Development of Integrated Islamic Finance-Based Index of Financial Inclusion Using Zakat and Cash Waqf: A Preliminary Study in Malaysia

Financial inclusion is a priority agenda in many countries. While the importance of financial inclusion index is widely recognized, the literature lacks a constructive discussion on its measurement in the light of Islamic finance since it is believed that only by the incorporation of the Shariah-based instruments, the level of access to finance can be improved. The study aims to develop a methodology for the computation of an integrated Islamic finance-based index of financial inclusion in Malaysia. Based on the current measurement of financial inclusion index (IFI) in Malaysia, this study employs a self-administered questionnaire and secondary data from Jabatan Waqaf, Zakat dan Haji (JAWHAR) and Yayasan Waqaf Malaysia (YWM), to measure the integrated Islamic finance based financial inclusion index for year 2011 and 2015. Zakat and cash waqf indicators are added in the index computation to represent Islamic finance components. Depending on the value of the index, a country is classified into four categories; high, above average, moderate or low integrated Islamic finance-based of financial inclusion. It is found that the level of financial inclusion using Islamic finance indicator in Malaysia is above average. The overall index level is increased from 0.49 in year 2011 to 0.55 in year 2015. Interestingly, most of the level of zakat and cash waqf indicator indexes are low which indicate that these channels require specific attention to tackle financial inclusion in Malaysia. It is hoped that the findings would be useful for the development of financial inclusion index using Islamic finance approach and monitoring the impact of zakat and waqf to the society.

The optics of the human eye at 8.6 µm resolution

Ocular optics is normally estimated based on up to 2,600 measurement points within the pupil of the eye, which implies a lateral resolution of approximately 175 µm for a 9 mm pupil diameter. This is because information below this resolution is not thought to be relevant or even possible to obtain with current measurement systems. In this work, we characterize the in vivo ocular optics of the human eye with a lateral resolution of 8.6 µm, which implies roughly 1 million measurement points for a pupil diameter of 9 mm. The results suggest that the normal human eye presents a series of hitherto unknown optical patterns with amplitudes between 200 and 300 nm and is made up of a series of in-phase peaks and valleys. If the results are analysed at only high lateral frequencies, the human eye is also found to contain a whole range of new information. This discovery could have a great impact on the way we understand some fundamental mechanisms of human vision and could be of outstanding utility in certain fields of ophthalmology.