By MUSHTAK PARKER | ARAB NEWS

Every Muslim country especially the populous ones such as Turkey, Iran, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Egypt should have one. But of the 56 member countries of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), only one has and another is in the process of establishing one. The institution in question is a non-banking savings institution for would-be Haj pilgrims such as the one pioneered by Malaysia in the 1960s, Lembaga Tabung Haji (The Malaysian Pilgrims Management Fund) which today has assets in excess of RM10 billion with equity stakes in Islamic banks, plantations and technology companies.

Not surprisingly, the launching of a joint venture Kaz Haj in June 2011 by Fattah Finance, an Islamic asset management company in Kazakhstan, and Amanah Raya Berhad Group, Malaysia’s state-owned trustee company, could be an important development which may just pave the way for other countries to follow suit. Kaz Haj, the promoters stress, is the first Islamic investment fund in the CIS country for Haj pilgrims, and will be a Kazakh version of the iconic Lembaga Tabung Haji, the most successful non-banking Islamic financial institution in the world.

The joint-venture agreement for Kaz Haj was signed in the presence of Malaysian Prime Minister Mohd Najib Razak during his visit to Astana, Kazakhstan in June 2011 where he also delivered the keynote address at the opening of the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF). Amanah Raya and Fattah Finance will initially invest about RM1.5 million in the fund which will allow would-be pilgrims to save up to perform the Haj in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, and which is one of the five pillars of Islam. Kaz Haj, like Tabung Haji, is effectively a mutual savings society where investors are members of the society and surplus savings are invested in a Shariah-compliant way. read more