Study Sharia Economics? Go to IPB…

Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) this year opens a new major program of S1 degree in Sharia Economics. What happens to our agriculture and IPB has to open the major program in Islam-based Economics?

Economic policies for farmers which are considered unfair due to the conventional economic approach that does not want to care for the condition of farmers’ culture are one reason for the opening of this study program. The practices of farmers which in reality adopt the Islamic law such as fifty-fifty sharing and gaduhan (another type of proportional sharing) are an implementation of muzara’ah, which has long been known in Islam.

"This needs to be managed through the Sharia economic approach for the element of justice. The conventional economic approach is by nature eventually exploitative. One example, a bank in the region is to invest funds from farmers in a big sector with the hope for big profits. However, the farmers remain having minimal income. This is of course contrary to the development of agriculture because there is a gap," explained Head of the Implementation Team of S1 Major Program in Sharia Economics, Irfan Syauqi Beik, SP, M.Sc.Ec.

Head of the Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Management (FEM) IPB Dr. Ir. Dedi Budiman Hakim says that IPB has a religious responsibility over the country with the majority of Muslim population. Therefore, it is reasonable that Islam as a system should be applied in everyday life. "As an educational institution, IPB is obliged to develop a science that would benefit the large community," said Dr. Dedi.

Curriculum

The problem faced by faced by the industry of Sharia economy today is the availability of human resources (HR). For example in the banking sectors in the next three years alone, these financial institutions require about 14 thousand HR. These do not include other agencies that also require Islamic economists, such as the institution of zakat, Sharia capital market and pawnshops.

So far, the recruitment of human resources by banks is not always based on the background in Islamic banking, so the institutions should first conduct training before the human resource are ready to work, hence additional cost. It’s difficult for the banking institutions.

"Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah), the plan to open this study program received a full support from the leaders as policy makers. The Rector of IPB even directly requested that for the first five years, the Sharia Economics is attached first to the Department of Economics. This is in line with the regulation of Higher Education (Directorate of Higher Education, Ministry of National Education, ed) that a department can develop a study program if it has a minimum of six full-time lecturers. Meanwhile, the Department of Economics currently has two lecturers for the particular course. While the study program in Sharia Economics is attached, the Department has proposed to IPB for the recruitment of four new lectures of Sharia Economics. Other requirements such as curriculum and building that it must meet are already prepared,” explained Dr. Dedi.

The curriculum integrated the ability of learners to understand economy as a comprehensive, covering Dirosah Islamiyah and Quantitative. This is different from the curriculum at the Islamic University, which tends to emphasize Fiqh or Shariah. Thus, students who take the S1 major in Sharia Economics in FEM of IPB are expected to be excellent in the Fiqh (jurisprudence) and quantitative analyses.

For the future we’ve also planned to invite guest lecturers as both academics and practitioners of Sharia financial institutions. At present those who have expressed willingness are Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) of Sharia and Bank Indonesia (BI). The lectures by the guest lecturers are in the form of stadium general or general lectures, not regular lectures.

Launching
As a form of socialization to the public, on Wednesday, May 5, a launching was made of the Major Program of S1 in Sharia Economic by FEM-IPB at IPB International Convention Centre (IICC), Bogor. This is followed by a seminar on "Revitalizing Development Approach: Challenges and Prospects for Islamic Economics."

Present in the seminar were Prof. Dato ‘Dr. Azmi Omar (Director of the International Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance, IIU Malaysia) as a speaker with the paper "Islamic Economics as a Development Approach", Prof. Dr. KH. Didin Hafidhuddin (Professor of IPB) with the paper "Urgency in the Development of Human Resource for Sharia Economics", Ventje Rahardjo (Practitioners of Sharia Banking) with the paper "Human Resources and Challenge of Sharia Economy
Industry", and Hanawijaya with her paper "The Future of Shariah Economics in the Perspective of IPB Alumni."

With this launching of the study program, IPB becomes the second State University to offer the Major Program of S1 in Sharia Economics after Airlangga University in Surabaya. (mtd)