VOLUME

12
NO.6
DECEMBER
L O N D O N 2022
AN OFFICIAL
PUBLICATION OF

AN EXCLUSIVE AN EXCLUSIVE
INTERVIEW WITH INTERVIEW WITH
DR. SHAHER MOHAMMAD
ABBAS FARRUKH RAZA
FOUNDER AND CEO, IFIN; AND FOUNDER AND
CO-FOUNDER & ED, IFAAS GROUP GROUP CEO, IFAAS GROUP

POINT OF VIEW ISFIRE ANALYSIS TALKING POINTS

ISLAMIC
CAPACITY BUILDING OF THE 7 QUALITIES OF

ISLAMIC SUCCESSFUL
FINANCIAL BANKING ISLAMIC
SYSTEM EXPANSIONS BANKERS
FIVE YEAR TREND
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 ISSN 2049-1905

An official publication of Cambridge Institute of Islamic Finance

Volume 12, NO. 6, DECEMBER 2022

FOUNDER & Professor Humayon Dar
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

EDITOR Sara Ahmad

EDITORIAL Ali Nasir

ASSISTANT

INTERNATIONAL Stella Cox, CBE

EDITORIAL BOARD Chairman of the International Advisory Board
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Durham University
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University of Malta
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State Bank of Pakistan
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University of New Orleans
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Islamic Development Bank
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Accounting and Auditing Organization for
Islamic Financial Institutions
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TABLE OF
CONTENTS
VOLUME 12, NO. 6, DECEMBER 2022

12 ISFIRE COVER STORY

INTERVIEWS OF
MUHAMMAD FARRUKH RAZA
FOUNDER AND GROUP CEO, IFAAS

DR. SHAHER ABBAS

FOUNDER AND CEO, IFIN; AND CO-FOUNDER & ED IFAAS GROUP

30 TALKING POINTS
THE 7 QUALITIES OF SUCCESSFUL ISLAMIC BANKERS
DR. EHSANULLAH AGHA

36 TALKING POINTS
PAUSE FOR THOUGHT
PROFESSOR HUMAYON DAR

38 PERSPECTIVES
BLOCKCHAIN AND FINTECH-A CATALYST FOR A PARADIGM SHIFT
IN ISLAMIC FINANCE
SAJID HUSAIN
54 ISFIRE ANALYSIS
ISLAMIC BANKING EXPANSIONS – FIVE YEAR TREND
KHWAJA EHSAN ELAHI

58 ISFIRE PERSONALITY
LUISA EVARISTO

62 POINT OF VIEW
CAPACITY BUILDING OF ISLAMIC FINANCIAL SYSTEM
ABIMBOLA YUSUF DUROJAYE

72 POINT OF VIEW
AN UNDERSTANDING OF BLOCKCHAIN AS TECHNOLOGY
AHMAD MANZOOR

76 ISFIRE REPORT
GLOBAL ISLAMIC FINANCE AWARDS, 2022
The last issue of 2022 of ISFIRE is in your hands.
With this issue, we have completed 12 years of
successful publication of a global magazine in
Islamic finance from London. Although London
has lost a bit of its glory with respect to Islamic
finance, but Cambridge Institute of Islamic Finance
has continued to maintain its intellectual leadership
through global publications like ISFIRE, Global
Islamic Finance Report and WOMANi Report. I
shall not dwell upon the reasons for relocation of
centre of fulcrum of Islamic finance from London
to elsewhere, as this is indeed a story of migration
of the success of Islamic finance industry, in which
London has played an instrumental role. To explicate
this point, I shall seek another opportunity in future.
In the last 10-12 years, a lot has changed, with
growing emphasis on digitalisation. From digital
currencies to virtual learning, all are novel. We
have also adopted the change but I, as Founder
and Editor-in-Chief of ISFIRE, still take the view
that a publication like ISFIRE must continue
to be published in the print format, with digital
dissemination in addition to the traditional
distribution.
Digital distribution of ISFIRE far exceeds that of
the print copies. We send digital editions to about
20,000 subscribers of our database, in addition to
distributing print copies in about 35 countries and
territories. This will continue in 2023. We shall,
however, make use of professional platforms like
LinkedIn more effectively. I personally have more
than 25,000 followers on LinkedIn, most of whom
have direct or indirect links/associations with
Islamic banking and finance. ISFIRE must benefit
from this growing following.
With a greater focus on Africa, we would like to
bring more representation on cover stories from
Africa. In 2023, we featured two personalities
on the covers of ISFIRE, Abdul Raqeb Farea Ali
Salem, CEO of Salaam African Bank, featured
on the April issue, while H. E. Abiy Ahmed Ali,
Prime Minister of Ethiopia featured on the cover
of the October issue. Previously, we had Fayruz
Mohamed, National Chairperson of South African
National Zakah Fund, on the cover of August 2021
issue. Amman Muhammad, CEO of FNB Islamic
Banking, has also been previously featured on an
ISFIRE cover.
The cover story of the December 2022 issue is
perhaps the most interesting one. Two gentlemen,
Mohammad Farrukh Raza and Dr Shaher Abbas,
envisioned a future of Islamic financial advisory
on a global level, and started IFAAS to put their
ideas into practice. IFAAS is now a known and
respected brand in Islamic banking and finance.
This cover story must inspire many others who
aspire to succeed in Islamic financial advisory and
consulting. For the first time, we conducted the
interviews through Zoom, and this experience has
nudged us to start offering a more comprehensive
package to the institutions opting for an ISFIRE
cover story. 2023 will bring this important change
to ISFIRE.
2022 was a year of returning to normalcy after the
COVID-19. We, at Cambridge Institute of Islamic
Finance, spent a busy year, with all of our activities
getting resumed, aligned with their pre-COVID
format. Cambridge Islamic Finance Leadership
Programme (Cambridge IFLP) was the highlight of
the year, with about 35 senior management personnel
of Islamic financial institutions, participating from
around the world. We are expecting an even bigger
Cambridge IFLP in 2023.
This issue contains other regular features and
articles. One short article must be mentioned
here. Khwaja Ehsan Elahi uses Pakistani data
on Islamic banking to offer anecdotal evidence,
that the users of Islamic financial services in fact
prefer fully-fledged Islamic banks over Islamic
windows/branches of conventional banks. This
is an interesting observation, and I would like to
encourage the researchers to further probe into it.
Full conversion of Faysal Bank in Pakistan and
announcement of another bank, namely Silk Bank
– to start its conversion into a fully-fledged Islamic
bank is perhaps an indicator of this phenomenon.
Let me stop here, as the issue is already full of great
ideas and interesting material. Enjoy the read!
Also, I would like to welcome our new Editor Sara
Ahmad on board. She will be responsible for timely
and efficient publishing of ISFIRE in future.
PROFESSOR HUMAYON DAR, PHD
(CANTAB)

