The "11th Islamic Economics Workshop" organised by the Islamic Economics Research Centre (IKAM), which continues its activities within İLKE Foundation, has been completed. The workshop, which aims to provide human-centred solutions to problems and enables competent researchers to address the relevant subject from different perspectives every year, was organised this year with the theme of "Islamic Economics and Environment".
Islamic finance has a great potential in development and environmental issues
IKAM Director Dr. Lecturer. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Afşin Sancar, Director of IKAM, stated in his speech that the environment is an increasingly important issue on our agenda and that it is not possible to see the same increase in human happiness while there is an increase in production maximisation. Stating that there are also problems such as income distribution disorder and excessive use of resources, Sancar said; "We see different paradigms with Islamic economy, it offers different opportunities. We will talk about what these opportunities are and how to realise them. Islamic finance has a great potential to offer development and environmental issues."
It is important for Islamic economics and finance to get a share of the market
Suat Tüccar, Head of Product Management and Digital Banking Group of Ziraat Participation Bank, said in his speech: "Behind every concrete action, there are valuable and scientific studies. As those working in this field, we benefit from scientific outputs. With the opening of the first participation bank in the 1980s, participation banking and the studies carried out took flesh and bones. In countries where Islamic economics and finance develop, we see public authority, which is important in terms of market share and visibility. We are extremely happy to support these good works."
Islam offers important ideas about the environment such as justice, balance and measure
responsibilities. It is our debt to leave an unbalanced world to future generations without harming the environment and nature. The environmental issue affects all humanity. In this context, Islam offers important ideas and concepts such as justice, balance and measure related to the environment to humanity."
Problems are growing because leading capitalist countries are not taking action
Yaşar Akgün emphasised that the environmental issue has become very important in the current period: "Although precautions can be taken in advance on issues such as the ozone layer and the greenhouse effect, these problems are gradually growing because human beings are insensitive, especially since the leading capitalist countries do not take measures. Meanwhile, the environmental problem has reached a level that threatens food security. For this reason, there is a need to explain the solutions offered by Islam to people in a theoretical and understandable way.".
Practical and realistic solutions need to be produced
Speaking at the opening of the event, Lütfi Sunar, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ILKE, stated that he hoped that Islamic economics would offer realistic and feasible solutions for the environment, adding that when an activity becomes sustainable and flowing, it starts to offer more benefits. Sunar; "The environmental theme is unfortunately a theme that we do not pay much attention to, and we only realise it when its consequences appear at our doorstep as floods and lightning. Since the 80s, the West has become more interested in this issue. Where we are today, it shows its effect in many areas such as plastic production, air pollution, melting of glaciers, extinction of animal species." Stating that Islam is the last and blissful religion, Sunar said that people should produce feasible and realistic solutions together with Islamic principles and principles on the environment. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Sinanoğlu, rector of Istanbul 29 Mayıs University, greeted the participants in his opening speech.
Emergency Aid Volunteers Association (ACİLDER) received the Islamic Economy Implementation Award
It was emphasised that the Islamic Economics Implementation Award is given to institutions that contribute to the implementation of the principles of Islamic economics with their contributions to the sector, especially in the field of Islamic finance, and are pioneers of cooperation and interest-free transactions in the market with the business and partnership models they have established. In 2023, the winner of the Islamic Economics Application Award was the Emergency Aid Volunteers Association (ACILDER). The association, which collects thousands of materials that are urgently needed by hundreds of families every day, with the slogan "Don't Waste, Have Faith", from those who do not waste but want to have faith, and if necessary, repairs them in maintenance and repair workshops and distributes them to those in need on a completely voluntary basis, has been on the agenda and encouraged the "Zero Waste" target, which has been on the agenda recently, since long ago.
Islamic Economics Awards found their owners
Within the scope of the Islamic Economics Awards, the "Islamic Economics Research Award" was presented to Prof. Dr. Ahmet Faruk Aysan, who contributed to the field with his important researches, and the "Islamic Economics Thesis Award" was presented to Dr. Ozan Maraşlı for his PhD thesis titled "The Economics of Awqaf in Turkey", and finally the "Contribution to Islamic Economics Award" was presented to Murat Çizakça, who has contributed to the field with his signature in more than 200 works.
İslam İktisadı Ödülleri kapsamında verilen "İslam İktisadı Araştırma Ödülü”, alana yapmış olduğu önemli araştırmalarıyla katkı sunan Prof. Dr. Ahmet Faruk Aysan’a takdim edilirken, "The Economics of Awqaf in Türkiye" başlıklı doktora tez çalışmasıyla Dr. Ozan Maraşlı'ya, "İslam İktisadı Tez Ödülü” son olarak 200’ü aşkın eserde imzası bulunan ve bu eserlerle alana katkı sunan Murat Çizakça'ya ise "İslam İktisadına Katkı Ödülü" verildi.
"The panel titled "What Islamic Economics and Finance Can Do in the Face of Environmental Crises" was held
As part of the 11th Islamic Economics Workshop's opening event, a panel titled "What Islamic Economics and Finance Can Do in the Face of Environmental Crises" was held. In the panel chaired by Prof. Dr. Necmettin Kızılkaya, Lecturer at Istanbul University, Albaraka Türk Deputy General Manager Ömer Emeç and Prof. Dr. Ahmet Faruk Aysan, Lecturer at Qatar Hamad bin Khalifa University, made comprehensive evaluations on the subject. In the two-day workshop, many researchers from different parts of the world made presentations on the subject from different perspectives.
