Fundamentals of Economics and Islamic Economy

Considering the views expressed above, it is necessary to examine the concept of Islamic Economics, which expresses the effects and scope of Islam on the field of economy more closely. To make the said study, Zeyneb Hafsa Orhan’s work called Basic Subjects of Economics and Islamic Economy will be examined because it is both up-to date and prepared as a result of long researches. Consisting of 300 pages, the study includes 14 basic chapters.

Islamicity Indices: The Seed for Change

The authors state three explicit goals for this book.The first goal is to measure to what degree Muslim countries are Islamic. The second goal is to explain the (bad) performance of Muslim countries vis-à-vis non-Muslim countries. The third and final goal is to establish an Islamicity index as a benchmark for Muslim countries to measure to what degree the country comply with the demands of Islam and compare their position with other countries.

Maulānā Maudūdī and the genesis of Islamic Economics

Maulānā Sayyid Abū’l-A‘lā Maudūdī (1903-1979) is credited with being the founder of Islamic Economics, and having developed the idea of an Islamic Economic System. This article investigates and finds little support for this claim. Moreover, it suggests that these claims not only strain the evidence available, but they also distort Maulānā Maudūdī’s thoughts, and add little either to his formidable stature as one of the most influential Muslim leaders of the twentieth century, or to the dignity of Islam. Instead, it proposes that Maulānā’s economic thought should be viewed as a minor if inextricable component of his social and political vision of a modern Islamic state. Or, as arrangements in law and government for the provision of livelihoods, akin to the German tradition of Polizeiwissenschaft in a Staatswissenschaft, but from the Islamic perspective of commanding the right and forbidding the wrong (especially, allowing wages, rents and profits, but not interest).

Economic Thinking of Arab Muslim Writers During the Nineteenth Century

A unique contribution of the book is its depiction of economic thought through the lenses of many personalities representing varied sections of the society. So, by gathering these personalities of statesmen to literati, Islahi tries to present an encompassing spectrum of the economic thought produced in the 19th century with an exclusive look to the Arab world. Moreover, Islahi puts an effort to contextualize the views of these personalities with references to the political and economic conditions surrounding them.

Integrating Crowd-donating and Islamic Crowd-investing to Achieve SDG#2 towards a Zero Hunger Society in the Post-crisis of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic, which hit humankind in late 2019, has immensely affected food-insecure people who are susceptible to chronic hunger. Hundreds of millions of people have already been suffering from hunger and malnutrition even before the virus hit. This has motivated various groups from the society to donate for the provision of food to those below the poverty line. In this regard, crowd-donating has a high potential to assist the affected communities, which will promote the prospect of Islamic crowd-investing in realizing the efforts of increasing food supplies that may reduce hunger. The purposes of this research are, first, to integration the potentials of crowd-donating and Islamic crowd-investing in realising a hunger-free society, and second, to develop the concept of a “one-stop-centre staple food solution” for supporting food sustainability. Systematic literature review research method is used in this study, specifically to review the potentials of crowd-donating and Islamic crowd-investing in reducing the impact of hunger on the society. This research delivers the concept of providing staple food for food insecure families through crowd-donating, and provides a conceptual overview of establishing a “one-stop-centre staple food solution” through Islamic crowd-investing to supply staple food and enable cheap transactions for people who are prone to hunger. It is hoped that the findings of this study may provide input as the basis for policy makers to create a hunger-free society through potential crowd-donating and Islamic crowd-investing, particularly for handling such a crisis during the current pandemic.

A Study on the Sustainability of Microfinance Institutions in Serving the Low-Income Group in Malaysia

A microfinance scheme was introduced in Malaysia in the year 1987 as one of the alternatives to poverty eradication strategies in the country by the government. Since then, several institutions have created to carry out the agenda of providing small loans to the low-income group to start up their small-scale business to generate more sources of income to support their household consumption. However, for a certain reason, the people still do not find microfinance an important tool to uplift their economic positions. Most of the low-income groups are still unaware of this golden opportunity tailored for them. Besides, the sustainability of these subsidized microfinance systems implemented by Malaysia had not been appropriately studied. This study explores the attractiveness of the products offered by microfinance institutions and emphasizes the option that the participants must start utilizing the product. This research also explores microfinance facilities that contain conventional finance element which is prohibited in Islamic trade. The study also discusses the measures and actions taken by microfinance institutions in serving the low-income group in Malaysia. This paper employs a qualitative method through interviews and content analysis. The report, journal publications, and other related documents were also analyzed in achieving the objectives. The study provides the impact that it may pave the way to an indistinct understanding of how Islamic microfinance institutions sustain their operations.