Our partnership with DDCAP to develop Islamic

financial intelligence, is long-standing. We shall in
the new year forge new alliances and build more Editor-in-Chief &
Director General, Cambridge Institute of Islamic Finance
partnerships to strengthen our market-based Islamic
finance advocacy.

My Pause for Thought must interest many of the

readers, who think critically and innovatively.
In fact, Cambridge Institute of Islamic Finance
is starting a new series to be called Cambridge
Islamic Finance Thought of the Day (Cambridge
Islamic Finance TOD). There will be 365 TODs
disseminated through social media, allowing us to
promote Islamic financial literacy. The readers of
these TODs will be entitled to apply for a Cambridge
Islamic Financial Literacy Certificate at the end of
2023.
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 ISFIRE
COVER STORY
Muhammad
Farrukh Raza
FOUNDER AND GROUP CEO,
IFAAS GROUP
INNOVATION AND ADOPTION IN ISLAMIC FINANCE
Ibda’a meaning innovation and tabani meaning adopt
or embrace are two keywords defining the successes in
Islamic finance. This is a time when the world economy
had, in the recent past started showing signs of recovery
but relapsed into a cost of living crisis with the onset
of Russia-Ukraine war. Even in these bleak times
Islamic finance has shown a surge. The Islamic Finance
Development Indicator (IFDI) determined a 17% growth
in 2021 with assets at $4 trillions, which are projected to
grow to $5.9 trillions by 2026; a trend which presently,
seems distant but for now at the advent of 2023, we can
see that 2022 has been a good year.
The question here is what makes Islamic business and
finance so much more stable than conventional finance.
To find answers we study the success cases in relevance
to Islamic finance. Two such cases make the story of Dr.
Shaher Abbas, Founder & CEO, Islamic Finance Initiation
Network (IFIN) & Co-Founder & ED, Islamic Finance
Advisory and Assurance Services (IFAAS) and Mohammad
Farrukh Raza, Founder & CEO Islamic Finance Advisory
and Assurance Services (IFAAS); a story which, in this
context truly illuminates the leadership, vision, mission,
struggles, passions, and ultimate success found on this
journey. Dr. Shaher Abbas introduced, state of the art
FinTech revolutionising Islamic finance industry by way
of instant Shari’a compliant financing as part of IFIN. Mr.
Farrukh Raza, driven by his passion and mission but weary
of the ills of the global financial system, offers panacea
by providing bespoke and impact-driven Islamic finance
advisory solutions. IFIN and IFAAS packaged together
are bringing about a slow revolution in Islamic financial
thought, ideas, solutions and services.
Dr Shaher Abbas is an AAOIFI Certified Shari’a Advisor
and Auditor (CSAA), a CISI accredited trainer for IFQ
(Islamic Finance Qualification) and holds a PhD in Islamic
Financial Engineering from Durham University (UK) and
a Master's degree in Islamic Economics, Banking and
Finance from Loughborough University in the UK. He
12 | ISFIRE, DECEMBER 2022 | I S F I R E C O V E R S T O RY
CONVERSATIONS OF
& Dr. Shaher
Abbas
FOUNDER AND CEO, IFIN; AND
CO-FOUNDER & ED, IFAAS GROUP
has 18 years of experience delivering Shari’a compliant
products across the various disciplines of Islamic finance
industry in GCC, Europe and Africa. He also has extensive
experience in Shari’a audits and conducting market
research and feasibility studies. His technical expertise
has been internationally acclaimed within the Islamic
financial industry and well respected amongst the leading
Shari’a scholars of the industry.
Mohammad Farrkuh Raza, a man with a vision holds an
MBA in strategic management and brings in exceptionally
rich experience of the diverse sectors of Islamic finance
industry. His unique background, as a multi-cultural and
multi-lingual persona places him at the center of various
collaborations internationally, in relevance to Islamic or
Riba-free finance. He, also lectures on Islamic Finance in
many reputed universities worldwide and speaks several
languages with excellent command on English, French and
Urdu.
Islamic finance has risen in the last two decades to take
up a sizeable portion of the global finance market. This
industry is growing by extending it’s outreach among the
unbanked populations in Asia, Middle East, Africa and
globally. This trend has been fostered, supported by such
innovations as IFIN, an Islamic FinTech and the continued
advocacy of interest-free products and policy, regulatory
and standardization frameworks such as the IFAAS
Group. IFIN has introduced instant Islamic financing and
now after it’s introduction in GCC countries, it is spreading
it’s wings in Europe. It has started working on digitalizing
SME financing which is expected to bring down SME
financing duration from months to a few days. IFAAS
on the other hand has been advocating and protecting
Islamic finance products by working with governments,
other regulatory frameworks and financial institutions in a
number of countries around the world. Dr. Shaher Abbas
& Mohammad Farrukh Raza together have given opened
new dimensions and venues for Islamic Finance.
| W W W. I S F I R E . N E T
 ISFIRE
COVER STORY

