Assessing the Roles of Mosques in Enhancing the Islamic Economic Practices

Abstract

A mosque is a sacred place in Islam that has a central role for the community. It is argued that the mosque can potentially provide necessary supports to enhance the Islamic economic practices. Therefore, this study explores to what extent mosques in Banjarmasin, Indonesia, play their roles in enhancing the Islamic economic practices in the city. The data were collected through a survey using purposive sampling technique in which the board of management and the community of the mosques were selected to be the respondents. The findings indicate that in general, the mosques in Banjarmasin have not yet played a significant role in enhancing the Islamic economic practices. This can be seen from the lack of understanding on some Islamic economics concepts especially about the legal status of interest (bunga bank) and terms used in the industry, the low level of synergy and cooperation between the mosques and Islamic banking industry, and the minimum frequency of learning and training about Islamic economics concept delivered in the mosques. This study contributes to knowledge by presenting the existing role of mosques in relation with Islamic economic practices which provides useful information for further studies.