How Islamic Finance Academia has failed us

“Unfortunately, under the modern culture and educational system, our young people are educated and trained inside invincible and fortified fortresses. Once they reenter the society, they are placed in certain occupational and social positions completely isolated from the masses. In effect the new intelligentsia lives and moves alongside the people, but in a closed "golden cage" of exclusive circles. As a result, on the one hand, the intelligentsia pursue life in an ivory tower without having any understanding of their own society, and, on the other hand, the uneducated masses are deprived of the wisdom and knowledge of the very same intellectuals whom the masses have sponsored (albeit indirectly) and for whose flourishing they have provided.” ---Ali Shariati

As I wet my feet in the Islamic finance milieu, I am finding Ali Shariati’s thoughts more poignant than ever. People in the field are constantly talking about nurturing new talent, encouraging new research and innovation, yet the system is such that it is extremely difficult or near impossible to do just that.

A field, be it Islamic finance or otherwise, can only advance through a growing population engaging with the existing research and scholarship and adding to the research by implementing prevailing ideas or further refining the prevailing thought bringing forth innovation and starting new dialogues. This, however, is not the environment afforded to the field of Islamic finance.

Islamic finance academia, as it is now, is dominated by a model that is not conducive to real change. It is an environment that puts a premium on researchers to publish, limiting new ideas and the opportunity to broadcast them to those who have the means to pay to publish in a journal. Knowledge and information are then further restricted and limited by the paid subscription model of academic journals. It is such that only the haves are able to publish and read research while the have nots are left in a state of despair and ignorance.

Go to any conference on economics, finance, and Islamic finance in particular and you will probably hear people talking about how we need more grassroot ideas and innovation. We need more bottom-up and less top-down. This is the prevailing understanding yet it is in direct contrast with the model of the current academia. Something does not add up here.

We cannot, on the one hand, say we need more innovation and dialogue in the realm of Islamic finance while at the same time only allow those with financial resources, i.e. money, to read and contribute to the field. This is absurd. We live in an era that has supposedly democratised information with the help of the internet while on the other hand, the field that is most intimately involved with and has a vested interested in equality operates under a model that still places those with less financial resources at a disadvantage.

Of course, my comments on the current academic model with regards to the financial entry barrier in publishing and reading research is true of academia at large, not just in Islamic finance, but as Islamic finance is my field, it is my primary concern. This leads me to another issue within the field of Islamic finance: complacency.

People within the field, be they academics or practitioners, have a deeply rooted complacent attitude towards the current state of affairs. “We have to do it because that is how it works” this phrase is something you will hear a lot in Islamic finance. This is ironic as Islamic finance has always been a system that stands in opposition to the prevailing model, yet somehow the field is filled with individuals reluctant to detach from the prevailing model.

Individuals must take it upon themselves to promote equality. It is the right of all to have access to current research and to have their voices heard when it comes to new ideas and fresh perspectives on the current discourse. Islam is a religion that is built on equality and this must be reflected in the open access to Islamic thought and knowledge. Research is pointless if no one reads it. The intelligentsia must make an effort to ensure the valuable work they are doing is accessible and can benefit all strata of society, the haves and have nots alike.

10/08/20