Durham, April 4-5 2014- The International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic finance (ISRA) Malaysia, in collaboration with the Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI, Saudi Arabia) and Durham Doctoral Training Centre in Islamic Finance, Durham University, jointly organised the 4th Strategic Roundtable Discussion at Van Mildert College, Durham University, the United Kingdom. The Roundtable aimed at bringing together prominent stakeholders of the Islamic finance industry, comprising prominent Shari’ah scholars, Islamic economists, academics and industry practitioners.

This year’s Roundtable represents the continuation of the previous year’s discussion. In 2013 the Roundtable debated the fiqhi evidence for risk sharing and the viability of musharakah instruments in the contemporary environment in which Islamic finance operates. The 2013 Roundtable urged regulators, industry players and Shari’ah scholars to promote the concept of risk sharing among the providers and users of funds and to implement it in various Islamic financial products. The 2014 Roundtable further deliberated the current state and future prospects of the risk-sharing concept in Islamic finance.

There were five sessions held to discuss different topics related to the current challenges and initiatives in promoting the concept of risk sharing as well as its future prospects in Islamic finance. The summary of the sessions, topics and ice breakers are as follows:

Day 1 (4th April 2014)

Session 1: Issues and Constraints in Promoting the Concept of Risk Sharing in Islamic Finance: The Viewpoint of an Industry Practitioner

Moderator:

1. Prof. Dr. Ashraf Md. Hashim

Icebreakers:

1. Mr. Badlishah Abdul Ghani (CEO, CIMB Islamic)
2. Prof. Dr. Habib Ahmed (Durham University)

Session 2: Challenges and Constraints to Accepting Instruments Based on Risk Sharing in Islamic Finance: Customer Perspectives

Moderator: Daud Vicary Abdullah (President and CEO of INCEIF)
Icebreakers:

Dr. Aznan Hasan (ISRA Council of Scholars)
Mr Omer Sheikh (UK)
Mufti Barakatullah (UK)

Session 3: Government Approaches and Initiatives in Promoting Risk Sharing in Islamic Finance

Moderator: Sheikh Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo (ISRA Council of Scholars)

Icebreakers:

1. Azleena Idris (BNM)
2. Dr. Mohamad Daud Bakar (ISRA Council of Scholars)
3. Dr. Muhamed Zulkhibri (CEC/IDB)

Day 2 (5th April 2014): Moderated by Dr. Mehmet Asutay (Durham University)

Session 4: Industry Approaches and Initiatives in Promoting Risk Sharing in Islamic Finance
Icebreakers

1. Br. Yahya Aleem ur Rehman (IRTI/IDB)
2. Br. Riad Saleh Al-Saie (Bahrain)

Session 5: Future Prospects for Risk Sharing in Islamic Finance

Icebreakers

1. Prof. Dr. Ghafar Ismail (IRTI)
2. Mr Iqbal Asaria (UK)
3. Dr Muhammad Syahmi Mohd Karim (Risk Analyst, BNM)

At the end, the participants agreed on “The Durham Roundtable Declaration 2014”.