There is a growing awareness of the importance of estate planning in Malaysia, even though few are utilising wills and trusts as planning tools. Family feuds over assets or the squandering of inheritances can be avoided if there are wills and trusts in place. In Malaysia, A will and wasiat are governed by different sets of laws. However, both serve a similar purpose, that is, to manage a deceased person’s assets after the demise of that person. Meanwhile, Islamic estate planning is a very important aspect in the life of any Muslim. Regrettably, the current situation of Islamic estate planning in Malaysia is still not encouraging despite the efforts by relevant institutions and industry players to expand the industry.

With this notion, groups of students from various programmes under the Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA (FBM-UiTM) organized a Seminar Pengurusan Harta Pusaka Islam as a part of their syllabus for Personal Financial Planning (FIN533) and Islamic Financial Planning (ISB535).

This seminar was held on 3rd January 2023 at DK500, UiTM Puncak Alam, Selangor, and was accessed online via the Business Economics Student Society Selangor (BESSS)’s Facebook. The objective of this seminar is to enhance the knowledge of the students regarding wills and Faraid and also to expose the students with the current issues pertaining to the management of wills and Faraid in Malaysia. Besides, the aim of this seminar is also to provide a platform of discussion for the students with the industry in wills and Faraid management.

The head of the Department for Economics and Financial Services, Dr. Imani Mokhtar, inaugurated the program and delivered the opening remarks whereby she highlighted the importance of students acquiring knowledge on the management and division of inheritance in Islam. The speaker for this seminar was En Mohd Hairulazlan bin Ramlan, Ketua Jabatan Pengurusan Ejensi, Divisyen Kutipan, Lembaga Zakat Selangor (LZS). Prior to joining LZS, he used to serve as Pengurus Pembangunan Perniagaan at As-Salihin Trustee Berhad for twelve years. Together with his extensive experience in dealing with wills and Faraid, he managed to make the session lively as well answering questions given by the audience in the hall and in Facebook live.

The success of this Seminar Pengurusan Harta Pusaka Islam was based on collaborative efforts from various parties. It was carried out by 5 classes of students taking Personal Financial Planning (FIN533) and 4 classes of students from Islamic Financial Planning (ISB535) and guided by their lecturers namely Puan Nor Akila Mohd Kassim, Dr. Siti Aminah Mainal, Dr. Hairulnizam Hashim, Dr. Mohd Rahim Khamis, and Encik Muhammad Abd Hadi Abd Rahman. A total of 264 students from a Bachelor of Islamic Banking, Bachelor of Transportation, Bachelor of Business Economics, and Bachelor of Insurance participated in the seminar. It is hoped that there will be more of such programs in the future and the involvement of more students is anticipated.