MOHAMMAD

FARRUKH
RAZA
FOUNDER AND GROUP CEO,
IFAAS GROUP

W W W. I S F I R E . N E T | ISFIRE, DECEMBER 2022 | I S F I R E C O V E R S T O RY | 13

 ISFIRE
COVER STORY
LET US START THIS INTERVIEW WITH A BIT ABOUT THE
COMPANY. CAN YOU RELATE, FOR THE BENEFIT OF OUR
READERS, TO WHAT INITIATIVES AND PROJECTS IFAAS
GROUP IS INVOLVED IN?
Bismillah. My Islamic finance journey started in 2004.
This is when the first Islamic bank, the Islamic Bank
of Britain (IBB) was being set up. I saw a job advert
FIFTEEN YEARS DOWN THE LINE, ALHAMDULILLAH,
WE HAVE COMPLETED CONSULTANCY WORK IN 51
DIFFERENT JURISDICTIONS. OUR GEOGRAPHICAL SPAN
COVERS FROM NORTH AMERICA TO THE FAR EAST,
INCLUDING EUROPE, SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, MENA AND
CIS REGIONS, AND ASIA.
for the marketing manager role and applied for it.
The reason for applying was twofold - my desire to
have some corporate exposure and experience at the
end of my MBA course, but also searching for the
answers to the questions that I have had for many
years.
Coming from a business family background and while
growing up in Paris, France where my now late father
owned a small business, I witnessed the growth
opportunities he had to let go simply because of
lack of Halal finance. I remembered the dinner table
conversations I had with my father, wondering about
the possible solutions to grow one’s business and
harness the growth opportunities while adhering to
the prohibition of Riba Our own knowledge about
Shari’a was very basic like masses, and in the 1980’s,
there were not many people around in France with
the ability to help with such queries. And there was
no Google either.
So, my idea of going to IBB job was to explore
Islamic finance, try to find and learn the solutions
for small business owners. I shared my aims with the
interviewer telling him that I’ll leave in 6 months to
implement my learning in my family business and
unlock its potential. I met Shaher, the first time on the
day we both started together our jobs at the bank, in
the same department.
14 | ISFIRE, DECEMBER 2022 | I S F I R E C O V E R S T O RY
The first six months were a roller-coaster, with
colossal amount of learning, facing unprecedented
challenges, making lifetime friends and the feeling of
doing something great. I kept extending my 6 months
and before I knew, it was almost 3 years in the bank.
However, at that point, we felt it was time to embark
for exploring new horizons - and hence the idea of
IFAAS came.
My active involvement in the nascent Islamic banking
industry in the UK was noticed also by the French
banking industry stakeholders, who being intrigued
by developments in the UK, were also exploring the
concept of Islamic banking. Being among the few
people who spoke French and also had any notable
knowledge of Islamic banking, I was invited to be a
member of the PARIS Europlace commission for
Islamic finance. And that gave me an opportunity to
contribute to some tax-reforms in the country.
It was an achievement beyond my imagination
though Islamic finance did not do well in France
due to political and economic reasons. However,
because of this international exposure, and several
Islamic finance initiatives in the UK launched after
the initial success of IBB, there was high demand
for experienced professionals. That is what led us
to jumping overboard in quest of learning more and
contributing more to the international growth of
Islamic finance.
In July of 2007, we established IFAAS (Islamic Finance
Advisory & Assurance Services) as a professional
consultancy that is entirely dedicated to Islamic
finance..
| W W W. I S F I R E . N E T

