This should be the introduction to my blog..but hey, better late than never, right.
I am a Muslim but believe it or not, I was not aware of Islamic banking and finance until after I graduated and entered the workforce – I worked for the biggest local bank in Malaysia. It was here that I was introduced to the realm of Malaysian’s Islamic banking scene. Yes, I too thought that profit is just like “interest” blah blah blah….but then something triggered my interest, so I went to a couple of courses on Islamic banking and finance on my own – but the explanations/revelations of the trainers somehow did not satisfy me….I know there’s more to it than meets the eye…
When I pursued my postgraduate degree, I decided to take on a subject on Islamic financial transactions, with the intent and high hopes that I will learn something new. Unfortunately, the lecturer was a conventional banker and provided information that I have already knew. Therefore, I made a career change and joined the largest Islamic bank in the world – here was where I knew that the variations that exist between Malaysia and the GCC. This was when I decided to further my studies on Islamic finance.
Problem? I don’t know Arabic and the knowledge I could gather are only based on English literatures/books. However, I am determined to do my doctorate degree – but the next question is where to do it? It took me about a year to search for the right higher learning institution – because what I needed is not merely doing research on Islamic finance but most importantly, I want to learn a lot of things about Islam, especially on Shariah and finance from the perspective of Islam.
Finally, I enrolled in the institution that I think can best suit my needs. I can still remember my first class – Islamic Economics. Before entering the class, I envisioned it to be the same as Economics class that I attended in my undergrad course – however, I was surprised that it did not. It was about economics, yes, but it was then explained from the Islamic view – which was a different dimension altogether. It overwhelmed me. Right there and then I knew – this was what I have been searching for – knowledge which as a Muslim I know that I must gain. This is my responsibility – I must share my knowledge with the others, especially those who do not have the privilege to learn about Islamic finance formally and those who are still skeptical about Islamic finance out there.
Being a person who has been exposed to conventional finance since my undergrad years, it is not easy for me to reach to this level – and with the shortcomings of not having a Shariah background and the non-ability to read and understand Arabic language – but I am trying very hard and insha allah, I believe that Allah is right here with me – after all, learning is a kind of fisabilllah - and I hope that all my hard work and efforts will be useful, some way or another – to myself, to my family, to my ummah, to my country….
