QFIS explores finance possibilities

The Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies (QFIS), a member of the Hamad bin Khalifa University, recently participated in the Joint Qatar Foundation Annual Research Forum and Arab Expatriate Scientists Network Symposium at the Qatar National Convention Centre. Four researchers from different QFIS research centres presented papers on the Qatar National Research Strategy, taking into consideration Qatar’s national priorities and in line with the renaissance and reform movement in Qatar. Center for Islamic Economics and Finance senior researcher Bahnaz al-Qura Daqi gave a presentation on ‘Risk Management among Islamic and Conventional Banks - A comparative study of Qatari banks registered in Qatar Financial Market’. The paper revealed risks in the bank industry in the past and present and includes financial and statistical analyses of registered banks in the Qatari financial market during the 2006-2010 period. While analysis of Islamic and conventional banks shows that the Islamic banks are less risky than conventional banks, in terms of debt ratio, profit ratio, market ratio and principal ratio, statistical analysis indicates that size is a major influence in the risk market. The study recommends more financial and statistical analyses in the GCC, Arab and Islamic countries to identify the extent of safety of Islamic banks. Researcher Wijdan Tariqullah Khan’s research paper ‘The Importance of Islamic Finance for Qatar’s Infrastructure - a study of GCC’s Islamic Finance Projects’ concentrated on the vital role that Islamic finance plays in developing infrastructure projects, with the researcher delving into the current scenario of Islamic finance in developing infrastructure across the GCC. Khan proposed solutions to overcome the difficulties and challenges that face Islamic infrastructure finance and called for an effective collaboration between private and public sectors in infrastructure projects so as to promote economic prosperity, provide political stability and enhance human development. Houssam Khaleel Mohamed, a senior researcher at the Al Qaradawi Center for Islamic Moderation and Renewal, presented four research papers. ‘Franchise and its provisions in Islamic Fiqh (jurisprudence) - A Comparative Study’ deals with franchise as an important modern contract, with the author considering a contract’s crucial role in developing local and global economy. The second paper ‘The Appeals to revitalise the Islamic Fiqh - between Acceptance and Rejection’ tackles a substantial issue at the Fiqh and Intellectual Islamic levels that relate to the persistent need to revitalise the conventional Fiqh. The paper explains the essence of a specific revitalisation, identifies its domains, models and methodologies. The third paper ‘Abu Hassan Al Nadawy - Aspects of Moderation, Intermediation and Revitalisation’ offers a role model for the younger Qatari generation in particular and the Arab Muslim youth in general. The fourth paper - “The wisdom and reasoning in Islamic Shariah in between the objective and ideological perspectives - attempts to interpret some rules of the Shariah and decrees in the light of Islamic creed, in a way that projects Shariah objectives. All this research lie within Qatar’s General Strategy for Research to support Qatari society and to spread moderation and intermediation among the diversity in the Qatari community as well as the Arab Islamic world. Nancy Elbassiouny, director of Outreach and Communications at the Center for the Study of Contemporary Muslim Societies, introduced a paper and poster titled ‘In Pursuit of Social Justice: Qatar’s Leading Role as an Islamic Model’, that explores the potential of Qatar as an Islamic model of social justice through promotion of interfaith dialogue and co-operation, philanthropy, volunteerism, and community engagement.