Fifteen years down the line, Alhamdulillah, we
have completed consultancy work in 51 different
jurisdictions. Our geographical span covers from
North America to the Far East, including Europe,
sub-Saharan Africa, MENA and CIS regions, and Asia.
We consider this to be a unique opportunity and a
great blessing.
Our initial few years were very difficult and full of
challenges. We continued to believe in ourselves as
team and the mission that we were carrying. Now
looking back, we are so grateful that Alhamdolillah
it was all worth it. Allah has blessed us with success
in making a positive impact on the lives of millions
of people including individuals, businesses and the
governments, switching from ‘Haram’ to ‘Halal’,
We can breakdown our activity in to two and a
half components. Two main components include
institutional and government advisory. We provide
advice to financial institutions, which include Islamic
banks, Islamic windows, insurers (takaful and retakaful
providers), asset managers, microfinance, etc. This
is mainly to help with their product development,
operational implementation and optimisation,
capacity building, Shari’a governance, audit and
compliance etc.
The second component and a major part of our
business is actually government advisory and this
places us in a unique position as knowingly there is
no other consultancy that has worked with as many
different jurisdictions and on so many government
policy advisory projects. I think there are around 35
governments across 4 continents for which we have
worked as of today. This type of advisory is aimed at
helping the governments and the stakeholders with
developing strategic road maps and master plans for
Islamic financial industry, their legislative, governance,
tax, regulatory, and supervisory frameworks and
building their capacity and market infrastructure
for Islamic finance. The majority of our projects of
government advisory are funded by multilateral
organizations like Asian Development Bank, Islamic
Development Bank, World Bank, International
Finance Corporation, previously known as DfID UK
and many other organisations.
W W W. I S F I R E . N E T
ISFIRE
COVER STORY
The half component is related to the advocacy of
Islamic finance and this is to create general public
awareness to help people understand the spirit of
Islamic finance. Help them overcome the concerns
they have in relevance to terrorism financing or
money laundering or something which will pave the
way for Islamisation of their country. This is an area
which we would like to develop and make it a full
component. This activity is resource hungry and
we are doing it mainly as pro bono so we have a
challenge in ramping up resources without any cost
to the beneficiaries.
FINTECH OFFERS AMPLE OPPORTUNITIES FOR INNOVATION
IN ISLAMIC BANKING AND FINANCE. AS IFAAS HAS HELPED
VARIOUS JURISDICTIONS TO KICK START THE PROCESS OF
ISLAMIC BANKING AND FINANCE, HOW, IN YOUR OPINION,
FINTECH WILL HELP THESE MARKETS TO GROW WITH
RESPECT TO ISLAMIC BANKING AND FINANCE?
I think the answer to this question is one word -
scalability. FinTech has provided an unprecedented
opportunity to Islamic finance, where we can realise
an exponential growth through Fintech's scalability.
The need for higher capital to be invested in branches
and the brick and mortar infrastructure is no more.
The UK is a great case study where Islamic banks,
particularly former IBB and now Al Rayan Bank has
closed their branches and moved on to digital and
online banking.
This shows you how the distribution channels today
are completely different from a few years ago.
Fintech, and the advent of open banking regulations,
has tremendously changed the banking sector
whether it is conventional or Islamic banking. This
is where the opportunity comes for Islamic banking
institutions that they can gain access to the masses
through Fintech and through initiatives like open
banking. This was not imaginable before. Now it is
actually much quicker, much cheaper and much
easier to grow Islamic banking and finance for such
institutions. For example, we have Islamic crowd
funding platforms that have opened opportunity for
small investors, who can just invest a small amount
of money in a start-up, own a share in real estate
in a Shari’a compliant way or even participate in
philanthropic projects through that.
| ISFIRE, DECEMBER 2022 | I S F I R E C O V E R S T O RY | 15
 ISFIRE
COVER STORY

There is a lot of social financing also happening by

way of crowd funding. IFIN is an example of Fintech
helping Islamic finance grow. Initially it was very
difficult to make the banks understand what we are
doing but as we are moving forward we are finding it
much easier. Banks now understand that by simply
joining IFIN, they can have instant connectivity to
retailers and access to the entire population of the
jurisdiction, without any capital investment, and
without any operational cost. Customer relationship
has actually become much easier thanks to IFIN’s
instant onboarding process that facilitates customer
acquisition through its e-KYC app.

This is a golden opportunity on a plate for any bank

incurring zero cost and getting access to retailers and
also consumers. IFIN makes the process much cheaper,
making the banks more competitive, profitable and
sustainable. This is an opportunity which has been
created only through technology. Islamic financial
industry and its stakeholders really need to focus on
technology because they can experience exponential
growth, reach to wider community, become more
profitable, scalable and appealing to Muslim as well
as the non-Muslim consumer. If they are competitive
and provide a good service and excellent customer
experience then these are the three things which
everybody is looking for. This is FinTech’s impact on
Islamic financial industry.

