RBI panel recommendations hint at reviving Islamic Banking in India?

RBI panel recommendations hint at reviving Islamic Banking?

Available at: http://zeenews.india.com/business/news/finance/rbi-panel-recommendations-hint-at-reviving-islamic-banking_1839389.html

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) panel, that banks open a “separate window offering interest-free deposits and advances to address financial exclusion based on faith”, a Times of India report has said.

RBI’s recommendations brings up the concept of Islamic banking, the TOI report has further said.

The “Report of the Committee on Medium-term Path on Financial Inclusion” headed by Deepak Mohanty was placed on Monday.

It said, commercial banks may be enabled to open specialised interest-free windows with simple products like demand deposits, agency and participation certificates on the liability side and cost-plus financing and deferred payment, deferred delivery contracts on the asset side.

Here are the salient recommendations of the RBI panel.

Banks have to make special efforts to step up account opening for females, and the Government may consider a deposit scheme for the girl child – Sukanya Shiksha – as a welfare measure.
Given the predominance of individual account holdings (94 per cent of total credit accounts), a unique biometric identifier such as Aadhaar should be linked to each individual credit account and the information shared with credit information companies to enhance the stability of the credit system and improve access.
To improve ‘last mile’ service delivery and to translate financial access into enhanced convenience and usage, a low-cost solution should be developed by utilisation of the mobile banking facility for maximum possible G2P payments.
In order to increase formal credit supply to all agrarian segments, digitisation of land records is the way forward. This should be backed by an Aadhaar-linked mechanism for Credit Eligibility Certificates to facilitate credit flow to actual cultivators.
To phase out the agricultural interest subvention scheme which has distorted the agricultural credit system and ploughing the subsidy amount into an affordable technology aided universal crop insurance scheme for marginal and small farmers for all crops with a monetary ceiling of Rs.200,000 at a nominal premium to end agrarian distress.
A scheme of ‘Gold KCC’ (kisan credit card) with higher flexibility for borrowers with prompt repayment records, which could be dovetailed with a government-sponsored personal insurance, and digitisation of KCC to track expenditure pattern.
Encourage multiple guarantee agencies to provide credit guarantees in niche areas for micro and small enterprises (MSEs), and explore possibilities for counter guarantee and re-insurance.
Introduction of a system of unique identification for all MSME borrowers and sharing of such information with credit bureaus.
Establishing a system of professional credit intermediaries/advisors for MSMEs to help both the sector banks in credit assessment.
To further step up financing of the MSE Sector a framework for movable collateral registry may be introduced.
Commercial banks may be enabled to open specialised interest-free windows with simple products like demand deposits, agency and participation certificates on the liability side and cost-plus financing and deferred payment, deferred delivery contracts on the asset side.
An eco-system comprising multiple models should be encouraged with will foster partnerships amongst national full-service banks, regional banks of various types, NBFCs, semi-formal financial institutions, as well as the newly-licensed payments banks and small finance banks.
Banks’ business model to integrate Business Correspondents (BCs) with appropriate monitoring by designated link branches and greater mix of fixed location BC outlets to win the confidence of the common person.
Introduction of a system of online registration of BCs, their training and monitoring their activity including delinquency, and entrusting more complex financial products such as credit to trained BCs with good track record.
A geographical information system (GIS) to map all banking access points.
To step up the self help group (SHG)-bank linkage programme (SBLP) initiated by NABARD with the help of concerned stakeholders including government agencies as a livelihood model.
Corporates should be encouraged to nurture SHGs as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives.
Provision of credit history of all SHG members by linking with individual Aadhaar numbers to check over-indebtedness
To restore tax-exempt status for securitisation vehicles for efficient risk transfer.
More ATMs in rural and semi-urban centres, interoperability of micro ATMs and use of application-based mobiles as point- of- sale (PoS) for creating more touch points for customers.
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to develop a multi-lingual mobile application for customers who use non-smart phones, especially for users of national unified USSD platform (NUUP).
Permit a small-value cash-out with adequate KYC along for non-bank prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) to incentivise usage.
To allow PPI interoperability for non-banks.
Levying a surcharge on credit card transactions by merchant establishments should not be allowed.
Banks to complete the task of linking of deposit accounts with Aadhaar in a time bound manner so as to create the necessary eco-system for social cash transfer.
Financial Literacy Centre (FLC) network to be strengthened to deliver basic financial literacy at the ground level. Banks to identify lead literacy officers to be trained by the Reserve Bank in its College of Agricultural Banking (CAB) who in turn could train the people manning the FLCs.
The Reserve Bank to commission periodic dipstick surveys across states to ascertain the extent of financial literacy.
All regulated entities should be required to put in place a technology-based platform for SMS acknowledgement and disposal of customer complaints.
To strengthen the Information Monitoring System for District Consultative Committees (DCC) and State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) deliberations.
The responsibility of the SLBC/lead bank scheme to be rotated among to instil a spirit of competition.
SLBCs to focus more on inter-institutional issues, livelihood models, social cash transfer, gender inclusion, Aadhaar seeding, universal account opening, and less on credit deposit ratio which is a by-product.
As a part of second generation reforms, the government can replace the current agricultural input subsidies on fertilisers, power and irrigation by a direct income transfer scheme.