Impact of using Islamic Microfinance Products on Mauritanian Microentrepreneurs’ Income: Evidence from PROCAPEC- Nouakchot

This study examines the impact of using Islamic microfinance products on the Mauritanian microentrepreneurs’ income level. The study is purely quantitative, and it uses cross-sectional design data, which was gathered through a questionnaire from a sample of 381 beneficiaries of an Islamic microfinance institution (PROCAPEC). It uses Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to determine the effectiveness of using Islamic microfinance products on the beneficiaries’ income as well as to test the moderator effect of gender on the relationship in the model. The research found out that the use of Islamic microfinance products has increased the beneficiaries’ income; however, gender has no moderator effect on the relationship between the usage of Islamic microfinance products and income level. These findings help the policymakers and managers of Islamic microfinance consider the factors increasing Islamic microfinance products’ usage to reduce poverty in the country. This study is among the pioneer in the field of Islamic microfinance in Mauritania due to the scarcity of studies in the geographical context.

Exploring Potentials of Philanthropic Islamic Financial Instruments in Providing Healthcare Services for Underprivileged

Philanthropic financial instruments utilize donated funds or assets in order to deliver social services for society. NGOs may not be able to operate the social services efficiently in the absence of such funds. Lately, there are plenty of organizations that have taken initiatives to render social services for targeted populations in order to curb social problems such as poverty, hunger, crimes, etc., through the use of some forms of philanthropic instruments including Islamic social finance, ethical finance, and others. Today, however, philanthropic financial instruments such as socially responsible investment (SRI), social impact bonds (SIB), and even Waqf are issued by financial institutions rather than socially driven institutions. As such, they have been treated as commercial financial instruments rather than socially driven mechanisms. This paper aims to elucidate the potentials of selected modern financial philanthropic instruments that deal with the healthcare sector. The strengths and weaknesses of the selected instruments will be assessed to explore their potentials in serving the healthcare services sector particularly for the underprivileged. The healthcare sector is highlighted as the focus of this study due to its relevance to the present challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is an exploratory study that adopts the qualitative method whereby a rigorous review of the relevant literature is conducted to examine the potential that philanthropic Islamic financial instruments can offer in providing healthcare services to the underprivileged. The findings elaborate on three important models of philanthropic instruments, namely social impact bonds (SIB), development impact bonds (DIB), and takaful-waqf models. It was also found that these philanthropic instruments have varied strengths and weaknesses that require rectification in the future.

Financial Literacy and the Impact of Movement Control Order (MCO) Among the Muslim Mompreneurs: A Qualitative Study

This empirical paper investigates how the mompreneurs manage their businesses during the Covid 19 lockdown and how the pandemic affects their family. The role of a mother in a family encompasses the livelihood of the family members, which extends to the family’s financial standing. A mother’s role in a family ranges from a homemaker and, to a certain extent, a financial provider. In Malaysia, it was reported in 2018 that 60.2% of entrepreneurs are housewives. However, it is believed that many women are working at and from home with high cost of living, especially in urban areas. They become home-based entrepreneurs, especially during this unprecedented pandemic, i.e. Covid-19, and restricted by the Movement Control Order (MCO). This study adopted an exploratory qualitative study whereby six (6) mompreneurs who are operating their businesses from home were interviewed to understand how the pandemic and the lockdown have affected their lives. This paper further examines their coping mechanism to the pandemic and financial income during this crisis. Mompreneurs’ financial literacy is also observed in this paper to explore their financial understanding. This research is an exploratory study, and it only provides general ideas on how a home-based businesswoman survive and cope during the lockdown. The findings from this paper are suitable to be used as a benchmark for an extensive quantitative study in the future to further understand the behaviour of the mompreneurs, especially in Malaysia.

Issues and Challenges of Financial Inclusion Among Low-Income Earners In Rural Areas of Malaysia

Financial inclusion (FI) appears to be one of the main global agendas as it is an essential way of reducing poverty and increasing the economic growth of a country. FI is the provision of financial services to all segments of society in a more convenient, quality, and affordable way. In this study, the authors analyzed the issues and challenges faced from the two perspectives of the Financial Institutions (FIs) and the rural B40 group concerning the way of pursuing the exclusive of FI. Primary data was collected by conducting semi-structured interviews with four expert bankers from the Financial Institutions (FIs) in Kuala Rompin, Pahang, and two representatives from the B40 customers in the rural areas of Pekan, Pahang, Malaysia. Based on the findings, barriers faced by the supply sides of the FIs include 1) high risk of cost and security, 2) barriers in communication and lack of financial education, and 3) lack of proof documents. The other challenges are 1) competition with the conventional institutions, 2) default risk due to non-payment, and 3) internet connection problem. On the demand side, the issues and challenges found include 1) lack of confidence, 2) lack of proof documents, 3) misuse of capital, and 4) lack of financial literacy. Henceforth, the findings have significant implications for the Islamic banking and finance industry in exploring the current barriers faced in delivering financial inclusion to the lower segment of the society in Malaysia.