WE UNDERSTAND THAT IFIN AND IFAAS CANNOT BE SEEN

AS COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT OF EACH OTHER, EVEN
IF THE LEGAL STRUCTURE ENSURES THE CHINESE WALL
BETWEEN THE TWO COMPANIES. WHAT STRENGTHS DOES
IFIN DRAW FROM IFAAS AND VICE VERSA?
Both are connected and complimentary to each
other. I can share with you a recent example. I was in
Istanbul, my new hometown where we had a meeting
with a Turkish Islamic bank. They were interested and
keen on signing up with IFIN, but they had an issue.
They said, being a relatively new bank, they do not
have a credit decision engine of their own. So they
are processing all their credit approvals manually.
We informed them of IFIN having an embedded
decision-making system that just needs parametrising
and population of data. So IFIN’s credit decision
engine will use the bank’s own credit policy and
the credit scoring methodology and the automated
system will process the credit application without
any human intervention.
It turned out that the bank neither has a scoring
methodology nor an elaborate credit policy until
now. So we offered them a combined solution where
IFIN will provide them the technology and IFAAS
prepare an elaborate credit policy and will design a
credit scoring methodology for the bank according to
its needs and preferences. This is a real example that
has happened recently where IFIN and IFAAS worked
hand in hand for the same client. Alhamdolillah we

16 | ISFIRE, DECEMBER 2022 | I S F I R E C O V E R S T O RY | W W W. I S F I R E . N E T


have this capability and the packaged services are
very attractive for the clients. Similarly, when we
are providing advisory to a bank or a government,
technology is there to help us achieve scalability.
We have IFIN to offer but we also recommend
other Islamic Fintech providers. We are promoting
every Islamic FinTech that is reliable and helping
some to expand and establish into the markets
where we operate and have good relationships
with the regulators and market players.
1. Accounting & Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions
2. Islamic Financial Services Board
W W W. I S F I R E . N E T
ISFIRE
COVER STORY
CAN YOU SHARE WITH OUR READERS SOME OF THE OTHER
MODELS YOU HAVE CREATED AND THE PROJECTS THAT YOU
ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON?
We have just finished a big project at IFAAS with
one of the multi-lateral organisations and that
was working with all the STAN countries with
the exception of Turkmenistan. In this project we
worked with the governments of Pakistan, Tajikistan,
Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Afghanistan (the project
stopped due to regime change). We are also working
in Uzbekistan, so we were working simultaneously in
six of these STAN countries, in addition to the govt.
of Philipines.
In the last two years, we have developed for them a
wide range of regulatory frameworks and supervisory
tools for the regulators, and deposit insurance
schemes for their Islamic bank deposits. We have
given some of the central banks, the Islamic liquidity
tools to help them with liquidity management.
We also provided a lot of capacity building to the
stakeholders including the central bank, the ministry
of finance, the banking and insurance regulators, etc.
We also gave them the national Shari’a governance
frameworks with our recommendations for the
adoption of AAOIFI1 and IFSB2 standards, where
possible and to which extent. All these things have
been done with across multiple countries.
In Pakistan, we prepared a framework for the
Ministry of Finance for issuing Asset Light Sukuk,
aiming to help the government of Pakistan in raising
at least 10% of the sovereign funds through Shari’a
compliant instruments.
We have also prepared a framework for Islamic
FinTech for the SECP (Securities and Exchange
Commission of Pakistan), to help achieve scalability
in capital markets and non-banking financial sector.
We have brought our FinTech knowledge and the
policy advisory experience into one framework
aimed at helping improve the access to market for
the small investor and enhance the penetration of
investment products in the country with scalability.
This roadmap that is currently under review by
the SECP, once adopted, will be really handy if the
government decides finally to implement the ruling of
the Federal Shari’a Court about converting the entire
financial system into Islamic.
| ISFIRE, DECEMBER 2022 | I S F I R E C O V E R S T O RY | 17
 ISFIRE
COVER STORY
In the Philippines, the Central Bank and other
government agencies have been working very hard
over the last few years to adopt Islamic banking
and finance. IFAAS has worked with them closely
with technical assistance, helping them to roll out
Islamic financial services in the country. We are also
providing Shari’a audit services to some global banks
and major asset managers, product development,
operational advisory and Shari’a compliance services
to many local and international banks and financial
institutions around the world and helping new Islamic
financial initiatives in rolling out their services.
At IFIN, so far we have launched the instant consumer
financing platform and now we are working on our
SME financing platform. We are trying to develop a
digital ecosystem and rollout to different countries
InshaAllah in 2023 and beyond. We aim to bring all
the stakeholders of SME financing onto one digital
platform with the objective of improving access to
finance for SMEs by reducing the turnaround time
for credit approval and disbursement from months to
literally minutes.
Our target is disbursement of funds from a new
application within 10 minutes. What we are trying
to do here is to apply the knowledge that has
cumulated in IFAAS over the years and multiplying
it with the technological knowledge that we have
gained working on IFIN over the last few years and
the things we are learning from our peers within the
Islamic finance industry. We believe the SME digital
platform will be a leap for the banks and financial
institutions, enabling them to penetrate new and
lucrative segments, and offer new products. It will be
a new growth opportunity for them and the SMEs.
The third product that we are planning for IFIN is
a digital ecosystem for agricultural financing. Agri-
financing is a major need in many OIC countries
where agriculture is very strong. This need remains
unmet due to a large gap in funds and access to
market. We are currently conceptualising this
solution while the development work is in progress
for the SME solution.
ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE FLEET OF FINANCIAL
PRODUCTS OFFERED BY ISLAMIC FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
THROUGHOUT THE WORLD?
I have always been a diehard supporter of Islamic
finance, however over time, I have become critical of
18 | ISFIRE, DECEMBER 2022 | I S F I R E C O V E R S T O RY
the current state of Islamic finance industry. It may
be me turning fifty or it may be due to my experience
and exposure, I am not satisfied with the way Islamic
finance is operating in the market and the products
that are currently on the offer. The analogy, I use is
that Islamic finance is like a Ferrari and you know that
Ferrari is a jewel of the automobile industry. If I have
a Ferrari that drives at 20 miles per hour, shall I feel
proud of it or shall I be worried about why my Ferrari
is not driving at 200 miles an hour, the speed that it
has been made for.
The questions I need to ask myself are, is there a fault
in my Ferrari; something wrong with my driving skills;
am I on the right track or is it simply adverse weather
conditions that are preventing me from achieving my
potential of doing 200 miles an hour. I need to find
why I am short of 180 miles in my speed and address
the issues so that I can truly enjoy my Ferrari. In my
view, the current form of Islamic finance industry is
the Ferrari that is driving at 20 miles an hour.
IN WHAT AREA OF YOUR BUSINESS ARE YOU FOCUSING
YOUR SUSTAINABILITY EFFORTS?
I do not know what exactly is meant by sustainability
here. What I really care for is the sustainability of
the knowledge and capacity within the institutions
including IFIN and IFAAS and the institutions
which we are working with whether they are
financial institution or government entities or other
organisations.
How do we make them sustainable not in terms of
small things but in big things like e.g. succession
planning. How do we make sure that these institutions
are not dependent on individuals? I made it very
clear to the team that IFAAS shall not need me or
Shaher. I do not want to be sitting around forever,
or being quoted endlessly as the founder of IFAAS. I
want IFAAS to be completely independent of Shaher
Abbas and Farrukh Raza. You should yourselves be
able to sustain the business and also the mission.
The mission that we started with, the vision that we
had, should be sustained overtime. Alhamdolillah, I
am very glad to say that this year IFAAS was accorded
the title of Best Professional Firm of the Year by Islam
channel in the UK and this initiative was 100 % effort
of the team without any involvement from Shaher or
from my side. It was very satisfactory for me to see
this happening as it is a sign that Alhamdolillah they
| W W W. I S F I R E . N E T

