Meetings of Heads of the Departments of Economics (9)

MEETINGS OF THE HEADS OF  DEPARTMENTS OF
ECONOMICS AND ISLAMIC ECONOMICS IN
THE UNIVERSITIES OF THE KINGDOM OF
SAUDI ARABIA
______________________________________________

Ninth Meeting
Wednesday 2 Safar 1430H
(28 January 2009G)

With the grace of the Almighty, the 9^th Meeting of the Heads of Economics and Islamic Economics Departments in Universities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was held by an invitation from the Islamic Economics Research Center, King Abdul Aziz University, during the period 02/02/1430H (28/01/2009G.). The meeting was opened by Dr. Abdullah Qurban Turkistani, Director of the Center, who welcomed the participants and gave a brief account of the Center and its current academic activities, as well as Meetings of the Heads of Departments. Then Mr. Walid Ahmad Bahamdan, Senior President for Relations and Communication at Al-Khabeer for Consultancy Services made an address on behalf of the participants, followed by an address by Prof. Dr. Abdullah Omar Bafil on behalf of the H.E. Chancellor of King Abdul Aziz University.

Proceedings of the Meeting were as follows:

First Working Session: Memorandum on the "Teaching of Financial Markets from an Islamic Perspective", presented by Dr. Mubarak Bin Suleiman Al Suleiman. The meeting was chaired by His Eminence Sheikh Dr. Abdul Rahman Bin Saleh Al Atram. During the presentation, a proposal, by Dr. Ahmad Mehdi Baloufi, was made to include the subject of financial crises within the main memorandum constituting the subject of this meeting. This was followed by a presentation of the proposed vocabulary of the subject of Financial Markets from an Islamic Perspective made by Prof. Dr. Abdurrahim Bin Abdulhamid Al Sa'ati.

The Second Working Session: A paper on "Development of Syllabuses for the Subject of Islamic Economics: Reality and Aspirations" was presented by Prof. Dr. Aburrahim Bin Abdulhamid Al Sa'ati. During the presentation, a paper was presented by Dr. Fuad Al Ayyashi, Researcher at the Islamic Research and Training Institute of the Islamic Development Bank, entitled "Experience of the Islamic Research and Training Institute in Syllabus Development". The session was chaired by Dr. Ibrahim Bin Saleh Abul'ila.

After discussions and interventions, the participants emphasized the importance of the issue of financial markets from an Islamic perspective and of encouraging research and teaching in this area from a basis embodying modern technical know-how and knowledge of the related Shari'ah concepts and rules.

Regarding the subject of curricula, the participants emphasized the importance of follow-up on the latest developments related to curricula development and of communication among those interested in this area.

The participants concluded by making the following recommendations:

Recommendations of the 9^th Meeting:

(1) Send a letter of thanks in the name of participants in the meeting to H.E. Chancellor of the University, Prof. Dr. Usamah Bin Sadiq Tayyeb, for his kind patronage and support of this meeting.

(2) Send letters of thanks to:

- Prof. Dr. Abdullah Omar Bafil, Vice Chancellor of the University for Postgraduate Studies and Research.

- Dean of the College of Economics and Administrative Sciences for support of this meeting.

- Director of the Islamic Economic Research Center for the excellent organization and arrangements for this meeting.

- Dr. Mubarak Bin Suleiman Al Suleiman, Prof. Dr. Abdurrahim Al Sa'aati, Dr. Ahmad Mehdi Beloufi and Dr. Faddad Al Ayyashi for the presentations they made or papers they submitted.

(3) Introduce the necessary amendments and additions to the teaching memorandum on "Financial Markets from an Islamic Perspective" as stated by the participants. Most important among these are the following: "The Role of Financial Markets in Crises"; "Modern Financing Instruments, including Sukuk" and "Islamic Capital Markets and their Institutions".

(4) The Center has sought to develop the vocabulary of the subject of "Financial Markets from an Islamic Perspective" presented to the participants by Prof. Dr. Abdurrahim Al Sa'aati, where he also listened to their comments and remarks thereon. These will be re-sent to the scientific departments to benefit from.

(5) The Center has sought to develop a textbook on "Financial Markets from an Islamic Perspective". The draft textbook should be sent to all departments participating in the meeting and other entities concerned. Then the textbook would be put in its final form after taking the observations and views of all the departments and entities concerned into consideration.

(6) Urge departments of economics, Islamic economics and finance in the universities of the Kingdom to adopt the Islamic perspective in teaching the subject of "Financial Markets" within their syllabuses and study programmes.

(7) The Center has been keen to invite personalities from the private sector organizations relevant to the teaching memoranda to benefit from their practical applications and to activate the role of such organizations in such meetings.

(8) The Center has sought to establish a coordination mechanism among teaching institutions engaged in the development of curricula in the field of Islamic Economics by all the various ways and means available for coordination and cooperation, such as signing of memoranda of understanding, joint committees, etc.

(9) Call upon educational institutions to meet the need for specialists in Islamic finance and banking and develop appropriate syllabuses for them.

(10) The Center is interested in following up on the experiment of curricula development of Islamic Economics discipline courses with the various entities within and outside the Kingdom, as well as in communicating with such entities and in creating a database from which those concerned with curricula development in Islamic Economics and Finance could benefit.

(11) Establish a working team consisting of representatives from the Islamic Economic Research Center, the Islamic Research and Training Institute and the International Islamic Board for Economics and Finance and the Islamic Fiqh Academy to put in place a methodological plan to prepare teaching memoranda needed.

(12) Prepare a guide to those who prepare teaching memoranda that would include the following: the nature of the memorandum; objectives of the memorandum; target audience; contents; vocabulary; study level; number of credit hours and previous requirements.

(13) The participants recommend to the heads of departments concerned in Saudi universities to present the memoranda they receive from the Islamic Economic Research Center to the science departments to study them and express their opinion thereon in a collective manner.