Print PDF

INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC INSURANCE AND FINANCE SYMPOSIUM

          The basic and secondary sources of Islam prohibit to incorporate interest and its derivatives to economic activities. Conversely, interest is a significant element for contemporary economic structure causing abnormal economic activities for Muslims. To overcome, Islamic banking and financing systems have been established as an alternative economic model proposing an interest-free financing system by using legitimate methods that require profit-loss partnership. Almost with a half-century of history, Islamic banking has become an important part of the financial sector in Turkey as in other Muslim countries. Although this new alternative economic model has responded to important financial needs of Muslims such as conservation, investment and borrowing, there has been a need to produce new alternatives in other areas such as insurance.

         During history, people have experienced catastrophic events that caused devastating results in human life. In the contemporary world, people and organizations rely on the insurance system to protect their goods from any damages. The concept of insurance and the existing practices are mostly conventional that somehow in question even in some cases such as interest, are controversial for Islamic Law. Today conventional insurance system is a common and influential financial sector but it has been criticized for not embracing the real economic practices and applying interest. The existing critiques of the conventional insurance and still need to protect the goods have urged Muslims to find alternative interest-free insurance model that known as “Takaful” (Islamic insurance). This new insurance model attempts to respond to the need for hedging without applying interest by integrating with real business and building partnerships with collaborators. As an alternative model to the insurance, Takaful has been neglected and paid little attention by scholars.

            Muslims are living in every part of the world within continuously changing new conditions. Therefore, Islamic Law needs to revisit previous decisions or find new solutions for new circumstances for Islamic insurance. However, it is a fact that economic systems have an integrated structure in which banking, insurance, mutual funds, asset funds, virtual currencies, etc. finance issues are part of a whole structure. In this respect, it is essential to discuss new models or alternative models from different financial perspectives. To understand the present day and shape the future of the Islamıc insurance system in the eyes of Islamıc Law, the other elements of the financial sector need to be analyzed as a whole.

        Hitit University Faculty of Theology and Hitit University Islamic Economics and Finance Application and Research Center (HİSEFAM) will organize an international symposium on “Islamic Insurance and Finance”. Based on the past experiences of Islamic insurance and finance systems, the symposium aims to provide a perspective on the place, importance and future of the world economic system as well as problems encountered in practice. Presentations in Turkish, English and Arabic languages will be accepted for the symposium.