I WANT IFAAS TO BE COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT OF
SHAHER ABBAS AND FARRUKH RAZA. YOU SHOULD
YOURSELVES BE ABLE TO SUSTAIN THE BUSINESS AND
ALSO THE MISSION. THE MISSION THAT WE STARTED
WITH, THE VISION THAT WE HAD, THAT SHOULD BE
SUSTAINED OVERTIME.
are now capable of sailing on their own and Shaher
and I are no longer indispensable to the business. For
me this is sustainability.
We are trying to do the same thing in IFIN. We are
just going LIVE in Türkiye where I am leading the
operation in its early phase. However, I have given
an ultimatum to IFIN Türkiye team that by mid 2023,
I will be moving on to the next country where we
will be expanding InshaAllah and the team needs
to be able to navigate on its own without too much
involvement from my side. The team should be able
to run the business on its own without needing to
look at me or Shaher. For me, this is sustainability but
also empowerment and trust.
ISLAMIC FINANCE IS GOING THROUGH A TRANSITION PERIOD
WITH INTEREST OF WESTERN FINANCIAL BANKS AND
INSTITUTIONS DECLINING AND THE INDUSTRY NOT HAVING
A UNIQUE ECONOMIC VALUE PROPOSITION FOR CUSTOMERS
OF SHARI’A COMPLIANT FINANCIAL SERVICES, WHAT VIEW
DO YOU TAKE ON THE FUTURE OF ISLAMIC BANKING AND
FINANCE?
The reason is very simple. Some people are
genuinely intrigued with the philosophy of Islamic
finance but they get disappointed with the similarity
of products and practices. Others see Islamic
finance as a business opportunity, but that business
opportunity declines very fast due to lack of viability.
Conventional institutions cannot make as much
money from Islamic finance as they do otherwise,
hence their interest fades due to lower returns on
their investments.
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I feel the industry is falling short of making the
difference that it boasts. We claim that Islamic finance
industry is about transparency, responsibility, ethics
and much more. What people see is completely
different because the products very much resemble
the conventional products. You make an Islamic
deposit and you call it mudarba with a promise to
share the profit.
This is great, a new concept, but there is a small print
saying that the customer’s share of the deposit is
capped, so it will not exceed 5%. You actually killed
the spirit of the product. These type of practices are
causing harm to the cause of Islamic banking and
preventing its growth. And these are the things that
have led to my criticism of the industry.
Islamic bankers tell me if they pay the 50% share of
the profit, then we will be paying out a lot. I say what
is the problem with this - it is the customer’s right.
[The bankers’ response is, if we did not have the small
print] then we would have a lot of influx of deposits,
putting us in excess liquidity situation as we may not
be able to deploy that money in the financial markets
due to lack of government securities.
I respect Islamic bankers, they are doing a good job
however I believe they can do a great job if they think
differently. They need to get out of their comfort
zone aka financial markets and start investing in the
real economy.
This is what will really differentiate Islamic finance
from conventional. Indeed, it will require new skillsets,
new strategies, new risk management frameworks
and much more but that is where the true value and
a lot of money lies. It may also require adjustments
to the prudential frameworks and liquidity rules
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but I am sure the industry stakeholders can work
together to take it forward in its true spirit and
make the real difference to the economies and the
financial wellbeing of the populations. Questionable;
nor My view as to what the industry needs to do is
to stop mimicking conventional finance and be more
transparent. We can learn a lot from crowd funding
and cryptocurrency.
They both came to the market just a few years
ago with products that were completely new and
inexistent before. Within a matter of few years, they
convinced the regulators that they are different and
need new regulations for effective operation.
Today, most of the countries have at least some basic
regulation for them, whereas Islamic finance has been
around for more than 40 years and as yet we have
not managed to get accepted that it is different from
20 | ISFIRE, DECEMBER 2022 | I S F I R E C O V E R S T O RY
conventional and needs a separate set of regulations.
Instead we have been trying to fit a square block into
a round hole. It is not working and we are trying to
make our square block rounder so that it fits in the
round hole. It will either never fit or it will lose its
unique feature of square shape on the way and both
are not good.
We have to say loud and clear that Islamic finance
is different, it cannot be governed like conventional
finance. An Islamic deposit is different - it is neither
a deposit nor an investment by conventional
definitions. It is something in between, which needs
a regulation for its own. This is where a lot of work is
required and this is where the opportunity lies.
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HOW HAS THE E-COMMERCE MARKET CHANGED DUE TO

