Could you provide a brief journey of how you arrived where you are today?
After completing my BA in accountancy and working as an accountant for a few years, I developed a passion for working in the banking sector, but knowing that conventional banking is based on riba stopped me from pursuing this path. However, as soon as I learnt about the MSc in Islamic economics, banking and finance offered by Loughborough University, UK, I immediately knew that what I had been looking for has come about. After completing the MSc program, I joined Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB) as product manager, designing and launching many of the pioneering Islamic financial products in the UK market. At IBB I was also trained to undertake the internal Shariah audit directly by Sheikh Nizam Yaqoobi and Dr Abdul Sattar Abu Ghuddeh. Following an exciting three and a half years with IBB, I joined IFAAS (Islamic Finance Advisory & Assurance Services) to help with its set-up and launch. IFAAS soon became the leading Islamic finance professional consultancy in the UK and mainland Europe.
What does your role involve?
I have an overarching role within the technical side of Shariah. I assume the overall responsibility for the key areas of Shariah compliance, Shariah audit and product development for our clients including financial institutions and corporate organizations. My overall responsibility for the Shariah audit team includes designing the Shariah audit plans, supervising the fieldwork activities, reviewing draft Shariah audit reports and obtaining the final sign-off from the Shariah supervisory committees or boards of our clients. Overall responsibility for the Shariah compliance services includes analyzing financial institutions’ businesses and activities, designing the overall Shariah compliance framework and supervising the implementation of all required Shariah control functions. The overall responsibility for the product development team includes analyzing the requirements and objectives of the financial institution, exploring the most appropriate ways to structure the new product, liaising with the lawyers to ensure that the product documentation is in line with general Shariah requirements and the specific rulings of the Shariah supervisory committee of the financial institution and finally obtaining the fatwa from the scholars to launch the product.
What is your greatest achievement to date?
Besides launching many of the pioneering Islamic financial products in the UK and designing the Shariah compliance frameworks for many Islamic and conventional financial institutions, I am particularly proud of designing the Islamic structure and achieving the Shariah approval for potentially the first corporate Sukuk in France.
Which of your products/services deliver the best results?
We believe in quality and value for money. We take our client’s business as our own business; hence all our services deliver best results. However, we believe that our Shariah audit service is adding a significant value to our clients. The Shariah audit methodology that we have developed in-house is highly appreciated by the world’s leading scholars as it is filling the current gap in the Shariah compliance framework of Islamic financial institutions. It is also creating the most needed assurance to all stakeholders (including customers, scholars, investors and regulators) that the Islamic financial institution is conducting its business in accordance with Shariah, or that a Shariah compliant structure is in fact what it says on the label.
What are the strengths of your business?
The real strength of our business is in the unique blend of our extensive knowledge in Shariah and the hands-on experience across all major sectors of the Islamic financial industry including retail and investment banking, Takaful and capital markets. Secondly, our exceptionally good relationships with most of the leading Shariah scholars in the industry provide us with privileged access to them. This helps us to ensure the fast tracking of required Shariah approvals, reducing the cost and time to market for the client and enhancing the efficiency and profitability of the operation.
What are the factors contributing to the success of your company?
We provide our clients with holistic yet a la carte solutions that fulfill their specific needs in an effective and efficient way. Our wealth of experience in multiple disciplines and jurisdictions, together with our diversified language skills, really make us stand out from the crowd.
What are the obstacles faced in running your business today?
We still have to go a long way in developing the required level of resources in a nascent industry. We also need to put more efforts into explaining the importance of implementing a comprehensive Shariah governance framework in Islamic financial institutions to reduce the risk of non-compliance with Shariah.
Where do you see the Islamic finance industry in, say, the next five years or so?
The industry will continue with its rapid expansion and will become more mainstream in the years to come. We expect a number of Sukuk issuances in Europe including some Sovereign. The industry is also becoming more sophisticated with more innovative structures being launched.
Name one thing you would like to see change in the world of Islamic finance.
We believe that compulsory external Shariah audit will help tremendously in achieving the required levels of good governance and transparency.