ISRA blooms, wither INCEIF???

The Central Bank of Malaysia i.e. Bank Negara Malaysia(BNM) announced their new Syariah Council line-up for 2010/2013.

Amirul HM is quite surprised that nobody from INCEIF's faculty was named...."is it a slap on the wrist to INCEIF???"

Despite there being 2 members from ISRA (which is part of INCEIF), the fact that non from INCEIF is named to the board is a shocking revelation especially in view of the push by the powers that be to elevate INCEIF to a whole new level i.e. the premier Islamic Finance university/institution in the world....read, "the Al-Azhar, Harvard, Oxford or Cambridge of ISLAMIC FINANCE"

Am hopeful that this omission is an oversight by BNM considering that they have "easy" access to INCEIF's faculty due to INCEIF being their subsidiary and the amount that BNM have and about to pour into INCEIF rather than the announcement being a slap on INCEIF's faculty wrist. Am sure that the likes of Syed Othman, Syed Hamid, Saiful Azhar or even Obiyathullah would be able to add to the discourse.


The new Syariah Council consists of:-
# Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad
- Former Chief Justice of the Federal Court, Malaysia;
# Tan Sri Datuk Sheikh Ghazali Abdul Rahman
- Shariah Legal Advisor, Attorney General Chamber;
# Dato’ Haji Hassan Haji Ahmad - Mufti of Penang;
# Dato’ Dr. Abdul Halim Ismail
- Executive Director of BIMB Securities Sdn. Bhd.;
# Dr. Mohd Daud Bakar
- Chief Executive Officer of Amanie Business Solutions Sdn. Bhd.;
# Prof. Madya Dr. Engku Rabiah Adawiah Engku Ali
- Associate Professor, International Islamic University Malaysia;
# Prof. Madya Dr. Mohamad Akram Laldin
- Executive Director of International Shariah Research Academy for Islamic Finance;
# Prof. Madya Dr. Ashraf Hashim
- Senior Researcher, International Shariah Research Academy for Islamic Finance;
# Dr. M. Anwar Ibrahim
- Vice Chairman, National Shariah Board, Indonesia Ulama Council;
# Dr. Aznan Hassan
- Assistant Professor, International Islamic University of Malaysia; and
# Dr. Rusni Hassan
- Lecturer, International Islamic University of Malaysia

IF World Universities RANKINGS! - Need for a Capacity Building initiative by MIFC

Malaysia's top universities in Islamic finance like the International Islamic University of Malaysia(IIUM) and
The International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF) which was accorded University status
were NOT included in the Times Higher Education's World Universities Rankings 2009.

The exclusion of INCEIF is not surprising considering it's a new university. However, the exclusion of IIUM of which is one of my alma matter IS!???

Islamic Finance is one of the few areas where Malaysia have a Comparative Advantage to the rest of the world having:-

• Set-up the Pilgrims Management Board (popularly known as Tabung Haji) in 1969 with the enactment of LEMBAGA URUSAN DAN TABUNG HAJI ACT 1969 ( which has subsequently Repealed by the Tabung Haji Act 1995,


• Incorporated the first Islamic Bank & Takaful company (Bank Islam & Takaful Malaysia respectively ) in 1983; and,


• Introduced the dual banking system vis the Interest-Free Banking Scheme(SPTF) in 1993; and,


• Opened-Up the Islamic Banking System to foreign Islamic Banks in 2004 even earlier than what was required for the conventional banking system under the WTO liberalisation .

Having confidence in its Islamic Banking system, BNM via MIFC should now further consolidate its first-mover advantage by introducing and/or sponsoring a World universities/Institutions rankings for IF. Am sure the 2 named universities...if not other local universities will feature in the top 50 IF institutions if such a ranking were introduced.......SOON!

Over to you BNM & MIFC.

Note:

Author's comments re IF rankings at the Times Higher Education website. Refer:-

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=408560

Comment made under the name of "Amirul HM" on 21st October 2009.