Govt to hold major Islamic conference in May, says Anwar

PUTRAJAYA: The government intends to hold a major conference on Islamic economics that transcends the traditional practices in the next few months, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

He said that the fundamentals of Islamic jurisprudence cannot be ignored but at the same time, the discourse of Islamic economics should not be confined to a particular subject of banking and finance.

"So I am asking they (the Islamic banks) to discuss this because in the next few months, probably by the end of May, God willing, we intend to have a major conference on Islamic economics,” he said when opening the Madani Lecture here today.

Anwar said when he introduced the Madani philosophy to the country, he took into account the thrust of Maqasid al-Syariah (objectives of Shariah) because the aim, intention and objectives are pertinent and it is all-encompassing.

He noted that during the recent International Conference on Islamic Economics and Finance in Kuala Lumpur, he urged Islamic financial institutions to move beyond just the sophistication of introducing Islamic financial instruments but also to look into the core issues affecting the Muslim community, including abject poverty, inequality, and women’s economic participation as well as climate change, energy transition and digital transformation.

"How can Islamic banks’ discourses ignore the issue of digital transformation, or energy transition, or the need to produce more in term of food security?” he said.

Maqasid al-Shariah is a term that refers to the preservation of order, achievement of benefit and prevention of harm or corruption, and establishment of equality among people, causing the law to be revered, obeyed and effective as well as enabling the ummah to become powerful, respected and confident.

Meanwhile, the Madani lecture was given by Prof Jasser Auda, who is an Islamic scholar whose latest contribution is a New Maqasid Methodology that aims to bring about a restructuring of Islamic scholarship around a complex network of the higher objectives.

He is the president of Maqasid Institute Global, a think tank registered and doing research and educational projects in a number of countries.

Jasser shared his insights on the Maqasid methodology and commented on Anwar’s Madani framework. - Bernama