9 economists whose ideas are changing the world

9 economists whose ideas are changing the world
By Ben Moshinsky

Available at: https://agenda.weforum.org/2015/08/9-economists-whose-ideas-are-changing-the-world/

We’re living in the age of the rock star academic.

Everyone is trying to make sense of financial crises and the old economics textbooks don’t work so well anymore.

So it’s natural to turn to the people who study this stuff for a living.

Thomas Piketty, a French academic, sold 1.5 million copies of his book “Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” while Nobel prize-winning economists like Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz can be found burning up social media, the newspapers, and the conference circuit.

But not everyone with influential ideas on economics and finance is as well-known.

Here are the academics that are changing the world behind-the-scenes. The list isn’t exhaustive. If you think we’ve missed anyone out then please email in suggestions.

1: Ha-Joon Chang, University of Cambridge

Alma Mater: Seoul National University

Big Idea: Developed countries talk a lot about the free market but really use their power and financial strength to profit at the expense of emerging economies.

Chang’s ideas are controversial, centering on the role that international bodies like the IMF and World Bank play in the world economy.

In books such as Kicking Away the Ladder and The Myth of Free Trade he argues that the governments of bigger economies help out their own companies, while preaching the benefits of the free market to developing nations.

2: Katherina Pistor, Columbia Law School

Alma Mater: University of Freiburg

Big Idea: The rule of law must be suspended for financial markets in a crisis, or the whole system will collapse.

Pistor, who won the Max Planck academic research award in 2012, is developing a legal theory of finance to work out how laws affect its shape and composition.

She discovered that, in a crisis, the regulations that build markets aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on. Political power is the driving force behind who gets hit in the heat of the moment.

3: Charles Calomiris, Columbia Business School

Alma Mater: Yale University

Big Idea: Financial collapses don’t happen at random and aren’t inevitable.

They come from complex bargains between politicians and bankers that spiral out of the government’s control. That’s one of the reasons why the US has had 12 major banking crises since 1840, while Canada has had none.

4: Jon Danielsson, London School of Economics

Alma Mater: Duke University

Big Idea: Trusting your risk models will lose you money in a crisis.

Risk models will generally tend to have the same outcomes when everything is going well, even if they have different mathematical foundations.

This tricks people in to thinking that they work all the time. But when all hell breaks loose, the models will give you wildly different risk assesments, leaving you flying blind.

This is bad for banks and hedge funds but even worse for central banks, who have to make policy decisions for everyone else.

5: Marianne Bertrand, University of Chicago Booth

Alma Mater: University of Brussels

Big Idea: CEOs are rewarded for luck rather than performance. Also, employers judge applicants on their name as much as their qualifications.

Bertrand is one the reasons why there’s been such a shareholder backlash against CEO pay, after proving their huge bonuses are based on luck rather than genius.

In a 2003 paper, she and Sendhil Mullainathan also famously replied to help-wanted ads in Chicago and Boston with fake names. Some applicants used names like Emily and Greg, while others used names like Lakisha and Jamal.

“The results show significant discrimination against African-American names,” the authors wrote. “White names receive 50% more callbacks for interviews.”

6: Alvin Roth, Harvard University and Stanford University

Alma Mater: Columbia University

Big Idea: You don’t need money to make a stable market for something.

Roth, along with Lloyd Shapely, won the Nobel Prize in 2012 for showing that people can make a market based on mutually-beneficial swaps rather than cash to satisfy a specific need.

