Integrating Microfinance and Philanthropy Through the Syrian Sandouq: Lessons Learnt from Jabal Al-Hoss

The ‘Sandouq’ model, literally a savings box, became known as a microfinance innovation to enhance socio-economic development of low-income rural communities in Jabal Al-Hoss, one of the poorest areas in Syria, before the Syrian civil war. The initiative responded to the unmet needs of rural people living in poverty who were unable to access and mobilise sources of finance in the traditional banking system. The article makes visible the key lessons learnt from the Jabal Al-Hoss project—sustainability, self-reliance and profit sharing, and the inclusion of women. In doing so, it deconstructs the concept of the ‘Sandouq’ innovation as the modern articulation of the Islamic Moral Economy (IME) and sheds light on new prospects for philanthropic and business practices. This article explores today’s potential of ‘Sandouq’ models for community empowerment, financial inclusion, and social justice, by endogenising philanthropy and business into operation of Islamic microfinance.