NEWS

2020.02.10

The 12th AJI Frontier Seminar on the "Significance and Prospects of Waqf Research in Modern Islamic Economics: Focusing on Classical Theory and New Developments in Malaysia”

On December 17, 2019, the 12th AJI Frontier Seminar on Asia-Japan Research was held under the title "Significance and Prospects of Waqf Research in Modern Islamic Economics: Focusing on Classical Theory and New Developments in Malaysia". Dr. Ammar Khashan (Senior Researcher, Asia-Japan Research Institute, Ritsumeikan University) reported on what legal interpretation has been used to develop the charitable system of donating property to create public goods based on the philosophy of "Waqf (endowment)" from the beginning of Islam to the present day, and how this has been revitalized in modern Malaysia and other countries. There were a number of fresh viewpoints presented, including the point that in comparison to Zakat (obligatory charity) there were fewer authoritative texts in the Islamic law and that this allowed more leeway for scholars' legal interpretations. This presentation was followed by an active Q&A session, where a strong interest was shown in the mechanism of Islamic law.

Dr. Ammar delivering his findings