Reflections on Emerging Topics: Zakat, Waqf, Microfinance, Hajj Finance, Fintech and More
IBF Net is pleased to bring to you the thoughts and reflections of Dr Mohammed Obaidullah in the form of blogs. Dr. Obaidullah, Founder of IBF Net is currently serving the Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI) of the Islamic Development Bank Group as Lead Economist. His contributions trace the development of Islamic social finance comprising the Islamic philanthropy (zakat, sadaqah, waqf), not-for-profit and cooperative sectors, and more recently, of Islamic business and financial technologies (fintech).
Dr Obaidullah has been leading a significant initiative at IRTI – the Islamic Social Finance Report - project since inception in the year 2014. The ISFRs have continued to be the primary source of data and information on the sector across the globe since then. IRTI’s portal proudly underlines the uniqueness of the project in the following words: The ISFR (2014) was the first ever publication to use the term “Islamic social finance” to describe the Islamic philanthropy-based and not-for-profit sector. (Source: https://irti.org/success/irtis-pioneering-work-highlights-how-islamic-social-finance-can-help-end-poverty/)
As the ISF and IBFT sectors have continued to witness major reforms, experiencing steady growth, IBF Net has sought to capture the interesting developments through these blogs. In addition to Dr Obaidullah, a few other eminent experts in the field are contributing as Guest Bloggers. They include:
• Dr Hisham Dafterdar, CEO, Awkaf Australia • Syed Mohammed Aftab Alam, Global Lead on Cash Programming, Plan International.
