Kuala Lumpur, November 30-December 1, 2011 – The Sixth International Shari‘ah Scholars Forum (ISSF 2011) was organized by the International Shari‘ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA) of Malaysia, in collaboration with the Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI) of the Islamic Development Bank (IBD) in Jeddah. The forum was held at the InterContinental Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 30 November – 1 December, 2011 (4-5 Muharram, 1433H).

The theme of this year’s forum revolved around one of the most important dimensions of Islamic finance, i.e., Islamic financial intermediation and the maqasidi approach, focusing on the reality, the challenges and the way forward.

Among the eminent scholars who participated in the forum were:

• Dr. Hussain Hamid Hassan
• Sheikh Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo
• Dr. Abdul Rahman al-Atram
• Dr. Yousef al-Shubaily
• Dr. Mohd Daud Bakar
• Dr Sami al-Suwailem
• Dr. al-Ayashi Faddad
• Dr. Mohamad Akram Laldin
• Dr Aznan Hasan
• Dr. Ashraf Md Hashim
• Dr. Said Bouheraoua
• Dr. Mohamed Ali Elgari
• Dr. Mohammad Abdul Razzaq al-Tabtabae
• Dr. Younes Soualhi
• Dr. Engku Rabiah al-Adawiyah
• Dr. Azman Mohamad Noor

The two-day forum commenced with a recitation of the Holy Quran, followed by welcoming remarks by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohamad Akram Laldin, the executive director of ISRA. Besides welcoming the crowd of scholars, academicians, bankers and students to this year’s forum, he clarified that the theme was chosen in response to the recommendation of the ISRA – IRTI – Durham University strategic roundtable discussion that brought together Shari‘ah scholars and Islamic economists at Durham University, England on19-20 April, 2011.

On behalf of IRTI, Dr. al-Ayashi Faddad gave a brief speech expressing his gratitude to ISRA for organizing this annual event and stressing the importance of adhering to the objectives of the Shari‘ah (maqasid al-shari‘ah) in implementing Islamic finance. Dr. Mohd Daud Bakar, the chairman of the ISRA Council of Scholars, officiated the event and gave an opening speech in which he highlighted the importance of refining and purifying Islamic finance industry from any problems.

Dr. Hussain Hamid Hassan gave the first keynote speech, in which he stressed the significance of establishing an Islamic financial system based on maqasid al-shari‘ah that is capable of saving the entire humanity from the evils of capitalism.

The first day of the event comprised two academic sessions. The first session discussed the relationship of financial intermediation to the Shari‘ah objective of preserving wealth, while the second addressed the current reality of Islamic financial intermediation with regards to three different sectors, namely, banking, takaful and the capital market.

The second day of the forum started with another keynote address, this one given by Sheikh Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo, who emphasized the importance of the market in achieving economic well-being and the role of financial intermediation as the key to modern markets. This was followed by three forum sessions. The first one revolved around financial intermediation and the concepts of debt and partnership from the maqasidi perspective. Meanwhile, the second session highlighted the means of realising maqasid al-shari‘ah in the context of contemporary financial intermediation. The final session was a roundtable discussion in which a group of scholars summarized their thoughts on the theme of this year’s forum.

At the end of programme, Dr al-Ayashi Faddad spelled out the resolutions and recommendations of this year’s forum, which can be summarized as follows:

• To develop an academic and practical project in the form of an analytical and applied study of the various aspects of financial intermediation along with detailed steps for implementing maqasid al-shari‘ah into practice;
• To present this proposed project to the OIC Fiqh Academy;
• To welcome any suggestions and recommendations on how to make this project workable.

Conference papers