The Indonesian Association of Islamic Economists (IAEI) successfully held a Workshop on Teaching Macroeconomics from an Islamic Perspective on 25-26 January 2023 in Bogor. This international workshop was held in collaboration with various institutions including the International Federation of Islamic Economics and Finance Education (I-FIEFE), the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) East and Southeast Asia, the Centre for Islamic Economics of International Islamic University Malaysia, and the Faculty of Economics and Management of IPB University.
The two-day workshop aims to fill the gap in the teaching of Islamic macroeconomics. "Although the growth of the Islamic economic industry is very good, the development of macroeconomic policies and frameworks is still lagging behind. This is true in the realm of theory, not to mention practice. Given the challenges posed by the current global uncertainty, having a sound macroeconomic theory from an Islamic perspective is what is needed today," said Irfan Syauqi Beik, IAEI VI Vice Chairman.
The first day of the workshop focused on sharing the experiences of leading Islamic economic experts from various institutions in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. In addition to IPB and IIUM, speakers came from Buraimi University of Oman, University of Indonesia, Airlangga University, Muhammadiyah University of Yogyakarta, and Ibn Khaldun University.
The agenda of the second day of the workshop aimed to create a common understanding of the issues and approaches in teaching macroeconomics from an Islamic perspective. The workshop utilised the focus group discussion method, where participants were divided into four small groups to discuss various topics of teaching Islamic macroeconomics. The topics included (i) Economic Growth and Development, (ii) The Role of Government/Public Sector and Fiscal Policy, (iii) Macroeconomic Issues of Business Cycle, Unemployment, and Inflation, and (iv) The Role of Third Parties and Volunteers.
In his speech, Mohamed Aslam Haneef, a professor at IIU Malaysia, said that "by exchanging experiences and notes, it is hoped that a better 'disciplinary consensus' can be developed especially in the Southeast Asian region, which has been most active in Islamic Economics and Islamic Economics education in the last 15 years."
As a result, the forum agreed on the first draft of a reference book as the main material and guidelines for teaching macroeconomics from an Islamic perspective. The book is expected to become an international reference that can be adopted by Islamic economics teaching institutions around the world.
The event also marked IAEI's official announcement as a co-founding member of the International Federation of Islamic Economics and Finance Education (I-FIEFE), joining the IsDB Institute, King Abdul Aziz University Saudi Arabia, International Associations for Islamic Economics UK, and IIU Malaysia. I-FIEFE is an international association that aims to advance Islamic economics and finance education worldwide.
