Prof. M.H. Jawahirullah, President Tamilnadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam, who is also a faculty member in Department of Commerce, Islamiah College, Vaniyambadi has been awarded Ph.D by the University of Madras for his doctoral thesis on Islamic Banks.
In the Public Viva-Voce Examination held at the New College Auditorium on April 29 which was attended by a galaxy of academicians, the Viva Examiner deputed by the University of Madras, Dr. V. Balu (Former Controller of Examinations, University of Madras), declared after the examination that the thesis of Professor M.H. Jawahirullah on “Performance Evaluation and Assessment of Service Quality in Islamic Banks: A Study with special reference to Bank Islam Malaysia” as highly commended.
Islamic Bank also known as Interest Free Bank and Profit and Loss Sharing Bank is a financial institution that operates with the objective to implement and materialise the economic and financial principles of Islam in the banking arena. It is defined as “a financial and social institution whose objectives and operations as well as principles and practices must conform to the principles of Islamic Shari‘ah (Jurisprudence), and which must avoid interest in any of its operations”and “a Company which carries on Islamic Banking business. Islamic Banking business means banking business whose aims and operations do not involve any element which is not approved by the religion Islam.” It follows; therefore, that what makes Islamic Banking “different” from conventional western banking is that there can be no interest (Riba) paid or charged for any transaction or service to ensure justice, welfare and non-exploitation. Of course, the investments of an Islamic Bank must be channelled to the Islamic Shari‘ah approved sectors by Islamic modes of finance like Mudaraba, Musharaka, Murabahah, Bai-Muajjal, Bai-Salam, Ijara, Hire Purchase, etc., which are based on the sharing of risk and profit. Islamic Bankers in effect generate “profit and loss” transactions in which the lender or bank shares in gains or losses based on the economic viability of the project and the credit worthiness of the customer.
There are more than 300 Islamic Banks worldwide with a market capitalisation in excess of US$ 13billion. Assets of Islamic Banks worldwide are estimated at more than US$ 265 billion and financial investments above US$ 400 billion. Islamic Bank deposits are estimated at over US$ 202 billion worldwide with average growth between 10 and 20 percent. Prof. M.H. Jawahirullah’s research is a pioneering doctoral thesis on Customer Satisfaction and Service Quality in Islamic Banks. It took for case study Bank Islam Malaysia, a leading Islamic Bank in Malaysia. This study also deals with the issue of introduction of Islamic Banking in India. This part of the research is of utmost importance in the Indian context since Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has appointed a committee to look into the aspects of introducing Islamic Banks in India.