Social Progress - Ethics & Policy

Political Ascent - Contemporary Islamic Movements In North Africa

Submitted by siteadmin on Mon, 04/20/2020 - 14:24

Islamic movements in North Africa have historically been distinguished from their counterparts in other parts of the Arab world because they have demonstrated a marked willingness to work within the political system and have at times even been officially recognized and allowed to participate in local and national elections. As a result, Islamic thinkers from the Maghrib have produced important writing about the role of

Fragmented Aid: The Institutionalization of the OIC’s Foreign Aid Framework

Submitted by siteadmin on Thu, 04/02/2020 - 10:52

Although the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) was not established with the explicit purpose of providing aid to the world’s underprivileged, its founders were motivated, at least in part, by a wish to impersonate and enhance “Islamic solidarity” in the face of widespread poverty in Muslimmajority countries (İhsanoğlu 2010:3). Diverse OIC institutions emerged, including the Islamic Development Bank (1975), the Islamic Solidarity Fund (1974), and the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (1981), dealing with both humanitarian and developmental concerns (Kayaoglu 2015:17).

Rethinking Soft Power in the Post‐Blockade Times: The Case of Qatar

Submitted by siteadmin on Thu, 04/02/2020 - 09:47

This study seeks to advance the understanding of the utility of “soft power” by exploring the case of Qatar. The country's approach is conceptualized as “nested power” through the examination of its political strategies before and after the regional blockade in 2017. The role of soft and nested power in Qatar has already been examined through various vantage points, such as small state diplomacy, mediation, and sports.

Global Governance and the Informal Nature of Islamic Development Assistance: The Peculiar Case of Gulf States

Submitted by siteadmin on Wed, 04/01/2020 - 14:36

This chapter scrutinizes the fragmentation of the OIC aid system. It is argued that this fragmentation is a result of the asymmetrical intergovernmental relationship between a small number of aid donors (notably the hydrocarbon-rich Gulf States) and a large and increasing pool of aid recipients. The chapter illustrates that this process is empowered by the asymmetrical setting of the OIC (there are very few donors with whom to compete), donors have “bilateralized” the multilateral by supporting their own “aid recipients”. This has progressively fragmented the OIC aid system.

Shari'ah-Based Financial Intermediation

Submitted by siteadmin on Thu, 03/26/2020 - 10:20

Financial intermediation is the core of the banking business, as its role is to mediate between the owners of surplus funds and those in need of finance, sharing the generated profit with the funds' owners. However, financial intermediation does involve some economic risks in terms of concentration of debt in financial institutions and the possibility of the inability of financed clients to repay their debts. When this happens, financial crises are inevitable, as it occurred in 2008.

The Edinburgh Companion to Shari‘ah Governance in Islamic Finance

Submitted by siteadmin on Wed, 03/25/2020 - 14:53

The book encompasses a comprehensive overview of the historical evolution of Shari’ah governance in Islamic Finance, the current practices, and the prospects of Shari’ah governance in the future. The chapters of the books are contributed by Shari’ah scholars, Islamic economists, regulators, practitioners, policymakers, and academicians from different parts of the world.

Publishing Islamic Economics & Finance Research: Polemics, Perceptions and Prospects

Submitted by siteadmin on Wed, 03/25/2020 - 11:00

The purpose of this study is to examine the academic polemics, stakeholder perceptions and publishing prospects for Islamic economics and finance (IEF) research. This study adopts both quantitative and qualitative methods with a view to understanding the aforementioned aspects of published IEF research. The main part of the study constitutes searching through selected databases to identify leading journals and publishing outlets for IEF research.