15 Dec, 2022
The three winners of the 2022 IsDB Prize for Impactful Achievement in Islamic Economics delivered lectures during a webinar organized by the Islamic Development Bank Institute (IsDBI) on 12 December 2022.
Covering different topics in Islamic economics and sustainable development, the lectures were delivered by Prof. Habib Ahmed, Prof. Abul Mansur Masih, and Prof. Tariqullah Khan – three internationally recognized academics who produced pioneering and impactful scholarly works.
In his opening remarks, IsDBI Acting Director General and Group Chief Economist, Dr. Sami Al-Suwailem, explained that the three professors won the IsDB Prize for their significant contributions to the field of Islamic economics and finance.
The first lecture was by Prof. Habib Ahmed, Sharjah Chair in Islamic Law & Finance at Durham University Business School, UK. In the lecture, titled ‘Islamic Capital: Ethical Foundations of An Equitable Economic System’, Prof. Ahmed shared that poverty and inequality have been persistent and part of the problem is due to the structure related to capitalism.
His key message included that without introducing the ethics and notions of justice, Islamic economic and financial systems will not be able to tackle the problem of inequality. Beyond legal compliance, there is a need to embed Islamic ethics of transparency, fairness, and justice to tame the harmful effect of capital in order to produce economies that are equitable and promote balanced growth.
Professor Abul Mansur Masih, Senior Professor, Finance/Islamic Finance, UniKL Business School, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia delivered the second lecture titled ‘Islamic Economics/Finance: The Role of Advanced Econometric Research Methodology’. He discussed the ways to integrate Islamic finance with advanced economic techniques and methodologies.
He mentioned that instead of theoretical criticism of conventional finance, it is important to change the techniques to fit in with the real-world data, and Islamic finance can be substantiated through rigorous empirical tests.
For his part, Professor Tariqullah Khan, INCEIF, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, presented the lecture, titled ‘Anthropogenic Risks and Islamic Economics Promises’. He discussed the position of Islamic economics and finance with regard to the man-made climate crisis. He highlighted the evidence and root cause of the global public harms, and the promises and preconditions of Islamic economics and finance to mitigate them.