This was particularly useful for easing the shortage of kidney donors in the US. Roth used game theory to pair up donors with patients they didn’t know, making it easier for people to swap their organs and find a match.

7: Richard Portes, London Business School

Alma Mater: Yale University

Big Idea: Bondholders can often work together to get concessions from a borrower.

Portes, now professor of economics at London Business School, laid down the groundwork for collective action clauses, where sovereign bondholders use their bargaining power to impose conditions on a debtor country. The work has been especially important in cases like Greece or Argentina.

8: Charles Goodhart, London School of Economics

Alma Mater: Cambridge University

Big Idea: Goodhart’s Law.

Goodhart said that as soon as governments or central banks turn a statistic, such as the stock market, into an implicit policy target, it ceases to become a reliable statistic.

This is because players in financial markets change their investment strategies to pre-empt the policy.

Goodhart was one of the orignal members of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee in 1997, and a veteran of financial crises in 1970s.

9: Alberto Alesina, Harvard University

Alma Mater: Bocconi Univerisity, Milan

Big Idea: Far from hurting growth, austerity measures can actually help economies recover.

In 2009, Alesina and Silvia Ardegna published a paper called Large Changes in Fiscal Policy: Taxes Versus Spending.

It was an important part of the debate in the years that followed over whether austerity and reducing debt or boosting government spending were the best strategies for economies recovering, cited by fiscal hawks.

This article is published in collaboration with Business Insider. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

To keep up with Agenda subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Author: Ben Moshinsky is a senior finance reporter, covering markets and banks. He previously worked for Bloomberg News in Brussels and London.

SAMBUTAN MAULIDUR RASUL MELALUI PEMBUDAYAAN ILMU

SAMBUTAN MAULIDUR RASUL MELALUI PEMBUDAYAAN ILMU: MENELUSURI LITERATUR SIRAH RASULULLAH SALLALLAHUALAIHIWASALLAM

Zulkifli Hasan

Khamis ini 24 Disember 2015 bersamaan dengan 12 Rabiulawal 1437H/ seperti kebiasaannya umat Islam akan menyambut maulidur Rasul bersempena memperingati kelahiran Nabi Muhammad Sallallahualaihiwasallam yang kita kasihi. Mungkin ada yang tidak tahu bahawa tarikh kewafatan Rasululullah juga berlaku pada 12 Rabiulawal iaitu pada 11 Hijrah/632M seperti yang diriwayatkan oleh sebahagian besar ahli sejarah. Manfaat juga untuk dikongsikan di sini bahawasanya kebanyakan ahli sejarah pada zaman sahabat dan tabiin yang meriwayatkan kisah dan kehidupan Rasulullah Sallallahualaihiwasallam merupakan pakar dalam ilmu hadis.

Di kala umat Islam di Malaysia menempuhi pelbagai cabaran dengan beberapa insiden yang sangat signifikan seperti banjir yang melanda beberapa negeri, isu 1MDB dan 2.6 billion, jerebu, pemenjaraan DSAI, isu kemelut politik, peristiwa Lahad Datu, misteri MH370, MH17 dan QZ 8501 dan bermacam-macam lagi, penulis ingin mengajak semua untuk mengingati dan menghayati sirah Rasulullah SAW bersempena dengan sambutan Maulid al Rasul 1437H. Tahun 2015 juga menyaksikan kehilangan beberapa permata ulama dunia dan tanahair seperti pemergian Syeikh Wahbah al Zuhaily seorang ulama yang begitu dikagumi seluruh dunia. Mungkin ini semua adalah sebahagian daripada ujian keimanan kepada umat Islam.

Umumnya, sebahagian umat Islam pada waktu ini kebiasaannya sibuk membuat persiapan menyambut maulidur Rasul dengan pelbagai aktiviti dan menerima sambutan ini sebagai salah satu mekanisma dan pendekatan mencetuskan kefahaman dan perasaan mengenai Rasulullah SAW.

