Research Center for Islamic Economics (IKAM) was established with an aim to conduct deep-rooted and quality research in order to build Islamic Economic thought in a holistic manner. The work carried out here may serve as a blue print for creation of a system that promotes fair and halal gain and respects human labour. 

This report gives readers an overview of the activities IKAM has organised and milestones it has achieved in the year 2018. In this report, you will find information about our research projects, training activities, education programmes, publications, seminars and workshops. The report is published both in digital and printed versions for the ease of the readers. 

IKAM that was founded under the slogan “A fair world, a prosperous economy” has successfully organized six annual workshops since its inception in 2016. The last of these was organized by IKAM in collaboration with IGIAD and ILEM under the theme “Methodology of Islamic Economics”. The workshop was held at Istanbul University from 7th to 9th April 2018. The workshop attracted rich audience from over 10 countries. Within the framework of the topic, papers were presented, and evaluations and discussions were made for three consecutive days and the economists gathered under the auspices of IKAM reasserted the pertinence of revising contemporary methodology towards understanding Islamic Economics. The proceedings of this workshop are in process of publication in two languages; in Turkish by our publishing house Iktisat Yayınları and in English by Routledge, UK.

For the first time in Turkey, Islamic Economics Awards under three categories i.e. Islamic Economics Research Award, Islamic Economics Application Award and Islamic Economics Contribution Award were presented to some notable economists and a Pakistani microfinance organization, Akhuwat for their contribution and services to the field of Islamic Economics and Finance.

With growing interest of young scholars in our academic programs and events, seminars, workshops and intensive lectures were arranged all around the year. Two major workshops were organized in this year under the themes of ‘Insurance in Islamic Economics’ and ‘Labour in Islamic Economics’ respectively. In collaboration with ILEM, we organized four courses for postgraduate students this year, each of which was spread over almost 6 weeks. Three intensive lectures on topics relating to different dimensions of Islamic Economics and Finance were also organized in this year.

IKAM with an aims at providing a rich environment for researchers and academicians to produce new works in the field of Islamic economics, continued its commitment to the discipline by undertaking different projects in this year. A project by IKAM, World's first and biggest online database of works from Islamic Economics and Finance ‘Bibliography of Islamic Economics’ was launched in the second half of year 2018. IKAM’s Annotated Bibliography is a data base that includes all literature in the field of Islamic Economics and Finance that has been published in the field till date especially during the last three decades. The resources added online include books, book chapters, journal articles, reports, conference papers and theses. Our publishing house Iktisat yayinlari also achieved certain milestones. Several classic titles from the field of Islamic Economics and Finance were translated and published this years. To discuss the content of these books with wider audience IKAM organized several booktalk where authors including Abdul Azim Islahi, Zafar Iqbal and Sabri Orman came and briefed the audience about their works.

Our academic journal TUJISE also achieved several milestones. TUJISE was accepted for indexing in world’s prestigious Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI).  Editors and reviewers deserve a heartfelt appreciation for it is with the mere cooperation, enthusiasm, and spirit of theirs that we could make TUJISE a grand success.

In year 2018, we published two research reports as well as a country report highlighting the contemporary progress of Islamic Economics and Finance in Indonesia. One of these reports; Media Coverage of Islamic Economics was presented by the authors besides a large audience at an event that was organized at IKAM. Among other activities, a thoughtful round table discussion was held at IKAM to discuss the practicable manifestations of theoretical developments in Islamic Economics. Big wigs from Turkish Business Industry sat across the table with IKAM’s management to exchange views about the ways Islamic Economics and its tools may be implemented in the Turkish Businesses.

At IKAM, we feel a pertinent need for amalgamated projects and cooperation with other national and international organizations working in the same field. Our delegations which include senior faculty members from various universities of Turkey, visited  prestigious universities and organizations in Turkey and abroad to conduct joint works as well as to collaborate in research. Besides hosting students from Maruf Foundation and Uludağ University, Turkey we also received delegations from INCEIF and ICIFE, Malaysia and were visited by notable academicians from the field including Monzer Kahf. Our delegations conducted visits to United Kingdom, Malaysia and Morroco where MoUs with different organizations were signed.

We are continuing our work for a productive economy that encompasses the construction of a fair world for all segments of society.

Struggle is from us, Taufeeq from Allah!