Faculty of Arts Asia Institute

Background

Imran K. Lum is a Community Finance and Development Manager at the National Australia Bank and looks after Microenterprise Loans and Qard Hassan: No Interest Loans Scheme (NILS) programs at NAB. He also teaches Islamic banking and finance at the National Centre for Excellence in Islamic Studies (NCEIS), The University of Melbourne. Imran completed his undergraduate degree at Adelaide University and a MA in Islamic Studies at The University of New England. Currently, he is completing a PhD in Islamic Banking and Finance at the Asia Institute and the Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne.

Imran is the inaugural recipient of the NAB Sheikh Fehmi El-Imam Scholarship in Islamic banking and he also sits on the Islamic Finance Working Committee of the Australian Financial Markets Association (AFMA) and the Islamic Finance Working Group of the Investment and Financial Services Association Limited (IFSA).

Research Interests

• Consumer attitudes towards Islamic banking and finance
• Structuring Islamic banking and finance products
• Islamic microfinance

Positions Held and Committees

• Visiting Researcher, King’s College London, University of London, 2006
• Research Assistant, Centre for Islamic Law and Society (CILS), The University of Melbourne, 2007
• Research Assistant, School of Business, Department of Economics & Finance, La Trobe University, 2007
• Steering Committee, Discover Islam, Bahrain
• Board of Directors, Islamic Foundation Australia Inc.

Conference Papers

• 'NAB's Qard Hassan: No Interest Loan Scheme for Muslim Communities', NAB, La Trobe, MCCA Islamic Banking and Finance Symposium, Intercontinental, Melbourne the Rialto, July 6th, 2009
• 'Delineating Darurah: Approaches to Riba in Australia and the UK' Centre for Islamic Law and Society, Islamic Studies Postgraduate Conference, 17-18 November, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, 2008
• 'Interest Free? Attitudes of Australian and British Muslims towards Conventional and Islamic Banking', Centre for Islamic Law and Society, Research Seminar Series, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, 2008
• 'Sidestepping Riba: Pragmatic Negotiation of the Prohibition of Interest and the Implications for Islamic Banking', Centre for Islamic Law and Society (CILS) Islamic Studies Postgraduate Conference, 13-15 November, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, 2007
• 'Islamic Banking and the Tensions between Homo Economicus and Homo Islamicus', Joint Asialink and Centre for Islamic Law and Society (CILS) Islamic Research Paper, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, 2007
• 'Towards a Seerah Based Methodology for Dealing with New Muslims', Global Discover Islam Conference, Manama, Bahrain, 2007
• 'The Market for Islamic Banking in the UK and Australia', IMASE 3rd Muslim Researcher's Colloquium, King's College, University of London, United Kingdom, 2006
• 'The Abraham Project', The Forum for the Comparative Study of Jews and Muslims in Britain, Europe and North America, Royal Holloway, University of London, United Kingdom, 2006
• 'Banking on Identity: Bank Selection Criteria of Muslims in the West', Centre for the Study of Contemporary Islam (CSCI), Islam Research Seminar, 10th May, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, 2006
• 'Islam in Australia and Recent Challenges', School of Law and Walker Institute of International & Area Studies Conference on 'Islamic Minorities in the West', Rudolph C. Barnes Sr. Symposium, 3rd April, The University of South Carolina, USA, 2006
• 'Islamic Banking in Australia: The Challenges of Dealing with a Heterogeneous Muslim Community', Centre for the Study of Contemporary Islam (CSCI) Islamic Studies Postgraduate Conference, 21-22 November, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, 2005
• 'Muslim Philanthropy in Australia', Australian Research Council (ARC): Asia Pacific Futures Research Network (APFRN) Workshop on 'Philanthropy for Social Justice in Muslim Countries', 7th November, Department of Sociology, Flinders University, Adelaide, 2005
• 'Islamic Banking and Approaches Banking and Philanthropy in the Muslim World and Australia', Philanthropy Australia Conference, 11th October, Sofitel, Melbourne, 2005

Scholarships

• Inaugural National Australia Bank Sheikh Fehmi El-Imam Scholarship, 2007
• PhD Scholarship, Australian Postgraduate Award (APA)
• Ian Potter Foundation Scholar, The Asialink Leaders Program, 2007
• Postgraduate Overseas Research Experience Scholarship (PORES), 2006