IslamicFinance.de

The Islamic banking industry needs to take more meaningful steps to benefit the poor, says Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) Economics and Muamalat Faculty Dean Assoc. Prof. Dr. Amir Shaharuddin. Amir said although microfinance is still new in this country, in Indonesia, Sudan, Bangladesh and Pakistan it has given the poor a chance to take part in the Islamic banking system. He said many wakaf funds and parcels of wakaf land in Malaysia are not effectively managed, and the full potential of wakaf assets has yet to be realised. The situation could improve with with more professional management, he said, citing the substantially higher zakat collection now with better management.

Middle East Islamic financial institutions are seen to be more Syariah-compliant than Malaysia's. This is the result of a research on "Developing a Model for Harmonization of Syariah Rulings in Islamic Finance" conducted by Dr Amir Shaharuddin from Islamic Science University of Malaysia.

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