Central Sharial Board for Islamic Banks of Bangladesh (CSBIB) arranged a web seminar on “Covid-19 Pandemic: Challenges and Opportunities for the Islamic Banking Industry of Bangladesh” at 10:30am on Saturday, 4 July 2020. Mr. M. Azizul Huq, Acting Chairman of Central Shariah Board and Chairman of Board of Directors as well as Shariah Supervisory Committee of Pubali Bank Ltd chaired the seminar while M. Mahabbat Hossain, Faculty Member of Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) presented the keynote paper. Prof. Md. AnwarulAzim, Chairman, Social Islami Bank Ltd was the Chief Guest and Mr. Omar Mustafa Ansari, FCA, Secretary General, Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), Bahrain, Dr. Sofiza Azmi, CEO, Cambridge International Financial Advisory, UK and Co-founder, Women in Islamic Finance (WOMANi), Mr. Rumee A Hossain, Member, EC, CSBIB and Chairman, EC, Bank Asia Ltd, Mr. Md. Fariduddin Ahmed, Chairman, Shariah Supervisory Committee, ICB Islamic Bank Ltd. and Dr. Gias UddinTalukder, Chairman, Shariah Supervisory Committee, Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited and Shariah Supervisory Council, First Security Islami Bank Limited, were the Special Guests.
Panel discussants included Md. Mahbub-ul-Alam, MD & CEO, Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd., Dr. Mohammad Haider Ali Miah, MD & CEO, EXIM Bank, Syed Waseque Md Ali, Managing Director, First Security Islami Bank Ltd., Muhammad Shahidul Islam, Managing Director, Shahjalal Islami Bank Ltd. and Mezbah Uddin Ahmed, Researcher, International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA), Malaysia. The seminar was moderated by Md. Abdullah Sharif, Secretary General of Central Shariah Board.
This webinar seminar was directly participated by some distinguished personalities such as Prof. Dr. M. Shamsher Ali, Chairman, Shariah Supervisory Committee, the premier bank Ltd, eminent Nuclear scientist and founder vice chancellor of Bangladesh Open University, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Abdur Rashid, Chairman, Shariah Supervisory Committees, Agrani and Sonali Bank Ltd, Provost, Kobi Jasim Uddin Hall, DU, Mr Md. Abdul Awwal Sarker, Executive Director (Research), Mr. Munir Ahmed Chowdhury, Deputy General Manager (BRPD), Mr Mohammad Masuduzzaman, Deputy General Manager (Research) including 8 more executives of Bangladesh Bank, Dr. Shah Md. Ahsan Habib, Prof. and Director (Training) including 4 more professors of BIBM and Honorable Board Members. Besides, more than 700 Executives & Officials of institutions offering Islamic banking services and various institutions participated in the seminar.
The discussants said priority must be given to agriculture, health, SME etc in Islamic banking. Besides, Maqasid-e-Shariah (Objectives of Shariah) must be achieved by Islamic banks. Islamic banks can take up various term plans through Zakat, Waqf, Qard Hasana and Sukuk (Islamic bond) to face post-COVID-19 crisis. They emphasized on creating employment opportunities to alleviate poverty. COVID -19 is leading to digital banking. So, Islamic banks must get ready to face this challenge. COVID will also bring a change to faith and practice.