Why Islamic Finance?

If somebody asked me, what had I learned in graduate school, I'd say I had learned about perspective. A pair of new glasses to see the world in different light, that is from Islamic viewpoint derived from the Qur'an & Sunnah. This might sound simple and old stuff for most of you, but for me, it turned me upside down. The religion that I had been born with did not look the same anymore.

Some of you might be wondering why would I study Islamic Finance (IF) in the first place when I had no background whatsoever in Islamic thingy. It was actually a pure logical curiosity that drawn me to IF. My first encounter to IF was back in 2011-ish when I took Islamic Accounting in my undergraduate - I wanted to learn how it differed from the conventional one. Then, my interest was extended when I decided to write a bachelor thesis on Islamic banking performance in Indonesia. That was it.

I had never come across to IF issues ever since. Long story short, in 2014, I started to work in Treasury Department in one of the largest bank in Indonesia. There are soooo many gems that I got from being assigned to this position. I love my team, I love the working pace and the job (well, I struggled though. lol. but it was worth all the sweats InsyaaAllah), but there is something that contradicts my personal value in the nature of its business, particularly in some financial instruments. Have you come to the term "making money out of nothing?", that's what I see in these instruments. I am not an expert in finance nor economics, but it's clear to me that we are "playing around" with no real underlying asset. No wonder bubble (economy) is a regular guest in the economic cycle. It happens when the capital market is not in line with the real sector. This is my two cents and "sok-tahu" thoughts that led me to study IF. I remembered IF is conceptually real asset-backed, so I hoped that I might find it as a solution to my concerns.

Wait. Before you rush to argue, let me make myself clear.

So, my objective was to find out whether Islamic Finance offers the solution that I have been longing? If yes, how does it cure the diseases in the current issues?

The Q is: did I find it?

The answer is going to need another post to write, but to put it simply:

I came with homoeconomicus mind, creating a profitable business ethically (the last one corresponds to my personal value). Nothing wrong with this, but I forgot to put "Allah" in my equation. He was not included in EVERY DECISIONS I had made. I did not wear Muslim's eye to see things.

Would this make any difference?

Sure it would. As a Muslim, the first and ultimate goal would be HOW TO PLEASE ALLAH in order to get to Jannah. Akheerah will always be included in the equation [Btw, THIS WILL CHANGE MANY OF OUR DECISIONS!]. When something is against His commands, it is no longer a viable option. Then how come I ask, "How does IF differ from the conventional (ribawi system) one?", while riba is obviously prohibited. How come I only see it as an alternative solution?

Islamic finance is NOT an alternative, it is a NEED for Muslims. It is part of our way of life.

Please note that I am not talking about the name "Islamic" at the front, but I am speaking of its value/ substance. We may have long-standing criticism over IF's practices, but that doesn't eliminate our need of Shariah-compliant activities. Deliniate between the (ideal) concept and practice. Recognise the NEED, then let us strive to actualise how IF should be. If it's not us, then who?