This paper attempts to examine the role played by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in absorbing workforce in North Sumatra. This paper argues that the SME sector succeeded facing the impact of the economic crisis in 1998, 2008, and the European crisis in 2011. Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that education, labor force, financing, profit sharing, and religiosity have simultaneously given a positive impact on SMEs in North Sumatra. Even though it is influential, the coefficient of elasticity for profit, financing, education, labor force, and religiosity is inelastic towards the development of SMEs in North Sumatra. The findings imply that Islamic banks are unable to deal with the SMEs market. Thus, it requires serious attention from Islamic banks to play important role in developing SMEs in North Sumatra.

Halal Industries have persistently become an important issue globally, including in Indonesia. This study aims to analyze the strategies for halal industry development implemented by business actors in Indonesia as well as provide Indonesian Muslim's responses and sharia compliance to halal context in their life. Using a mixed methodological approach with Analytical Network Process with religious leaders, academic and economics experts, local government, and business actors as the participants, it found that the strategies used to develop halal industry are not appropriate due to internal factors such as lack of standardization, branding, and limited human resources, and external ones which are the absence of a roadmap for halal industry and less supports from the government. Improving effective government policies and training human resources are among the strategies that might be applied. However, it also found greater attention among Indonesian Muslim and non-Muslim communities consuming halal products and enjoying halal experiences as their sharia compliance and lifestyle.

The rapid growing of Islamic finance sector is characterized by the establishment of Islamic financial institutions as well as Islamic financial market worldwide. Indonesia also shows significant development in this sector, which can be observed through the founding of various Islamic banking and insurance companies. As a result, Indonesian students’ interests in taking majors in Islamic Economics and Business are skyrocketing in the last decade. However, this phenomenon is not without any challenges since those students come from different educational backgrounds, either Islamic or public high schools. Meanwhile, Islamic finance uses much terminology taken from Arabic and English languages. This means that students from public high schools may not be familiar with the terms from those two languages, particularly the Arabic-derived ones. Thus, this study aimed to investigate Islamic Economics and Business UIN SU students’ comprehension of Arabic and English Terminology used in Islamic Finance. Employing a descriptive quantitative approach, this study used questionnaire as the instrument of data collection. The results reveal interesting findings indicating students’ comprehension of Arabic terminology is significantly higher than that of English one. It can be concluded that students coming from either Islamic or public educational background have no significant differences in understanding Islamic financial terms derived from Arabic and English languages.

Fraudulent acts in financial institutions have often occurred, there are even some financial institutions who try to clarify related to the frauds that occur in these financial institutions. This study describes fraudulent acts that occur in conventional financial institutions, by taking data from the official websites of each financial institution, by reading reports Good Corporate Governance (GCG) of banks. Data collection from 2015-2019. The research conducted is descriptive quantitative research, where the researcher only describes the data obtained from the source. The results of the study found that there were fraudulent acts in financial institutions that experienced a decrease and an increase in tone. The results of the analysis carried out, that financial institutions need to understand the dangers of fraud in human resources, in order to prevent fraud from an early stage.

Economic development generally relies on economic capital as the main determinant of economic growth. Whereas social capital such as the spirit of cooperation, mutual cooperation, and love can also be used as development capital. This study aims to explain whether social capital (love) can be used to drive the economy. It uses the qualitative approach where Kasih Sayang Village, also known as Perkampungan Majelis Ta'lim Fardhu 'Ain (MAFTA) is chosen as the research location. With the goal to explore how Kasih Sayang Village empowers economy by using social capital, the findings reveal that Kasih Sayang Village community constructs their economy through the basis of mutual understanding about the bond of love among all community. With that understanding, they manage many potential economic resources to fullfill community needs with a principle: from, by and for the sake of the community. The use of social capital appears to be effective in making Kasih Sayang Village as one of an economically selfsufficient villages in North Sumatra.

The role of English as the major language in the world has been impacting language policy in non-English speaking countries, including policy on scientific publication. Scholars are urged to access English sources. This study aimed to qualitatively explore Islamic economic students’ perceptions about referencing their academic works with sources written in English. The data were obtained through interviewing the students and were analyzed descriptively. The majority of students did not refer to English-written sources. There are several factors which limit them in doing so, despite its importance and even though most of the participants have access to the sources. Keywords: Academic works. English, Islamic economic, references, scientific works

The teaching of the English language to the students of Islamic Economics should aim to provide them with the skills needed for completing academic as well as professional tasks. The purposes of this study are twofold: (1) identifying what types of English language skills the students of Islamic Economics need; and (2) figuring out whether the current English for specific purposes (ESP) course offered is relevant to their needs. This on-going study employs qualitative descriptive methods with 200 firstand second-year students of the Islamic Economics study program of a state university in Medan, Indonesia. The data analyzed in this paper were collected using an online survey divided into two sections: one to collect the participants’ demographics and the other to explore their perceived language skill needs. The results reveal that most students need reading and writing skills more than any other language skills. The students reported that the English course they have taken so far did not prepare them to master those two needed skills. This study recommends that the existing ESP syllabus be redesigned to meet the students’ needs. Keywords: English for specific purposes (ESP), higher education, Islamic economics, need analysis

<p><em>Tolerance in the sense of brotherhood refers to respect and acceptance of one another. Islam is a belief revealed by Allah through His Messenger Muhammad SAW as a mercy to the universe, rahmatan lil 'alamin, and applies to all humans on earth as a moral guide for humans both in the East and in the West. Nevertheless, despite the fact that there are many other religions that individuals profess today, these widely held beliefs continue to acknowledge and respect each other's existence and the fact that Allah has honestly given everyone the freedom to follow any religion. . which they choose. The main principle of Islam is to provide a calm and pleasant atmosphere for human existence as a blessing for the existence of the universe. Freedom of religion, according to the Qur'an, is the absence of deficiency in practicing one's religion and the inability to coerce non-Muslims into Islam. Both Muslims and non-Muslims can propagate their own religion both within and outside their own social circle, and defend it from criticism or harm.</em></p><p><em>Keywords: Islam, Tolerance, Establishing harmony</em></p>