Repositioning Islamic Finance University Education Programs

Abstract

The establishment of Islamic finance education programs is occuring haphazardly around the world but mostly in non-Muslim countries such as the UK. Universities around the globe are joining the race to capture a piece of the action by offering degree programs that prepare students in the field of Islamic finance. The most prominent Islamic finance programs are currently in the UK and Malaysia; however other parts of the world are also jumping on the bandwagon. It is universally accepted that developing the Islamic finance educational infrastructure is critical for the growth of the Islamic finance industry. Courses or degrees in Islamic finance are currently being offered by over 533 institutions worldwide. This figure shows the magnitude of the task ahead in terms of regulating the accreditation of the Islamic finance education sector. There are some who believe that Islamic finance education needs an overhaul for many reasons which include the lack of a body that sets standards or a central accreditation organization, the divergence of Shari’ah interpretation among scholars, and the shortage of qualified instructors many of whom come from conventional finance or have been educated in western economics without much depth in Islamic knowledge. Another criticism is that Islamic finance education is very expensive and it is not common to have scholarships, or graduate assistantships. This paper aims to examine the current situation in the Islamic finance university education sector with an emphasis on a change in curriculum design, accreditation, as well as better marketing strategies in order to resolve the current issues of the shortage of qualified human capital.