UNIRAZAK’s Doctorate Degree students, Julia Mustaffa and Mahalakshmi Suppiah, virtually presented their papers on the waqf system and sukuk market at the recently held 10th Global Waqf Conference (GWC) in Pakistan.

This year’s conference was organised by The Islamia University of Bahawalpur Pakistan in partnership with founding partners – International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) and University Tun Abdul Razak (UNIRAZAK) along with technology partner – Finterra.

The organisers also collaborated with University Islam Malaysia (UIM), Al-Madinah International University (MEDIU), Ihsan Trust Pakistan, Waqf Center for Indonesian Development & Studies (WaCids) Indonesia; and knowledge partners – IBA Centre for Excellence in Islamic Finance, Pakistan.

Julia Mustaffa presented a paper titled “Governance Structures: Dependability and Efficiency of the Waqf Institutional System in Malaysia” where she proposed that in order to centralise and coordinate all waqf land in Malaysia including records and information, the State Islamic Religious Council (SIRC) and Jabatan Wakaf, Zakat & Haji (JAWHAR) can combine their skills and knowledge to guarantee the management of Waqf in Malaysia is elevated to a higher level.

While Mahalakshmi Suppiah tackled “Efficient Computation of Islamic Yield and Forward Rates in Sukuk Market of Malaysia”. Mahalakshmi proposed that forward rates are applied to quantify future losses accurately, in turn, sufficient number of forward contracts or option contracts can be purchased and can be held in the portfolio. Thus, the asset managers avoid losses at minimum costs. She also proposed that risk managers use forward rates for hedging financial asset portfolios through derivative contracts which will reduce the cost of hedging.

The Global Waqf Conference (GWC), a premier Waqf forum that creates awareness, develops new and innovative ideas, and ensures the principles of good Waqf governance are widely disseminated and put into practice by people, businesses and leaders as a whole.

This year’s theme, “Waqf Inclusiveness in The New Islamic Economic & Finance Model”, aimed to establish clarity, explore the boundaries of new waqf developments, initiatives, and shed light on new thoughts, technologies, and regulations. Another key objective of the conference was to highlight success stories and showcase how Waqf can serve as a new economic model to enhance the well-being of Muslim societies globally.

The GWC, founded by UNIRAZAK and IIUM, has been organised in 8 countries, brought over 100 speakers together and reached more than 2,500 delegates from around the world.

Photo Caption:
Kuala Lumpur Secretariat Team followed the conference from Kuala Lumpur. Syed Abid Rashid, Manager, Finterra Technology Mlaaysia (third from left); Hamid Rashid, CEO, Finterra Technology Malaysia (fourth from left); Datuk Dr. Ghazali Md Noor, Convener, Global Waqf Conference (fifth from left); Professor Dr. Syed Khalid Rashid, former Dean of Ahmad Ibrahim Kuliyah of Law, IIUM (Centre); Professor Emeritus Dr. Barjoyai Bardai, Graduate School of Business, UNIRAZAK (fifth from right); Associate Professor Dr. Mohd Yaziz, Graduate School of Business, UNIRAZAK (third from right); Professor Datuk Seri Dr. Fadzillah Omar (second from right); Finterra Technology Malaysia and UNIRAZAK staff members were also present to lend their support.