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Islamic Philanthropy and Impact Investment - Unlocking Sustainable Financing for Humanitarian and Development Action
Islamic philanthropy and Shariah‑compliant social investment—such as Zakat, Sadaqah, Waqf, Takaful and Sukuk —represent a significant yet underutilised source of funding for humanitarian response and long‑term development and have emerged as a novel subset of the discourse on innovative finance. The World Bank (2016) estimated the global annual zakat pool alone to be between US$200 billion and US$1 trillion. But Zakat and Islamic philanthropy are not the sole source of funding but there is a growing number of Islamic impact investment initiatives. At a time of growing funding gaps and protracted crises, these faith‑based financing mechanisms offer opportunities to complement traditional aid while promoting sustainability, inclusion, and localisation.
This session will explore how Islamic philanthropy and impact investment can be operationalised beyond short‑term relief to support resilience, livelihoods, and systems‑level change, while maintaining strong accountability and compliance with Islamic principles which is critical for donor and beneficiary assurance. Drawing on practical examples and practitioner experience, the session will encourage dialogue between humanitarian actors, donors, financial institutions, and the private sector.
Key Session Objectives
Participants will:
- Gain an overview of Islamic philanthropic and impact investment instruments and their relevance to humanitarian and development programming
- Learn from practical case studies demonstrating how zakat, waqf, sukuk and Islamic social finance have been used for sustainable impact
- Explore partnership models between NGOs, donors, and financial institutions
- Understand key operational challenges and enabling factors, including governance, transparency, and impact measurement
Key Discussion Points
- How can Islamic philanthropy move from predominantly emergency relief to supporting long‑term development and resilience?
- What delivery and governance models have proven effective in practice?
- How can Islamic social finance and impact investment complement mainstream humanitarian and development financing?
- What opportunities exist to scale impact through cross‑sector partnerships?
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