IPB University Sharia Economics Expert Elected as Deputy Secretary General of World Zakat and Waqf Forum

Dr Irfan Syauqi Beik, an expert in Islamic economics of IPB University was elected as Deputy Secretary General of World Zakat and Waqf Forum (WZWF). The Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Management (FEM) IPB University will carry out the mandate for the period 2023-2026.

WZWF was established in 2010 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia with an initial membership of seven countries. So far, the Secretary General of WZWF has come from Indonesia, namely the period of Prof Didin Hafidhuddin (2010-2014), Ahmad Juwaini (2014-2017), Prof Bambang Sudibyo (2017-2020) and Prof Zainul Bahar Noor (2020-2023). In the 2023-2026 period, the WZWF Secretary General will be led by Dato’ Dr Mohd Ghazali Md Noor from Malaysia with 11 deputies, two of whom are from Indonesia.

“Currently, WZWF consists of zakat and waqf institutions from 43 countries, both government institutions and community institutions, including the Philippines and Thailand whose membership was approved at the 2023 WZWF annual meeting in Kedah, Malaysia,” explained Dr Irfan.

The WZWF 2023 event, said Dr Irfan, is a forum for global zakat and waqf activists that aims to improve the welfare of the world community. Furthermore, he said, there were three important discussions from this event for Indonesia, namely the resolution of the WZWF 2023, the establishment of the WZWF constitution and the election of the WZWF secretary general for the 2023-2026 period.

“Another important discussion of WZWF is that we deeply mourn the loss of civilian lives in Gaza and strongly condemn all forms of barbaric Israeli actions against the Palestinian people. WZWF will always support Palestinian independence efforts. Therefore, WZWF encourages all its members to provide material and non-material support to the Palestinian people,” he explained.

In addition, Dr Irfan continued, an important discussion discussed in this forum was related to the issue of food security. For this reason, he also encouraged WZWF members to pay attention to the issue of food security.

“The escalation of global geopolitics has contributed to the stability of food prices and its impact on the welfare of people in the world. Therefore, innovation is needed to increase food productivity in each member country by exchanging knowledge to maintain food security,” he said. (dh/Rz) (IAAS/RUM)