Islamic Banking
Session by Mr. Ahmed Ali Siddiqui
By: Mohammed Shehmir
BBA6
Mr.
Ahmed Ali Siddiqui, Executive Vice President at Meezan
Bank's Product development and Shariah compliance
department and an IBA Alumnus of 2001 was invited to IBA
City campus (APWA auditorium) to speak on the thriving
Islamic Banking Industry on 18th April 2014. The session
was attended by students of "Analysis of Pakistani
Industries" course taught by Dr. Khadija Bari and Ms.
Tahira Mariam Jaffery.
This highly informative session kicked off with Mr.
Ahmed highlighting the importance of Islamic finance in
an economy and how this system is capable of resisting
major financial crises which are primarily caused by the
conventional modes of banking. He elucidated on how the
Islamic Banking system is different from the
conventional banking system and briefed on how this
system is also being promoted in other parts of the
world due to its capacity to resist the bubbles in
economy created by artificial credit creation.
Mr. Ahmed then took the students through a timeline
regarding the evolution of Islamic Banking in the world
and emphasized on the efforts of Meezan Bank in the
promotion of this Industry in Pakistan. He told the
students about the rapid growth of this Industry in
Pakistan and how many large banks in Pakistan are now
converting towards this mode of Banking. Mr. Ahmed,
while explaining the potential of the Pakistani Islamic
Banks, also told the students about the International
bodies working for the promotion of this Industry and
how they have contributed in ensuring that the system
remains 100% Shariah compliant.
At the end of the speech there was a Q&A session in
which students asked different questions to the speaker
regarding the products of Islamic banks, their SOPs,
Investment areas and etc. All of the questions were
answered in great detail by the speaker and many
misconceptions regarding Islamic Finance were cleared by
him.
Mr. Ahmed, with his rich array of knowledge and
expertise in Islamic Finance, left the students with a
lasting impression and various key points to consider
when they adopt their future roles as decision makers in
the economy of Pakistan. We are thankful to Mr. Ahmed
Ali Siddiqui for taking out time for our students out of
his precious time and delivering such a marvellous
session.
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