IslamicFinance.de

According to the State of the Islamic Economy Report 2018/19, Malaysia has been the leader of the Islamic economy ecosystem for five consecutive years. In addition to Malaysia’s impressive performance as the front-runner in the commercial sector of Islamic finance, perhaps it is time for the country to gear itself up to also lead the revitalisation of Islamic social finance instruments. These instruments could play a vital role in reducing poverty and addressing challenging socio-economic problems such as education, unemployment, malnutrition and health issues. In Malaysia, the utilisation of philanthropic Islamic social finance instruments such as zakat and waqf seems to be restricted because of regulatory hurdles. The concept of sadaqah seems to be underutilised, although there is a huge potential in it. A product called Sadaqa House, initiated by Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad (BIMB), is an example of its application.