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WAQF: Not Just for Muslims

  Islamic finance has been an integral part of Islam in the Middle East and South Asia. In the current age, Islamic Finance has seen an increasing demand for transparent, sustainable and ethical investments and fund management has been the leading cause of growth in this burgeoning financial sector. Due to the growth of Islamic Finance worldwide, more and more non-Muslims are opting to avail of the Islamic banking system. This not only lets them get involved in a banking system that is morally and ethically sound but opens doors for them to be introduced to the various options Islam provides for the “giving of alms” or charity. One instance of Islamic charity I would like to look at is WAQF that allows anyone, including those who are non-Muslim, to contribute in donating property and assets, not only to be used to benefit the Muslim community alone, but also non-Muslims. FINTERRA’s WAQF Chain aims to increase engagement and raise awareness as well as funds for WAQF development via
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Islamic Finance — New Or Old?

  As I continue looking at the Islamic Fintech Finance Industry, interesting facts and answers to questions concerning the sector keep on presenting themselves. For instance, how old is the institution of Islamic Finance? As I trawl through my go to site at the moment, GF Global, for all things concerning Islamic Finance, this piece caught my attention. Apparently, for hundreds of years, there was no need for Islamic finance , simply because there was no financial system to “Islamise.” Until the second half of the 19th century, the majority of the Muslim population around the world was unbanked and the prohibition of interest was applied on transactions by tradition rather than by law or regulatory bodies. It was during the colonial era, Western banks and financial institutions penetrated Muslim countries and imposed interest-based methods on the Islamic world. In the 1940s and 1950s, independence movements pushed for the revival of Islamic culture and religious scholars in countr
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Virtually Everywhere — Your Cash May Be a Thing of the Past

  According to an article on News USA, coins jangling in a pocket are likely to be a thing of the past if companies that promote virtual currency (VC) have anything to say about it. "The attraction of using VC," it says, "stems from massive credit card hacks to retailers, such as Home Depot and Target — all of which have raised questions among consumers about how safe their personal information is." Currently, consumers have much of their information on display with their credit card company of choice and, for anyone with mediocre knowledge of technology and a laptop, it means open season. This is why it makes sense to consider how blockchain technologies and, with it, virtual currency, may help. One of the problems is that there are only about 80,000 merchants worldwide that recognize and use VC, but from a business standpoint, it is worth exploring. Not only does it fit into a global economy, but it also offers consumers a higher level of security. The upside
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Finterra Calls for All Thought Leaders and Regulators to Envision A Global Waqf Bank

  Malaysia has the potential to become the first nation in the world to set up a global “Waqf” bank using blockchain technology, expounded Hamid Rashid, the Founder of FINTERRA. He went on to say that a global Waqf bank would be able to tap into a previously untapped realm of Waqf properties backed charities, investments and opportunities, adding that he hoped Bank Negara Malaysia would take the lead. Malaysia has set itself as a thought leader and issuer of Islamic finance/banking instruments globally, since the early 2000. It is only logical that Malaysian regulators take the lead, in bringing Islamic finance/banking onto a FinTech/Blockchain platform for the masses. In October 2017, FINTERRA, a technology-based organisation, started operation. In February 2019, during the 2nd Edition of the Islamic Fintech Dialogue 2019 (IFD2019) in Kuala Lumpur, FINTERRA launched its highly anticipated “WAQF Chain”, the world’s first Waqf on the blockchain. The platform is a blockchain-based
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Islamic Finance — How Does It Work, Why Is It Protected?

  As the launch of FINTERRA’s WAQF Chain grows nearer, I am constantly reminded about the origins of Islamic Finance and how it positions itself as a contributor to society through its charitable activities. An article from the Global Finance magazine maps out key attributes of Islamic Finance and why it is gaining traction the world over. Most people know that Islamic finance is a way of performing financial transactions and banking while respecting Islamic law or  sharia . The same people would be surprised to know that Islamic finance hardly existed 30 years ago. Yet today it is a $2.2 trillion industry with hundreds of specialised institutions located in more than 60 countries. Islamic banks are by far the biggest players in the Islamic finance industry and account for $1.5 trillion in assets. According to a 2017 Reuters report, Islamic bank assets should reach $2.7 trillion while total sharia-compliant assets are expected to grow to $3.5 trillion by 2021. The IMF plans to add Is
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Got Haram Income? No problem!

Are you sure your income is Halal? Is your money clean? How sure are you that your riches came from Shariah compliant investments? These are questions asked by, and to Muslims a lot. In today’s world, where the Halal (permissible) industry is booming, Muslims are provided with ample choice to make sure that their income is generated through halal sources. Halal food, halal financing, and even the halal Tourism industry has been growing over the years, creating a niche market for a group of audience that wants their lifestyle to be rid of riba (interest), maysir (gambling), gharar (uncertainty) and other haram (prohibited) elements.     In order to cater for sustainable societal development, Finterra Technologies have developed a WAQF Chain platform that allows its users to donate to charitable, Waqf Causes. These Causes, published by respectable NGOs allows users to donate to Causes that target communities in need, that includes the essences of Waqf which are perpetuity, inalie
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The Biggest Threat to Waqf

  Sometimes, you overhear some of the most surprising and fascinating conversations when you are at the bus stop. For example, I once overheard a conversation about how the cost of land is increasing thus, affecting many hard workers such as farmers. It was an interesting topic, but I must say I was not expecting one of them to say, “maybe they should just get Waqf land, it solves all the problems”. Silently, I agreed. But I was a bit taken back with the response to said statement. “True, but do you think the owners of these Waqf land wants to just give it away? They just keep the land so that they can one day sell it at a higher price. They don’t care if it stays idle without benefitting anyone.” Strangely, the other person agreed to this statement. This conversation made me ponder; do they think a land once registered as a Waqf is still ‘owned’ by someone? Is it possible that majority of people do not know how ownership of Waqf land works? Maybe they know the basic of Waqf lands, but
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