Islamic Microfinance as an Alternative for Poverty Alleviation: A Survey

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the potential of Islamic Microfinance as an alternative tool for poverty alleviation. While poverty is a common problem faced by all countries, the efforts and actions has not reached the purpose yet. Still, it calls more attention from majority of government and development oriented organization to alleviate it in an effective and comprehensive approach. In Islamic perspective, poverty is not just viewed from material aspect but also moral/spiritual, thus, any poverty alleviation strategy should reflect on both aspects. It might be argued that while conventional approach on poverty left the importance of committing to moral/spiritual, Islamic approach has more attention on that aspect.Islamic microfinance, having a unique feature compare to the conventional counterpart, offers a potential solution to poverty alleviation. The underlying principle of Islamic microfinance is the application of Islamic values to promote social justice for all and to achieve economic development with building human capability as center of attention. Hence, the content of moral and value aspect, emphasizes on the human side and communities responsibility, is likely to be more effective and comprehensive in poverty alleviation

Keywords

• Islamic, microfinance, shari’ah, poverty alleviation

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