IIFA chief participates in UN seminar on role of Islamic social financing

IIFA chief participates in UN seminar on role of Islamic social financing


IIFA Secretary-General Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano

Jeddah (UNA-OIC) – Secretary-General of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA) Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano participated in a seminar organized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on the role of Islamic social financing in achieving UN sustainable development goals (SDGs).

The seminar also discussed ways to use this funding to provide the necessary support and relief to refugees and forcibly displaced people around the world.

This event comes as part of the UN initiative earlier this year to call for dialogue in order to support efforts to recover from the coronavirus pandemic and its dire economic and social effects, especially on developing countries. The initiative aims to provide an innovative financing methodology that can provide relief and support to people affected by wars in all regions witnessing violent conflicts around the world.

UNHCR Representative to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Khaled Khalifa, who is the Senior Advisor to the UNHCR’s High Commissioner on Islamic Philanthropy, indicated that the Commission benefited during the recent period from the donations and assistance made by Muslims all over the world for the benefit of the Zakat Fund for Refugees, materializing the sharia fatwa issued by IIFA, which was well received and accepted by the donors all over the world.

The fatwa issued by the Academy stipulates the permissibility of spending from zakat monies to aid and provide relief for refugees and the afflicted all over the world.

The UN official confirmed that the Zakat Fund for Refugees witnessed a remarkable increase in the donation amounts it receives annually, which made it possible to help larger numbers of needy people. He attributed this to the joint awareness campaign carried out by UNHCR in partnership with IIFA during the last month of Ramadan.

Khalifa also confirmed that the Zakat Fund for Refugees witnessed a remarkable increase in the donation amounts it receives annually, which made it possible to help larger numbers of needy people. He attributed this to the joint awareness campaign carried out by UNHCR in partnership with IIFA during the last month of Ramadan.

For his part, the IIFA Secretary-General explained the scientific and sharia role of the Academy, as the first international jurisprudential reference for Muslim countries and communities. He added that this role is represented in the issuance of sharia fatwas, resolutions and recommendations, in order to urge donors to provide the necessary support and assistance for refugees and the forcibly displaced persons, emphasizing the human dimension of this issue that transcends the boundaries of religion, color, race and gender.

Sano also indicated that the joint IIFA-UNHCR awareness campaign, with the aim of highlighting the necessary humanitarian needs of refugees and displaced people around the world, has contributed and continues to contribute greatly to shedding light on this human tragedy that humanity suffers from, especially in the Islamic countries, which account for about half of the world’s refugees.

He explained that IIFA will continue to provide Sharia and intellectual support to UNHCR by urging Muslims to spend their zakat and allocate endowments and donations, in order to finance the UN Refugee Agency activities and programs aimed at saving millions of people who live in extremely harsh conditions under the burden of poverty, deprivation, and destitution.

The IIFA chief pointed out that all Islamic social financing mechanisms, including zakat, endowments, alms, vows, and penances, should be employed in order to achieve a decent and safe life for the affected and the afflicted by providing them with the basics of life such as food, clothing, and housing.

The seminar was also attended by Special Advisor to UN Secretary-General Dr. Ahmed Al Meraikhi, and Chief Operating Officer, Halal Monitoring Authority, Canada, Sheikh Omar Subedar.

Source link