COVID-19 AND WHERE DO YOU SEE IT GOING, ESPECIALLY
FOR CONSUMERS OF ISLAMIC FINANCE?
This is a big shift that was already on its way when
CoVID came and things got accelerated over the last
two three years with increased need for integration
of online platforms. Islamic finance institutions need
to be really quick in order to harness this opportunity
and if they continue doing the things the way they
have done for the last 2-3 decades, [the time] since
they have been around-then they will be outpaced
by the market. Things are happening very fast in the
conventional space and Muslim consumer is looking
for Halal options. People need not suffer or make
compromises. The market players need to stand up
to these expectations.

WE WOULD NOW LIKE TO COME TOWARDS SOME PERSONAL

QUESTIONS. WHAT IS YOUR KEY TO BEING PRODUCTIVE
THAT YOU CAN SHARE WITH US?
My key to being productive is having this passion
for what we do. People tell me that I am passionate
about Islamic finance. This passion is something
which keeps me going and makes me productive.
Since turning 50 I have started thinking differently.
On one hand I am trying to make the businesses that
I am involved in, more sustainable, strengthening
them to continue and flourish on their own, expand
to incorporate fresh ideas.
On the other hand, I am diverging more towards my
involvement in other things. The last few years I have
been engaged profoundly with AAOIFI and other
industry bodies on pro bono basis. I feel it being my
responsibility to share this knowledge, disseminate
the cumulative experience which we have had,
benefiting the industry from the exposure and the
journey that Allah has best paved.
This is to foster the standardization within the
industry increasing advocacy and so on. Also
helping the younger generation in making their
career choices, to instill the same passion in them,
to kindle the spark- taking forward whatever my
generation has done. The younger generation needs
to become the new torch bearers taking this industry
to higher levels and longer distances InshaAllah. This
is something that helps me wake up every morning
fresh and enthused for a new day and hope.
WHAT IS THE MOST VALUABLE LESSON YOU’VE LEARNED
THROUGH THE COURSE OF YOUR CAREER?
Nothing comes easy! Everything that is valuable -
requires time, effort, passion, patience and purpose.
So whatever we do in our life, we need to have a
passion for it; we have to have faith in Allah and in
ourselves and the people around us. With time and
efforts we start seeing the results.
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE THINGS TO DO OUTSIDE OF
WORK?
Travelling, I would say. I have been to more than 100
countries and worked in more than 50 countries to
date. I have done some odd travelling including the
camel caravan in the Sahara, Africa with my kids and
travelling with my wife to the closest land mass to
the North Pole, to name a few I am trying to have a
farm, now, where I can do some farming, raise some
animals, in Turkiye, not here.

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Dr.

