lump sum funding rather than piece meal funding to allow individual institutions and individual project leaders to be given trust and held accountable

• in addition the grants should cover all expenses and have adequate remuneration for a graduate student to dedicate years of his life to getting involved in research in islamic economics
• setting up new institutions just for the sake of setting up new institutions or for personal agendas only disadvantages the ummah

• there must be also some form of assessment evaluation to ensure that funds are used efficiently and the backbone of this evaluation is peer review and almost all of the evaluation work will involve selecting briefing supporting and in other ways dealing with peer reviewers
• this would be a very important requirement to ensure that individual institutions are themselves clear about what they want to do how they plan to do it and how they plan to evaluate their progress

• this is why we cannot fail and must do everything in our power to renew the spirit and commitment of the nd congress more than years ago
• yassin mohd salleh mohd yusof haji othman and tengku mohd tengku sembok research management at universiti kebangsaan malaysia system and holistic approach

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DOCUMENT WORD ANALYSIS

Main Category

AlHuda Material\islamic economics

KeyWords

islam econometric banker economi research muslim universal rate income public zakah developed invest shariah function countries social resource import consumable

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DOCUMENT REFERENCES

Number of Pages

17

Published Date

2009-02-16 09:39:10

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