Sambutan Maulidur Rasul merupakan antara amalan yang diterima sebagai salah satu usaha untuk mendidik dan mengingati Rasulullah SAW. Namun, mahu tidak mahu, tidak dinafikan bahawa masih ada juga sebahagian pihak yang mempertikaikan usaha ini dan melabelkannya sebagai bidaah.Dalam kekhilafan ini, penulis memilih pendekatan sederhana untuk bersama-sama Imam Jalaluddin Sayuti, Sayid Ahmad bin Zaini Dahlan, Syeikh Yusuf Qaradawi dan fuqaha yang lain untuk mengharuskan sambutan Maulidur Rasul dengan syarat ianya tidak mencampur adukkan perkara yang dilarang oleh Islam. Dalam merungkai permasalahan ini, penulis ingin menukilkan kata-kata Hasan Al Banna menasihati umat Islam dalam masalah ini seperti yang diungkapkan oleh Yusuf Qaradawi di dalam Fiqh Awlawiyat, halaman 266-267 yang bermaksud:

“Wahai saudara-saudaraku, aku amat mengetahui bahawa saudara yang bertanya tadi, termasuk juga ramai di kalangan kalian, tidak bermaksud daripada soalan seumpama itu melainkan hanya ingin mengetahui, daripada kumpulan manakah pengajar baru ini? Adakah daripada kumpulan Syeikh Musa atau daripada kumpulan Syeikh Abdul Sami’?! Sesungguhnya pengetahuan ini tidak memberikan apa-apa manfaat kepada kamu, sedangkan kamu telah menghabiskan masa dalam keadaan fitnah selama lapan tahun dan cukuplah sekadar itu. Kesemua masalah-masalah itu telah diperselisihkan oleh umat Islam sejak ratusan tahun dan mereka masih terus berselisih pendapat sehingga ke hari ini, namun Allah SWT redha kepada kita untuk berkasih sayang dan bersatu padu serta membenci untuk kita berselisihan dan berpecah-belah. Maka aku ingin mengajak kamu semua berjanji dengan Allah SWT untuk meninggalkan semua perkara-perkara ini sekarang, dan bersungguh-sungguh untuk mempelajari asas-asas agama dan kaedah-kaedahnya, beramal dengan akhlaknya, kelebihan-kelebihannya yang umum dan petunjuk-petunjuknya yang disepakati. Dan mendirikan segala kewajipan dan sunat serta meninggalkan sikap memberat-beratkan dan terlalu rigid supaya hati menjadi suci. Dan supaya menjadi tujuan kita semua hanya untuk mengetahui kebenaran, bukan hanya kerana sekadar mahu memenangkan satu pandangan. Ketika itu, kita mempelajari kesemua ini bersama dalam keadaan kasih sayang, kepercayaan, kesatuan dan keikhlasan. Aku berharap kamu terimalah pandanganku ini dan agar ia menjadi perjanjian sesame kita untuk berbuat demikian”

Berdasarkan kepada peringatan penting Hasan Al Banna di atas, sudah pasti isu sambutan maulidur Rasul ini tidak akan menjadi punca perselisihan dan perpecahan umat Islam sekiranya maksud sebenar sambutan seumpama ini dihayati. Jika ditinjau sejarah, C. Cherfils di dalam bukunya ‘Napoleon And Islam’ menukilkan bahawa Napoleon Bonaparte juga telah menganjurkan upacara besar-besaran menyambut maulidur Rasul di atas kekagumannya terhadap Rasulullah Sallallahualaihiwasallam. Hingga ada yang mengatakan dengan yakin berdasarkan beberapa dokumen sahih bahawa Napoleon diakhir hayatnya adalah seorang Muslim dengan nama Muhammad Ali Bonaparte.

Namun harus diingat, pada masa umat Islam beriya-beriya untuk menjayakan sambutan Maulidur Rasul dengan pelbagai program dan aktiviti di setiap pelusuk negara, sememangnya tidak dapat dinafikan bahawa masih ramai yang tidak mengenali Rasulullah Sallallahualaihiwasallam sama ada dari aspek pemikiran, peribadi, akhlak, pendekatan dan keseluruhan cara hidup baginda. Penulis mengambil kesempatan ini untuk berkongsi sedikit pengetahuan untuk membicarakan literatur mengenai Sirah Rasulullah Sallallahualaihiwasallam dengan harapan ianya akan dapat menjadi panduan dan rujukan selepas ini.

