Dr. M. Nejatullah Siddiqi, an Islamic economist of global repute, shared his views and experiences with the students perusing education in Islamic Finance at Al Jamia Al Islamia, Santapuram in Kerala, at a programme conducted by ICIF in the national capital on 21 March.
Dr. Siddiqi, while addressing the students, said there is general perception that students learn things supposedly from the books. “But I would like to clarify that all knowledge is not in the books and therefore one must acquire knowledge from outside the books because knowledge outside the books is more important than what gained from books.”
“The reason is whatever we get from the books is the knowledge of the past and learning from outside will give the knowledge of the present and the roadmap for the future,” he added.
Dr. Siddiqi emphasised that one must always be ready to observe and the intuition and the ideas evolved thus will help change societies. Books can provide a base and by observing and interacting with people new ideas will come to explore our future. He asked the students to come out with new ideas and suggestions that can be useful to expedite the growth of Islamic Finance in the entire world including India because ideas can change society.
While replying to a question, Siddiqi said that as far as ideal model of Islamic banking for India is concerned, the basic rule and concept will remain the same; but if there is a need, there can be some changes as per requirement and demands in India in order to make it acceptable to a large section of society.
Participating in the discussion, Dr Waquar Anwar, Secretary BIP, said there are two models of Islamic banking, one is practised in Malaysia and the other is the Singapore model. The Malaysian model has gained more acceptances and India can have the good points of the existing models and then there can be some addition based on its domestic necessities.
Dr Abdur Raqueeb, during the interactive session, told the students that it is not true that efforts are not being made to open the windows of Islamic banking in India because he himself is in consultation with all authorities concerned who can pave the way for making Islamic banking operational in India. It will take some time but the process has already started and things are moving in the right direction.
After the interactive session, S. Anwar, a student of Al Jamia Al Islamia, Santapuram told Radiance that he was happy to be here in the capital and has got enlightened with the knowledge and experience of expertise in the field of Islamic finance. Anwar also expressed that he would do all in his capacity to help and explore the future discourse of Islamic finance after completing his education.