Umm Al-Qura University (UQU) will host the twelfth International Conference on Islamic Economics and Finance (ICIEF) in March 2018. This has been after UQU's file obtained the majority of votes among six scientific and international entities that competed to host such global scientific event. The selection of UQU's file was also approved by the International Association of Islamic Economics (IAIE) during the recently-held eleventh ICIEF in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  

The President of Umm Al-Qura University (UQU), Dr. Bakri bin Maatooq Assas, expressed his great happiness to host such marvelous scientific event. He noted that the success of UQU's file to organize the conference matched its successive achievements in organizing events and international scientific forums and its distinguished location in the world map of Islamic Economics. This was due to UQU's leadership as the first university to establish a special Islamic economics section in the world. Moreover, UQU was considered a pioneer in the foundation of an Islamic Economics College, in addition to its continuous successes in the organization of relevant international events, the latest of which was the first International Conference on Islamic Banking and Finance it organized early last year.

On the other hand, Dr. Saleh Al-Aqla, Dean of the College of Islamic Economics and Finance, stressed that the ICIEF was considered the biggest and most significant conference ever in the world in the domain of Islamic economics.  He added that its first organization in Makkah in 1975 was regarded as the start point of the Islamic economics system in its modern form.  In this regard, Dr. Al-Aqla illustrated that in 1975 King Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud (May Allah have mercy on him!) gave orders to hold such significant conference in Makkah with the aim of studying Islamic economic systems and conducting the necessary researches for their clarification and application reinforcement; the event then witnessed extensive interaction by most relevant states and organizations. He explained that the scientific recommendations which came out of such conference were the most influential, and contributed in paving the way for Islamic economics and its global spread.

In this context, Dr. Al-Aqla demonstrated that after 1975, the Conference was hosted by approximately eight other states. Moreover, in 1996 the fourth ICIEF was organized surprisingly in Loughborough, England, which proved the success and significance of such Conference to the extent that it was organized and hosted by a non-Islamic state.  Dr. Al-Aqla pointed out that the Conference returned to its first launching home, Makkah, through its twelfth version, after more than four decades. 

Dr. Saleh Al-Aqla added that the twelfth ICIEF would be organized by UQU, represented by the College of Islamic Economics and Finance, in collaboration with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and its Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI) at all material, organizational and scientific levels. He explained that Dr. Bakri Assas, UQU President, gave orders to speed up with starting the preparatory meetings between the representatives of the Islamic Economics and Finance College on the one hand and the IDB group on the other, as of this week.  

On the other hand, Dr. Al-Aqla forecasted the initiation of forming the conference's working committees of an elite group of scientists and researchers from around the world. He added that the scientific committees would determine the topics and themes to be addressed by the conference. He also pointed out that the vision of the College of Economic Sciences revolved around the need to move from theory to practice. This would be achieved by discussing the mechanism for demonstrating Islamic economics as a global integrated economic system and viable alternative to the current secular systems. This was because such man-made systems proved, through a series of economic crises and financial collapses, to contain substantial gaps that led to an imbalance in the market and a move away from focusing on the real economy.