Merujuk kepada sejarah penulisan Sirah Rasulullah Sallallahualaihiwasallam, ianya telah pun dimulakan oleh para sahabat seperti Abu Rafi Mawla yang telah menulis tentang sifat solat dan ibadah baginda. Ini termasuk Sahl b. Abi Hathmah al-Madani al-‘Ansari dan ‘Abd Allah b. ‘Amru b. al-‘As b. Wa’il b. Hashim. Penulisan sirah Rasulullah Sallallahualaihiwasallam secara sistematik telah dimulakan oleh para Muhaddithun yang juga ahli sejarah seperti Sa`id b. al-Musayyib al-Makhzumi, ‘Urwah b. al-Zubayr b. al-‘Awwam and Abu Fadalah ‘Abd Allah b. Ka’b b. Malik al-Ansari.

Penulisan sirah Rasulullah Sallallahualaihiwasallam kemudiannya kian popular ketika zaman Muhammad b. Ishaq yang telah menulis kitab Kitab al-Mubtada’ wa al-Mab`ath wa al-Maghazi iaitu buku yang membincangkan secara terperinci kehidupan baginda bermula kelahiran hingga kewafatan. Ini diikuti oleh Muhammad b. ‘Umar al-Waqidi yang menulis Kitab Azwaj al-Nabiyy, Kitab al-Tarikh wa al-Maghazi wa al-Mab`ath and Kitab Wafat al-Nabiyy and Kitab al-Maghazi. Kitab Sirah yang menjadi rujukan utama hingga kini telah ditulis oleh ‘Abd al-Malik b. Hisham melalui karyanya yang masyhur iaitu Kitab al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah. Kitab Shamail al Tirmizi yang menghimpunkan hadis-hadis mengenai karakter, sifat, akhlak dan peribadi Rasulullah SAW juga patut menjadi rujukan. Bahkan kitab ini dapat menjadi panduan untuk mengelakkan sebarang riwayat tidak sahih dan palsu mengenai Rasulullah SAW.

Kitab-kitab sirah di atas walaubagaimanapun ditulis di dalam bahasa Arab dan mungkin ini menimbulkan kesulitan sesetengah pihak untuk memahami dan merujuk isi kandungannya. Ini sebenarnya tidak menjadi halangan bagi tujuan untuk memahami kehidupan Rasulullah Sallallahualaihiwasallam kerana terdapat banyak buku-buku kontemporari yang ditulis oleh sejarawan Islam mahupun dalam bentuk terjemahan. Sebagai contoh buku “Life of the Prophet Muhammad: Al-Sira Al-Nabawiyya” oleh Ibn Kathir, Sirah Nabawiyah oleh Abul Hasan Ali Al Nadwi dan juga “The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq: Sirat Rasul Allah” telah diterjemahkan ke dalam bahasa Inggeris yang boleh dijadikan sebagai rujukan.

Selain daripada itu, buku-buku lain yang boleh dirujuk adalah seperti “Prophet Muḣammad and His mission” oleh S. Athar Husain, “Muhammad, the messenger of Islam: His Life and Prophecy” oleh Hajjah Amina Adil, “Mohammed and the Rise of Islam” oleh D. S. Margoliouth, “The Great Prophet a Short Life of the Founder of Islam” oleh F. K. Khan Durrani, “The Messenger of God Muhammad: An Analysis of the Prophet’s life” oleh M. Fethullah Gulen, “Prophet Muhammad(s) and His Family: A Sociological Perspective” oleh Shamim Aleem, “The Prophet Muhammad: A Biography” oleh Barnaby Rogerson, “Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman” oleh William Montgomery Watt, “Muhammad: Prophet for Our Time (Eminent Lives)” and “Muhammad: Western Attempt to Understand Islam” oleh Karen Armstrong, “The Sealed Nectar (Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum)” oleh S. al-Mubarakpuri, “Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources” oleh Martin Lings, “Introducing Muhammad” oleh Ziauddin Sardar dan “Prophet Muhammad and His Miracles” oleh Bediuzzaman Said Nursi. Di samping itu, terdapat juga koleksi rujukan dalam bentuk cakera padat seperti “The Life of the Last Prophet”, sebuah audio biografi oleh Yusuf Islam. “The Sealed Nectar (Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum)” oleh S. al-Mubarakpur dan “Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources” oleh Martin Lings merupakan dua buah buku yang mendapat anugerah khas antara buku terbaik versi Bahasa Inggeris mengenai sejarah hidup Rasulullah SAW. Antara karya kontemporari yang menghidangkan analisis segar dan bersifat universal serta menyentuh secara langsung kehidupan dan pengajaran sirah Rasulullah SAW ialah karya Tariq Ramadan yang bertajuk In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lesson from the Life of Muhammad.
The Sealed Nectar

