Islamic economic system future of world economy: IIU rector

Islamabad : Islamic economic system is the future of the world economy, said International Islamic University Rector Prof Muhammad Masoom Yasinzai on Thursday.

"Islamic economics as a distinct discipline emerged in the last quarter of 20th century and the subject is now offered in many universities as part of the curriculum of economics at the undergraduate and graduate level," he told the ceremony held on the main IIU campus to launch the book 'Fundamentals of Islamic Economics & Finance' authored by Director General of the International Institute of Islamic Economics Dr. Atiq uz Zafar and Professor of Economics Dr. Hafiz Muhammad Yasin.

The rector also talked about the need for establishing a Centre of Excellence for Islamic economics, saying the subject had all the potential to offer solutions for contemporary economic problems.

He added that few texts on introduction to Islamic economics and finance were available, whereas that book was the first of its kind and nature.

Prof. Dr. Qibla Ayaz, Chairman, Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) was the Chief Guest while, Prof. Dr. Anees Ahmad, Vice Chancellor, Ripha International University, was the guest of honour on this occasion.

CII chairman Dr. Ayaz urged policymakers in Pakistan to exploit huge potential offered by the discipline to foster economic development in the country.

He added that presently evolving free market economic model was merely a new shape of capitalism and its study was only producing workers to serve the model.

The framework offered by Islamic economics on the other hand offered much better prospects to cater for the issues that were left unaddressed by the prevailing paradigm.

IIU president Prof. Dr. Ahmed Yousif Al-Draiweesh also congratulated the authors of the book launch.

He said that research should be carried out on Islam’s Economic System, while Islamic Economic System leads to well-being of the each and every individual of any society. He said Islam elaborated on how people can earn and spend money following “Halal” ways.

Dr Draiweesh also stressed that such books should be taught in modern universities and colleges as a robust economic model, offering alongside the Institute’s umbrella to support the research work in the said discipline.

The book is published with the aim of satisfying the requirement for a standard, comprehensive textbook covering the necessary Islamic economics and finance topics in a simple presentation style, said Director General, Institute of Policy Studies, IPS, Dr. Khalid Rehman.