The conference will see the gathering of eminent scholars, business and industry leaders, politicians and government officers, policy makers and regulators, general public and students from all over the world.
Conference Chairman Professor Dr. Ahamed Kameel Mydin Meera said it is more important now than before to discuss on the issue of riba amid signals of another financial crisis brewing.
Despite constant reports on the economic recovery, he said many economists believed that the world is up for another crisis as unemployment rates remain a prickly issue in most developed countries.
“Bailouts and economic stimulus packages but minus debt relieves seems not a truly economic solution but rather a political one, that is likely to continue to pull down the global economy,” he said.
From an economic standpoint it is “worrisome”
Prof. Dr. Ahamed added that the collapse came about due to the failure of the real economy to service the mounting debt.
“In conventional monetary system, money is almost synonym with debt. The destruction and shrinkage of money supply is, therefore, what the credit crunch is all about and accordingly, the ‘refusal’ of banks to lend money. And the bailouts simply replace the money that had earlier been destroyed.”
‘We need to recognize that at the root of the entire monetary fiasco is the characteristic of the monetary system where fiat money is mostly issued in the form of debt with compounded interest or riba imposed on it. This places an exponentially growing debt burden on the real productive economy.”
According to Dr. Prof. Ahamed, since Islamic finance is asset-based rather than a debt-based system, the lack of debt and the direct link to real assets that provide it with stability and guard it against the many malaises associated with indebtedness.
“Nonetheless, the present Islamic banking and finance does still have a flaw in itself, i.e. its money is not anchored to the real economy, much the same as in the conventional system. There will be an in-depth deliberation on whether the Islamic monetary and economic system is a solution to the current economic crisis during this conference.”
The keynote address for this two-day conference which will be held at the Tun Hussein Onn Hall, Putra World Trade Centre is expected to be delivered by the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
According to the Organizing Committee Chairman, Shirazdeen Adam Shah, the conference is about looking into Islamic finance as one of the solution for the problem and not as the ONLY solution.
“There will be a 360° discussion on riba, not only from the Islamic perspective but also from the Christian point-of-view as the distinguished speakers are from varied backgrounds.”
They include renowned British writer-scholar, Rodney Shakespeare, who will be delivering a talk on ‘Global Economic Crisis: Causes and Responses from a Christian Perspective’
Chief Minister of Perak, YAB Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir, Rector of Kolej Universiti Islam Selangor, Professor Dato’ Dr Aziuddin Ahmad, Associate Professor Dr Yassin Dutton from the University of Cape Town and the Chairman of Ansar Co-operative Housing Ltd Toronto, Pervez Nasim are some of the speakers who have confirmed their attendance.
Shiraz added that the findings from the conference would be then compiled into a book for the benefit of all and for further deliberations.
He added that there was an overwhelming response for the conference, with participants from all over the world including United States, Nigeria, United Kingdom, Canada, Jordan, Indonesia and Singapore among the 200 who have registered till date. However, he reiterated that there are limited spaces left.
The conference is organized by Thinkers Trends Resources, while the co-organiser is Kulliyyah of Economics and Management Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia.
For more details about this conference, visit www.worldribaconference.org
Source : http://www.prlog.org/11011718-malaysia-to-host-1st-world-conference-on-riba.html - Oct 19, 2010
Website organisation : http://www.worldribaconference.org/