Kesemua koleksi sirah Rasulullah Sallallahualaihiwasallam di atas diterbitkan dalam bahasa Inggeris dan faktor ini boleh menjadi penghalang sesetengah individu untuk memahami buku-buku tersebut. Sebenarnya terdapat buku-buku dalam bahasa melayu telah diterbitkan seperti “Biografi Muhammad bin Abdullah” oleh Zulkifli Mohd Yusoff dan Noor Naemah Abdul Rahman, “Fiqh al-Harakah dan Sirah Nabawiyyah” oleh Abdul Hadi Awang dan “Ensiklopedia Sirah Nabi Muhammad SAW” oleh Khalil Munawwar. Buku “Biografi Muhammad bin Abdullah” ini mempunyai kelebihan dan tarikan tersendiri di mana ia memuatkan gambar-gambar dan ilustrasi sebagai panduan tambahan kepada pembaca untuk memahami sirah Rasulullah SAW. Selain daripada itu, begitu banyak buku terjemahan seperti Fiqh al-Sirah oleh Muhammad Sa’id Ramadan al-Buti, “Sejarah kehidupan Nabi Muhammad” oleh Muhammad Hussein Haykal dan “Sirah Nabi Muhammad SAW: Pengajaran dan Pedoman” oleh Mustafa as-Shibaie, ‘Muhammad’ oleh Martin Lings, ‘Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum” oleh S. al-Mubarakpur boleh sahaja didapati di pasaran. Bahkan kitab “Sirah Nabawiyyah Ibnu Hisham” karya Abu Muhammad Abdul Malik Ibnu Hisham yang dianggap antara rujukan berotoriti mengenai Sirah Rasulullah SAW juga telah diterjemahkan.

Berdasarkan senarai rujukan tertera di atas, penulis menganjurkan agar setiap umat Islam untuk memiliki sekurang-kurangnya senaskhah sirah Rasulullah Sallallahualaihiwasallam sebagai koleksi peribadi. Sebagai tambahan, setiap isi rumah perlu juga memiliki sekurang-kurangnya satu set koleksi hadith Rasulullah saw seperti sahih bukhari, muslim dan kitab hadith yang lain. Kitab karangan Yusuf al Qaradawi bertajuk ‘kaifa nataamal maa al sunnah al nabawiyah’ (Bagaimana Beramal Dengan Sunnah Nabawiyah) pula adalah sangat baik bagi menjadi rujukan kepada semua cara dan amalan untuk berinteraksi dengan sunnah. Bagi menghidupkan budaya ilmu dan lebih mengenali sunnah Rasulullah SAW, selain membaca al Quran, bacaan hadith Rasulullah saw juga perlu dijadikan amalan harian. Moga dengan menghidupkan budaya ilmu ini akan dapat membuatkan kita lebih mengenali dan menghayati ajaran Rasulullah SAW.

Bagaimana Beramal Dengan Sunnah Nabawiyah oleh Yusuf al Qaradawi

Memahami dan meneladani Rasulullah Sallallahualaihiwasallam merupakan suatu kewajipan bagi semua umat Islam. Perkara ini tidak akan dapat dicapai melainkan melalui proses pencarian ilmu. Dalam aspek ini, sememangnya kita telah disajikan dengan pelbagai koleksi rujukan mengenai kehidupan Rasulullah Sallallahualaihiwasallam. Hanya tinggal kini ialah kemahuan, keazaman, keiltizaman diri untuk belajar memahami dan meneladani seterusnya mendidik jiwa dan rohani untuk mengasihi Rasulullah Sallallahualaihiwasallam.

Selamat Menyambut Maulidur Rasul dan selamat menyambut tahun baru.

Islamic body goes global to fill void in speciality skills

Islamic body goes global to fill void in speciality skills

Available at: http://www.gulf-times.com/eco.-bus.%20news/256/details/466680/islamic-body-goes-global-to-fill-void-in-speciality-skills

A Malaysian institute set up seven years ago to improve education standards for Islamic finance professionals is going global as it seeks to fill a void of experts with specialities such as insurance and law.

