Will 2015 begin with a new direction?

By Sadia Karim.

The world is full of chaos. We are struggling hard to make sense of it all. We are struggling to find hope in a world full of constant events that push us far from it. ‘We’ here is ‘humanity’ or the ‘human race’.

Economists are struggling with their questions to make sense of the situation world economies are in and searching to find a way out.

Employees in financial institutions, who have reached deep into their souls, are torn between ethics and financial security.

Islamic Financial institutions are proudly announcing their presence to solve part of the problems. Muslims are in doubt and criticizing the way they operate.

Indeed these are generalizations of scenarios and don’t represent all of humanity, all of economists, all of employees, or all of Muslims. But, all of the above do exist.

The question is, how do these solve any problem at all? What are we doing to bring solutions to the table?

Criticism is easy. Trying to understand things with clarity followed by solving a problem is not.

Isn’t the later a dignified way to address issues around us to make tomorrow better than today?

2014 is over, almost. A new year dawns upon us. What will it be like? What are our resolutions?

What will be our approach in regards to Islamic Finance?

Will we keep criticizing without exhorting efforts to understand where the root problems lie?

Will we keep living in denial and stop ‘thinking’ with the illusion that somehow that may solve the problems?

Will we dream about jobs and look at goals but in a way that may be far from reality?

Or shall we stop for a moment, reflect, and take a new direction to understand, diagnose, and find solutions for ourselves and to the world?

We have choices. A good number of those. Our destiny is shaped by which ones we make.