Kuala Lumpur, June 28, 2011 – The Inaugural ISRA Colloquium entitled, “Innovation in Islamic Finance: Shari’ah Driven or Market Driven” was held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 26 Rajab, 1432 (28 June, 2011). The colloquium marked the official launching of the world’s first comprehensive Islamic financial markets textbook entitled, ‘Islamic Financial System: Principles & Operations’.

The Inaugural ISRA Colloquium commenced after the end of the official launch of the textbook, with the presentation of four ISRA research papers.

ISRA Paper 1: Principles of Wa’ad and Muwa’adah: Their Application in Shari’ah Contracts by Dr. Marjan Muhammad

ISRA Paper 2: Permissible Risks in Takaful by Ustaz Muhammad Ali Jinnah

ISRA Paper 3: Shari’ah Parameter of Hilah in Islamic Finance by Ustaz Mohamed Fairooz Abdul Khir

ISRA Paper 4: Market Segmentation and the Shari’ah Compliancy Process in Islamic Banking Institutions (IBIs) by Dr. Rusnah Muhamad

In the afternoon, three parallel sessions were conducted covering three diverse areas in Islamic Finance: Islamic Capital Market and General Islamic Finance; Islamic Banking and Takaful and Arabic papers in Islamic Finance.

The colloquium was well attended, with about 200 participants. The colloquium is regarded as a successful event based on the varied subjects discussed and the interesting theme “Innovation in Islamic Finance: Shari’ah Driven or Market Driven.”

At the end of the event, three best paper awards were presented in 3 categories.

Category I: Innovation in Islamic Finance

Paper: الاستفادة من العُمْرَى والرُقْبَى في المصارف الإسلامية وشركات التكافل والمحاكم الشرعية والأوقاف
Author(s): Dr. Abdallah Q. M. Bazzar
Presenter: Dr. Abdallah Q. M. Bazzar

Category II: Innovation in Islamic Capital Market

Paper: “Incentive Compatible Sukuk Musharakah for Private Sector Funding”
Author(s): Abdou Diaw, Prof. Dr. Obiyathulla Ismath Bacha & Dr. Ahcene Lahsasna
Presenter: Abdou Diaw

Category III: Innovation in Takaful and Re-takaful

Paper: “Building Agent-Customer Relationship in Takaful Industry: A Framework of Islamic Relationship Marketing”
Author(s): Marhanum Che Mohd Salleh, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nurdianawati Irwani Abdullah & Assoc. Prof. Dr. Siti Salwani Razali
Presenter: Marhanum Che Mohd Salleh

At the end of the colloquium Assoc. Prof. Dr. Akram Laldin, Executive Director of ISRA gave the closing speech and thanked all the participants and presenters for making the event a success.