Could you provide a brief journey of how you arrived where you are today?
After completing a masters degree in Islamic banking and finance from the International Islamic University in Islamabad, Pakistan, I was lucky to start my career with the central bank of Afghanistan, Da Afghanistan Bank. I joined the central bank in January 2008 as deputy director general for the risk management department, and held that position for one year.
As my performance in risk management was excellent, the governor and first deputy governor gave me an opportunity to start the Islamic banking unit of Da Afghanistan Bank in January 2009. With integrity, consistency, diligence in promoting Islamic banking and finance in the country, we have been successful. Currently I am the head of this Islamic banking unit.
What does your role involve?
Being the head of Islamic banking with the central bank, my work also consists of the development of infrastructure for the Islamic banking industry; determining development direction of Islamic banking in Afghanistan; creation of sound legal and Shariah infrastructure; market development and public awareness; introduction of regulatory and prudential policies for development of the Islamic banking industry, monitoring the financial condition of Islamic financial institutions to ensure compliance with laws, regulations, guidelines and more.
What is your greatest achievement to date?
My greatest achievement is establishing the Islamic banking unit in Da Afghanistan Bank. I worked hard for the promotion of Islamic banking, conducted public awareness programs, arranged the first international conference on Islamic banking, and encouraged commercial banks to have Islamic banking facilities and services in the market. As a result, today we have six commercial banks offering Islamic banking services in Afghanistan.
Which of your products/services deliver the best results?
The Da Afghanistan Bank has given permission to only six banks to offer Islamic banking products and services, through Islamic banking windows. The services are limited to current account (Wadiah), savings account (Mudarabah) and time deposit (Mudarabah). The best results came from Musharakah and Murabahah products offered by our banks.
What are the strengths of your business?
Afghanistan is an Islamic country with a population of more than 30 million. Almost 99% of the population is Muslim. Most do not use current conventional facilities as they consider it against Shariah. The banks are trying to provide Shariah compliant products and services.
This gives a great strength to our business — the public is responding well to Islamic banking as the industry is building trust and confidence with their customers. In addition, the central bank’s strength is to supervise and regulate Islamic banking in the country in providing Shariah compliant products and services.
What are the factors contributing to the success of your company?
The main factor contributing to the success of Islamic banking is the strong support from government organizations including Da Afghanistan Bank. The public are willing to have and support Islamic banking. Commercial banks have also shown a lot of interest in having Islamic banking products and services in the market.
What are the obstacles faced in running your business today?
We have not had any big problems in running Islamic banking. The only problem we face is the lack of professional Islamic bankers in the market.
The main challenge for Da Afghanistan Bank is how best to promote Islamic banking in parallel to the development of conventional banking. The regulatory goal is to offer an alternative avenue of financial intermediation which is competitive and which promotes the efficient allocation of resources in a sound manner.
Where do you see the Islamic finance industry in, say, the next five years or so?
The central bank has received three more applications from conventional banks for permission to operate Islamic banking windows. The scope will be getting larger than conventional banking, and the industry will receive strong support from the government and private sector.
The Islamic banking system will create a favorable environment for sustainable Islamic financing under a profit and loss sharing system. The products will be Shariah compliant not only in form, but also in substance. In view of the rapid growth of Islamic banking, the next five years will see Islamic banking facilities in all conventional banks, including two or three full-fledged Islamic banks.
Name one thing you would like to see change in the world of Islamic finance.
I think “Islamic ethics” is the only thing which can change in the world of Islamic banking and finance.