Middle Eastern media are reporting on a conference about the world economic crisis organize by the World Islamic Sciences and Education University (WISE) and the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) calling a world economic system based on Islam. According to one report:
Participants in a conference on Economic Crisis from Islamic Perspective discussed Wednesday working papers on the universality of the Islamic economy and its importance in the present. The event, organized by the World Islamic Sciences and Education University (WISE) and the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), called for implementation of the Islamic economic system as a solution to the world’s economic ills. Minister of Finance Mohammed Abu Hammour presented a working paper on roots of the economic downturn and its repercussions, in which he highlighted the ability of the Islamic banking sector to face crises. He underscored the importance of developing the Islamic financial industry to further contribute to global development. Challenges posed to regional countries is to overcome repercussions of the crisis and benefit from potentials of the coming economic recovery, Abu Hammour said.Other working papers were presented at the conference, highlighting the ability of the Islamic banking and financial system in saving the global financial industry from any future threats to its stability.
The World Islamic Sciences and Education University describes itself as follows:
The World Islamic Sciences and Education University was established in April 2008 under the auspices of Al-Albayt Institute for Islamic thought, by the issuance of the royal decree code number 16 for the year 2008. It is an independent global Jordanian higher education institution. The philosophy of the university is based upon enriching the nation and the world with graduates carrying the renaissance and Islamic project; the tributary for the educational and economic sectors at home and abroad. Additionally, the university grants scientific degrees at the levels of Bachelor, Master, and Ph.D.
The head of the WISE board of Trustees is HRH Prince Ghazi Bin Muhammad Bin Talal, also the coordinator for the Common Word Project that, as discussed in a previous post, came about in connection with a letter to the Pope drafted by the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought in Jordan. The Institute also sponsored the so-called “Amman Message” that was signed by many Muslim Brotherhood leaders. Prince Bin Talal also heads the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute and,, according to a blog covering Christian affairs, asserted at a 2008 Yale conference that Western societies are in a “pre-genocidal” phase with respect to their Muslim populations.
According a Hudson Institute report, IIIIT was founded in the U.S. in 1980 by U.S. Muslim Brotherhood leaders including Jamal Barzinji and Hisham Altalib who wished to promote the Islamization of Knowledge as conceived by Al-Faruqi and who were also early leaders of ISNA. IIIT was associated with the now defunct SAAR Foundation, a network of Islamic organizations located in Northern Virginia that was raided by the Federal government in March 2002 in connection with the financing of terrorism and both organizations had been under investigation at that time by the U.S. Justice Department until at least mid 2007. The organization appeared to have withdrawn from public view following the 2002 raids but seems to be enjoying a renaissance of late. IIIT has a network of affiliates located in Europe, Africa, the MIddle East, and Asia. Although little is known about the activities of these IIIT affiliates, recent posts have discussed plans by IIIT to construct colleges in Bosnia and Lebanon.