Welcoming the Global Waqf Conference 2021
Published by Najim Nur on December 6, 2021
The 2021 Global Waqf Conference was held under the theme “Embracing the Present and Envisaging the Future”. As a forum for strategic discussions in international waqf, this conference is expected to strengthen an integrated waqf ecosystem and leverage its benefits in the local to the global realm.

As one of the sectors of Islamic philanthropy that is proven to advance civilisation, waqf is expected to provide maximum benefits for the people. Along with the massive technological innovation in Islamic finance, the waqf sector is required to innovate in various aspects, including implementation, governance, and regulation, to remain relevant in responding to socio-economic challenges. Furthermore, the complexity and uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic have also raised hopes for the Islamic philanthropic instruments growth, especially waqf. Therefore, further exploration of the potential of waqf needs to be done to create massive benefits in supporting community welfare.

To combat those issues, the Global Waqf Conference (GWC) was held again this year virtually on December 1-2, 2021. The 9th GWC was hosted by Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws and Harun M Hashim Law Centre, IIUM, Malaysia, in collaboration with strategic partners, namely Waqf Center for Indonesian Development & Studies (WaCIDS), Finterra, Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNIRAZAK), Al Medina International University (MEDIU), and various other institutions. It is also worth noting that WaCIDS was the only strategic partner from Indonesia as an independent research institution and thinks tank in the world of waqf. Interestingly, this event is the largest annual waqf conference globally, bringing together experts from various countries in this field (the government, waqf practitioners, banking and financial experts, sharia consultants, academics, NGOs, and Islamic fintech practitioners).

The primary purpose of the GWC is to provide a place for strategic discussions to see the development of waqf from various countries and disseminate the latest research results related to waqf. In particular, topics like liquidity management and waqf financing, sharia governance and compliance, and the future of waqf through technology and fintech were discussed throughout the event. Moreover, this conference had collected 39 papers presented by dozens of presenters from all over the world, which could be a momentum to build solidarity in exploring waqf development innovations. As a final result, the 9th GWC was expected to produce long-term plans for the waqf assets development in the future amidst the rapid growth of technology and promote waqf as an Islamic social finance instrument that is relevant and promising to be optimised globally.

Some Indonesian representatives were involved in the series of GWC, namely Ir Muhaimin Iqbal (CEO of Green Waqf Indonesia) and Dr Imam Teguh Saptono, M.M (Indonesian Waqf Board), shared the idea and waqf implementation in Indonesia. In the keynote address, Dr. Imam Teguh Saptono highlighted that the waqf should be synergised between the government, Islamic financial institutions and the community to build the new era of waqf, which could benefit more the society. While complimenting the previous notes, Muhaimin Iqbal said that waqf could also play an essential role in creating a net-zero economy. In this case, he introduced his ongoing project to produce biofuels as the substitute of the fossil one by planting tamanu trees in arid-area. Thus far, besides this project is laid out a green environment for the future, it is believed and hoped to generate more sustainable financial benefits for the community.

To this end, IIUM, as the organiser, expressed hope that this year’s GWC will play a fundamental role in the development of waqf, become a forum for accelerating the waqf sector, and generate optimism for waqf activists in the face of uncertain regional and global economic conditions. Hopefully, GWC can provide an opportunity to improve global networking to discover success stories from various countries and learn about technological innovations for the development of waqf in the future.

Writer: Lu’liyatul Mutmainah, S.E, M.Si & Iffah Hafizah
Editor: Dr. Lisa Listiana, S.E. M.Ak
Proofreader: Ade Tachrizatu Wirda, S.H

Categories: Program
Tags: #globalwaqfconference#WaCIDS#wakafedukator#wakafstrategis