JEDDAH: Albaraka Banking Group (ABG) will discuss wide-ranging issues related to Islamic economy at a two-day symposium scheduled at the Jeddah Hilton from Sept. 6-7.
The issues to be discussed at ABG’s 29th symposium include dealing in international commodities and the rules that govern them, legal protection of deposits, using the word “interest” as a substitute to “profit” or “yield”, acceptance of the shares of a bank that deals in interest as security to the debt of an Islamic bank’s customer, buying the shares of a company that has Shariah-compliant purposes, but deals in interest-bearing deposits or loans and the subject of defaulting debtors who have capacity to pay.
ABG President Adnan Ahmed Yousif said in a media communication yesterday that the symposium will also review some of the opinions expressed in earlier Albaraka symposiums under the Shariah rules.
The symposium will be attended by a select group of prominent Shariah scholars, thinkers and researchers in the area of Islamic economy and Islamic banking, as well as by executives and managers of Islamic financial and banking institutions from the Kingdom and abroad.
In an effort to broaden the participation and maximize the benefit to English speaking participants, live translation from Arabic to English and vice versa will be provided. “English speakers will thus be able to participate effectively at the symposium,” he said, adding that the group’s publications on Islamic economy and Islamic banking, will be distributed to the participants at the symposium.
Yousif said the resolutions of the symposiums held annually represent valuable Shariah opinions that can act as a reference for researchers, research institutions and university students. Shariah opinions and resolutions of the past symposiums were compiled in a book form and published both in Arabic and English.
Dallah Albaraka Group started organizing such symposiums 30 years ago. The first Albaraka symposium on Islamic economy was held in Madinah in June 1983, under the direction of Saleh Abdulla Kamel, chairman of the group, with the participation of a group of Fiqh scholars, bankers and executives. Since then the symposium was held annually in Tunisia, Algeria, Turkey, Makkah and Jeddah and other places. The symposium now returns to Jeddah.
ABG, a Bahrain joint stock company listed on Bahrain and Dubai stock exchanges, is a major international Islamic bank with Standard and Poor’s long term and short-term credit ratings of BBB- and A-3 respectively.
ABG offers retail, corporate and investment banking and treasury services strictly in accordance with the principles of the Shariah. The authorized capital of ABG is $1.5 billion, while total equity amounts to about $1.57 billion.
— With input from Mahmood Rafique
