An Introduction to Islamic Modes of Financing for Elimination of Interest Based Transactions in Banking Sector of Pakistan

The Economic system ofIslam is very balanced one. Islam does not deprive a person to take benefit of all halal (permissible) things, while it has banned all illegal means of earning like deceit, corruption, gambling, etc. Among all evils, interest/usury is the worst form of earning and those who are involved in transactions based on it, they have been threatened with hell. While on the other hand, in most banks and other financial institutions, transactions are carried out on the basis ofinterest. This is why Muslim scholars worked out alternative modes based on Islamic financing to replace interest-based transactions. In this article six modes of financing i. e. Musharakah. , Mudharabah, Murabahah, Ijarah, Salam and Istisnah have been discussed. If these Islamic inodes of financing are adopted in banking sector and in otherfinancial institutions, then it is hoped that in a very short span of time elimination ofriba would be possible.

Developing Grade 12 Student Council Members’ Leadership Skills to Execute Their Leadership Tasks Effectively

Students are future builders of a nation. Therefore, special attention needs to be paid on flourishing their leadership skills both in developed and developing countries including Pakistan. Various researches have been carried out regarding this emerging field of study in Pakistan. However, there is still a need to prepare a comprehensive program for developing leadership skills in school and college students. Present study could be seen as the first step towards the formulation of any such program. This study was designed to develop grade 12 student council members' leadership skills so that they may execute their leadership tasks effectively at a private girls' higher secondary school in Karachi Pakistan. A collaborative action research methodology was employed to conduct the study. Seven students and a teacher were selected through purposive sampling procedure. Semi-structured interviews, focused group discussions, observations, students' feedback and reflections were used as data collection tools during the three stages of action research. It took eleven weeks to carry out this study. Findings revealed that by enabling student leaders to communicate effectively and by providing them opportunities to take part in decision making their performance has improved their targeted leadership skills. Furthermore, equipping student leaders to reflect on their practices has also been found helpful in developing collaboration and problem solving skills in them. Consequently, they started executing their leadership tasks effectively. Therefore it is suggested that increasing students' voice could enhance execution of different leadership tasks at higher secondary level.