The Chartered Institute of Islamic Finance Professionals in Kuala Lumpur aims to increase membership of qualified practitioners to 3,000 in three years, from 400 now, Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, its president and former chief executive officer of CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd, said in an interview. The CIIF, which changed its name and geographical focus in 2015, is in talks with associations and regulators stretching from the Middle East to Indonesia as part of that campaign, he said.
The $2tn industry has long been plagued by a shortage of individuals who have studied beyond the prerequisite skill base and CIIF plans to start offering specialised courses next year to address the problem, which is hindering development, Badlisyah said.
The Kuala Lumpur-based Finance Accreditation Agency estimates 56,000 more qualified experts will be needed to fill positions in the next five years as growth accelerates.

“There is a lack of accepted global standards for professional qualifications – similar to accounting – the absence of which has created differences in talent skills requirements across jurisdictions,” said Daud Vicary Abdullah, CEO of the International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance in Kuala Lumpur. “The industry is still at a nascent stage where talent development and planning are concerned.”

CIIF was formerly the Association of Chartered Islamic Finance Professionals, which was established in 2008 and whose intake was mainly graduates from Malaysia’s INCEIF. The newly formed institute will help promote members globally and aims to provide a common standard of education acceptable in the various countries offering Shariah-compliant products, Badlisyah said.
The standards and codes of conduct issued by CIIF will be recognised and adopted under the Islamic Finance Profession Charter, which was signed by key Shariah-compliant associations in Malaysia, Badlisyah said. The guidelines will extend to other qualified leading organisations such as the Bahrain-based General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions and the Indonesian Syariah Banking Association if they sign up, he said, adding that they could eventually be made a requirement across the board.
Asset growth in an industry where interest payments are forbidden showcases the need for trained professionals, with the Kuala Lumpur-based International Shariah Research Academy forecasting a $3tn market by 2018.

Sales of Islamic bonds known as sukuk, which scholars need to vet for conformity with religious laws, have climbed to above $45bn in the past three years, compared with less than $10bn a decade ago, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Takaful contributions, the equivalent of conventional insurance, are expected to reach $20bn by 2017 from $14bn in 2014, according to Ernst & Young.
There’s still a gap in the market for trained experts even as the range and selection of courses expands around the world. There are essentially two types of Shariah professionals, said Abdul Rahman Mohd Yusoff, head of the Shariah department at OCBC Al-Amin Bank Bhd and also a CIIF member. There are those with a degree in pure Shariah law or Fiqh, or those with an equivalent degree in commercial and business aspects known as Muamalat, he said.

On the other hand, there also graduates with Bachelor’s degrees in non-Islamic disciplines who supplement them with qualifications in Shariah-compliant finance such as Ph D’s or certificates from other accredited organisations, Abdul Rahman said.
“This makes the degree in Islamic finance an add-on rather than the primary one that will govern their future, lessening the pressure on them to go the extra mile to achieve the qualification,” said Abdul Rahman at the Islamic unit of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, Southeast Asia’s second-biggest lender. “To address the shortage, it might be useful to make it mandatory for all staff handling Islamic finance products to sit for at least the certification courses.”

Bank of England joins IFSB Islamic finance body

Bank of England joins IFSB Islamic finance body
BY BERNARDO VIZCAINO

Available at: http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-islam-financing-boe-idUKKBN0TS07220151209

The Bank of England has joined the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), one of the main standard-setting bodies for Islamic finance, the second Western regulator to do so after Luxembourg.

The BoE joins as an associate member, the 65th regulatory body to join the Kuala Lumpur-based body, bringing total membership to 189, the IFSB said in a statement.

Britain’s government has been keen to make London a centre for Islamic finance. In June of last year it became the first Western country to issue Islamic bonds (sukuk).

The move comes at a key time for Britain’s domestic Islamic banks, as the BoE works to grow the number of sharia-compliant assets they can use in their liquidity buffers, with progress expected by the turn of the year.

Currently, sukuk issued by the AAA-rated Islamic Development Bank are the only assets that meet the BoE’s criteria for use in the liquidity buffers of the 22 Islamic financial institutions operating in Britain.

The BoE could expand this by allowing use of sukuk issued by sovereigns with lower credit ratings and other non-financial issuers, according to a consultation paper released last year.

Islamic finance follows religious principles such as bans on interest and pure monetary speculation, limiting the range of financial tools that banks can use to manage short-term funding needs.

The IFSB has also admitted the central bank of Kyrgyzstan and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan as observer members.

The central bank of Kazakhstan has also been upgraded to a full member, becoming the 23rd member of the IFSB Council, its highest governing body.