BACKGROUND
One of the challenges the IIPS graduates will face when they return to their communities will involve dealing with the community’s numerous ventures into business and banking. Questions currently being posed include the Islamic view on financial consultancy, rulings pertaining to dealing in shares, options, futures, derivatives, bonds and a range of Islamic financial products. A large number of these remain unanswered.

Furthermore, globally recognised companies and banks have begun hiring the services of scholars specialised in Islamic Finances as there are very few scholars who speak good English and can relate to the professional world. This presents the Ulama and experts with a number of opportunities to engage with a key sector of society and influence it accordingly.

STUDENT FEEDBACK
“We were fortunate to have Sheikh Safder Jaffer come to Sayyida Zainab (as) in the month of April and deliver 12 lessons on Islamic Finance. For many of us it was the first time we looked at the global economic and financial systems from an Islamic perspective, and taking into account the current credit crunch that is affecting the world, this course could not have come at a better time. Some of the topics that we covered during these lessons included Islamic Finances, Islamic Banking, Interest (Riba), Insurance and Islam and Masail on Khums and business transactions.  The most fascinating topics that we discussed were Islamic Banking and Insurance and Islam because it showed us the different options that are available to those living in Muslim countries and in England. When we compared these aspects of finance to those that are currently available to us in the West, the differences were miniscule and the best part was that the Islamic models of these systems do not deal with interest, speculation and uncertainty.

The biggest challenge that we will face in the future is that the financial world is constantly changing and growing, and there are many facets that have not been looked at by our Islamic Jurists, such as Derivatives, Futures, Options and Bonds, just to name a few. The challenge is now upon us to find answers to these modes of finance so that we can guide our communities into the future. We are thankful to Sheikh Safder Jaffer for taking time out of his busy schedule to come to us and shed some light on these interesting and important topics.”

COURSE ASSIGNMENT
The students were set an assignment to research a number of commentaries of the Qur’an, in the original Arabic, on the subject of Riba (interest). Students were required to provide a summary of their findings as a class presentation.

Sheikh Safder commented, “Overall I was very impressed with the quality of the students and admired their dedication. Their excellent summary presentations in applying texts such as Tafsir al-Mizan, Tafsir al-Kashif, Majma al-Bayan and Amthal al-Qur’an proved to me that the students were able to engage with the concepts competently whilst offering their own critical reflections. The students’ own level of Arabic understanding of what was required within the remit of this module was of a good quality. I look forward to presenting this module next year Inshallah and build on the experiences of this year.”

Shaykh Mohammed Ali Ismail, the IIPS Designated Tutor, said, “Following an analysis of the community’s needs, a number of ‘Enrichment Modules’ were introduced to the IIPS course curriculum. All of these modules are taught in English by recognised experts and aim to train the students in important skills and practices that complement their Hawza and formal Masters modules. The students have benefited tremendously from this first module and are now in a much better position to address the ever-increasing issues that arise in the field of business and finance.”