11th WIEF Keynote Address – HE Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Former Prime Minister of Malaysia
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Transcript of 11th WIEF Keynote Address – HE Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Former Prime Minister of Malaysia
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Keynote Address by YABhg. Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi,
5 November 2015 (WIEF)
“The Role of Islamic Finance and Waqf in Healthcare”
Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim
Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh -
Good Morning
It is with great pleasure for me to be here on the
occasion of 11th World Islamic Economic Forum 2015 to
speak on “The Role of Islamic Finance and Waqf in
Healthcare”.
Waqf is an important Islamic institution that supports
both the social welfare and economic development
objectives of society. The benefits it has historically
provided had been wide-ranging, including the building
and upkeep of mosques, education and
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healthcare services, as well as guest houses, water
wells and rest facilities for travellers.
The concept originates in the guidelines that Prophet
Muhammad, PBUH, gave to Umar Al-Khattab. The latter
had a piece of land in Khaybar and told the Prophet that
this was the best property he had but he wanted to
donate it to charity. The Prophet advised that he may
hold the property as waqf, and give its yield into charity.
The Prophet PBUH also took a keen interest in
healthcare so much so that a substantive body of his
sayings has given rise to the development of a separate
discipline of learning in the name of al-Tibb al-Nabawi
(Prophetic medicine),
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which brings together his detailed instructions on the
subject. In one hadith, the Prophet highlighted the many
rights that the faithful should be mindful about, one of
which is that “your body has a right over you,” thus
making healthcare an integral part of the Islamic faith
and ethos.
Reading these messages in the context of the goals and
purposes, or maqasid, of Shariah, it is imperative for an
Islamic polity to ensure that protection of life and health
are high on the priority list of Islamic finance and the
value structure it seeks to protect.
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Ladies and Gentlemen!
Since waqf is an endowment in perpetuity, it has
increased over time in all parts of the Muslim world and
become a major supporter of welfare services, and more
recently also an important vehicle of economic
development. It is indeed a form of financial
intermediation that is well anchored in the real economy
and social welfare objectives.
An impressive initiative of financing poverty alleviation
through waqf has been taken by the World Waqf
Foundation of the Islamic Development Bank, which has
set up the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development. This
Fund, is based entirely on waqf and has a principal
target capital of US$10 billion aimed at reducing poverty,
reducing illiteracy, and combating disease, particularly
Malaria, Tuberculosis (TB) and AIDS.
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These initiatives have materialised through greater
international cooperation in Islamic finance that also
taps into the vast potentials of waqf as a vehicle of
economic development. Going forward, the Islamic
financial system is envisaged to play an increasingly
important role in connecting the world economies
through facilitating increased international trade and
investment activities.
Ladies and gentlemen;
In Malaysia, the government and regulatory authorities
have made eye-catching efforts to enhance the depth
and diversity of the Islamic financial system over the
years, which have more recently extended into important
initiatives for the development of awqaf.
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Hailed as the first of its kind, Malaysia established the
Labuan International Waqf Foundation in 2015 with the
objective of managing waqf properties based on the
Shariah principles. It recognises different types of waqf
to attract domestic and international participants,
including:
• charitable waqf (al-waqf al-khairi)
• family waqf (al-waqf al-ahli)
• joint waqf (al-waqf al-mushtarak)
• self-dedicated waqf (al-waqf ‘ala al-nafs).
This has resulted in simplified procedures whereby the
registration of waqf has become less bureaucratic and
waqf can operate independently from State’s jurisdiction.
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Ladies and Gentlemen,
The potential of waqf institution in improving the quality
of life of the Muslim remains relevant even today as it
used to be in the past. In area of healthcare, the
innovativeness of corporate waqf pioneered by the
Malaysian Johor Corporation or JCorp is another proof
that waqf is a dynamic economic instrument of Islam
which its practicality remains valid regardless of
timeframe and where the concept is applied or who
applies it.
The JCorp waqf programme was established on August
3, 2006 when the corporation endowed RM200 million
worth of its share in three of its public listed subsidiaries
namely Kulim (Malaysia) Berhad, KPJ Healthcare
Berhad and Johor Land Berhad to a waqf programme.
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Waqaf An-Nur Corporation Berhad is a company
established under limited guarantee by JCorp, entrusted
with managing all equity PLC shares transferred by
JCorp to Waqaf.
In order to ensure the corpus of waqf remains intact,
only the dividend earned from these shares is
channelled to the intended beneficiaries or purposes.
One of them is to finance the operation of 20 Waqaf An-
Nur Clinics (KWAN) and Waqaf An-Nur Hospitals
(HWAN) in several states in Malaysia. In term of
percentage, the allocation channelled stands at 12.5%
on a firm commitment basis.
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The main objective of KWAN and HWAN’s
establishments is to provide healthcare treatments and
dialysis facilities at nominal charge to the general public
particularly the deserving, regardless of ethnicity and
religion.
Until June 2015, a total of 1,098,510 treatments were
discharged to the patients in the chain of KWAN. Out of
that portion, 84,045 treatments were extended to non-
Muslim patients.
The initiative of JCorp could be replicated by other
corporations and philanthropic foundations. It is hoped
that by emulating this exemplary deed, the access to
good healthcare for all members of society – regardless
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of their genetic status – will improve as more charity
based clinics and hospitals will be built throughout the
country.
All this is indicative of the synergies between waqf and
Islamic finance to meet the changing demands of the
modern economy. The combined resources of waqf and
Islamic finance can certainly be used to develop
innovative healthcare products as their most important
contributions to society.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
The waqf sector can be further developed through
supportive legislation and policy initiatives. To this end,
Malaysia and other Muslim countries should design
coordinated action plans for better exploitation of waqf
resources within and beyond their countries for the
benefit of the Ummah.
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Efforts are also needed perhaps to make the awqaf self-
supporting and economically viable, which would
require, in turn, policy initiatives and law reform. Some
of this has already occurred but there is scope for wider
levels of cooperation.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
WIEF has become the Islamic equivalent of Davos’s
World Economic Forum. It has become a vibrant venue
for important initiatives. I am confident that WIEF 2015
will be another milestone of achievement. I wish all of
you great success in your deliberations.
Thank you