The 1996 Dubai Islamic Banking & Finance Forum, held at the Holiday Inn Crown Plaza, Dubai (11-13 November, 1996), has been hailed as a great success.

The organisers, Infocentre of Dubai, deserve to be commended for he efforts put in by them under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Hamdam Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance and Industry of the United Arab Emirates. A full report on the proceedings of the forum will be published in the January 1997 issue of New Horizon.

The keynote address of Prince Mohammed, which followed a recitation from the Holy Quran, and the formal inauguration by Dr Kharbash on behalf of Shaikh Hamdan, was listened to attentively by a packed gathering of delegates from all over the world.

From his opening remarks, Prince Mohammed surprised the audience by revealing that he would not actually speak about the progress and issues relating to Islamic Banking, as he acknowledge that there were experts present in the forum who were better qualified than him to discuss the issues. The Prince demonstrated his humility and sincerity by frankly admitting that: "I am not a banker".

Instead, the Prince elucidated on the actual message of Islam, its truth, and its relevant to all those present. The essence of Islam urged people, towards an ethical style of banking, and that is important for the betterment society as a while. This was something that could be appreciated by all members of the audience, he said, whether they be Muslim, Christians, Jewish or persons of any other faith.

Speaking extempore, the Prince said that Islam has a clear agenda and mandate from God for all human beings. As the most superior of God's creation on planet earth, humans have a distinct role to play. Endowed with intellect and given the guidance from God in the form of Revelations thrcugh chosen human beings, they have to fulfil the role given to them.

Quoting the Quran on the subject, the Prince stated that Allah had created human beings in His image in the sense that of all the creations on earth they are the supreme, possessing the ability to discern between good and bad, truth and falsehood, right and wrong.

It is for this attribute and quality that humans are called the vicegerents of Allah on earth, carrying his Amanah (trust) to manage their affairs to their discretion, but within the parameters laid down by Allah through His messengers. Because of the intellect and freedom we as humans are given in carrying out our actions, i.e. it is our prerogative, the Prince emphasised that we are accountable for our behaviour directly to Allah.

The Prince clarified the role of the vicegerent, as that being entrusted to all human beings, and as such all of them are answerable to Allah. The Prince categorically stated that God in His wisdom selected His messengers from amongst men at different times and from different places, according to the requirement and needs of the people, based on their capacity to comprehend and absorbed the message sent to them.

However, in all cases, the basic message was the same i.e. God is everyone's Lord and Master, and God alone is to be worshipped and obeyed as per His message. Everyone is to die, and will be answerable to Him on the day of judgement.
This in short, stated the Prince, is the basic concept of Islam; the same religion followed and preached by all the messengers from Noah's time through to Abraham, David, Solomon, Moses, Jesus and Mohammed (the last messenger), upon all of whom be peace.

These messages were God's blessings to the human race, and through time immemorial man as a supreme creation of Allah, benefited from these. The immense resources of earth have been made subservient to man by Allah, to be utilised for the benefit of all, in a just and equitable manner as per the guidance provided to us to be Him.

The Prince explained clearly that the message given to the last Prophet, Mohammed, was no different than those given to his predecessors.

The final Message of Islam comprises of three components:

1. Faith, i.e. the belief in Allan, life after death, accountability, and the belief in messages and all the messengers.

2.  Practices, i.e. the regular daily prayers and the special prayer on Friday, Fasting in Ramadan, pilgrimage to Makkah once in a lifetime, and Zakat (the compulsory contribution as the right of poor and not alms-giving)

3.  Hudoods, i.e. rules which have been laid down to show what is permissible (Halal), and what is forbidden (Haram).

We must operate within the above mentioned guidelines and boundaries, and intelligently put into application our ethical forms of operation, :so that we stand in good stead to meet the challenges that we face today.

This, the Prince informed the audience, is what is called Ijtehad in Islam, which is allowed in so fir as it does not conflict with the basic beliefs and practices mentioned earlier. The Prince concluded his address urging everyone to understand the spirit of Islam, and expressed his appreciation to them for their time and consideration He also thanked the Organisers for giving him the opportunity to address the forum.