Shaher
Abbas
Founder & CEO, IFIN; Co-Founder & ED,
IFAAS Group

LET US START THIS INTERVIEW WITH A BIT ABOUT THE Al-Rayan Bank UK), positioned there as a product
COMPANY. CAN YOU RELATE, FOR THE BENEFIT OF OUR manager.
READERS, HOW THE IDEA OF IFIN CAME ABOUT?
At that time, a finance deal would take at least one
Going back to the original starting point or trigger
week to be completed with multiple paperwork,
point of why we have IFIN. I was in UK in 2008, when
multiple signatures and multiple visits for the
my wife and I went to a furniture store. The sales
customer to the branch. I morally felt that this is what
person asked at the point of purchase if we would
we should do in Islamic finance, because without it,
like to have finance. To which I replied that we are
we are never going to survive as an industry. This
Muslims and we do not pay interest. He said you do
triggered us to prepare a feasibility study with
not have to worry about it because it is interest free
business plan and we presented the idea to the
instalments for 3 years. This was an interesting offer
bank’s board. The proposal did not go through due
which I wanted to try. So the guy just pulled up a
to the high cost of setup, which a small bank could
laptop and asked for my name and address and in a
not afford. After leaving the bank and setting up
few seconds said congratulations you are approved
IFAAS our consultancy business, I continued trying
and that was a complete shock for me. At that time, I
to develop the idea on my own.
was working for the first Islamic Bank in the UK (now

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 ISFIRE
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However, at that time [proposing] to any bank to

connect to their core banking system was a big
NO, unless your system was developed by the like
of Oracle or Microsoft. It was in 2013 when I met
with Mohammed Khateeb who was then the CEO
and chairman of Path Solutions which is a software
company now owned by Azentio. I presented
the idea to Muhammad Khateeb with 5 pages
presentation and told him, that, we want to build
second generation of Islamic banking software and
he immediately saw the opportunity and quite liked it.
So we setup IFIN in Bahrain as joint venture between
IFAAS and Path Solutions. Now going back a little
about IFAAS. IFAAS is a consultancy business setup
to achieve two objectives, first to help in building the
industry and the second to protect the industry by
helping financial institutions, by building the proper
governance and implement the right products. We
try to make sure that there is always a solution for
problems which people say that there is no solution their costs and unleashing their real potential. No
to. matter how much we believe in Islamic finance if you
do not have good price and good customer service
Bankers will usually suggest using tawarruq, because then only few will use it. Thus, if a bank does not
it is the easiest solution, which give them the output have good price or good customer service then why
of loan something which they know how to deal with. would any customer bother? IFIN solves these two
While in IFAAS we always try to offer alternative problems and helps Islamic financial institutions not

SO FAR IFAAS HAS WORKED IN OVER 50 DIFFERENT

COUNTRIES, IN PROJECTS COVERING MULTI-DISCIPLINE
ISLAMIC FINANCE INDUSTRY AT INSTITUTION LEVEL AND
GOVERNMENT LEVEL

Shari’a based product, so the industry can grow in
the right direction. So far IFAAS has worked in over
50 different countries, in projects covering multi-
discipline of the Islamic finance industry at institution
level and government level. Despite all the successes
we made through IFAAS, we still feel that there is
more work to do, especially on the financial institution
level. We want to impact the lives of the people
directly by providing them with a solution that helps
them avoid Riba. Therefore, we created IFIN to solve
80-90% of the industry’s existing problems. IFIN
is a new concept that will take the industry to the
second level by helping banks to reach out to larger
communities, digitalise their processes, reducing
only in competing better with conventional banks but
for the first time in the Islamic finance industry, IFIN
will put the Islamic banks ahead of the conventional
banks.
WHAT WOULD YOU DESCRIBE AS THE CORE FEATURES OF
IFIN – THE FIRST OF ITS KIND, REAL ECONOMY, AUTOMATED
ISLAMIC FINANCING PLATFORM?
IFIN is a digital platform connecting all types of
retailers and SMEs to all types of financial institutions
including Islamic banks, Islamic windows, microfinance

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companies and crowdfunding. Literally, any type of
business that is willing to do Islamic finance will be
able to actually help them to offer on IFIN platform.
On the other side all types of retailers such as
car dealers, white goods, brown goods, furniture,
electronic shops, health care providers like dentists,
education like private schools, private universities,
travel agents, events managements such as weddings;
all will be on the same platform. So the sellers of any
good or service which is halal, can be financed, we
will be able to connect whether in physical stores or
online stores. You can imagine Amazon, Noon, IKEA
or you can imagine Emirates airline. [It simplifies
purchase] While you are going to checkout, you
have to do transaction using either of debit or
credit cards and then you have IFIN. The
customer chooses IFIN if he wants to
finance it and [IFIN] will make sure
that the person gets the best offer
from the banks or finance companies
available on IFIN platform.
If you are at Nissan or Toyota show
room you go select your car
and you get the best finance
offer completing the approval
process and sign the contract
and complete the entire process
within few minutes. This is what
you are doing in Saudi Arab now.
This has never ever been done
before. The customer walks into
the car dealer and in 10 minutes
drives out, with his new
financed car. Hence,
what IFIN does is
link back Islamic
finance with real
economy.
I n
addition, IFIN will reduce reliance on tawarruq, as
customers can directly finance the actual goods
and services, they need, rather than buying metal
or something else to get cash. This is how we are
positioning Islamic finance ahead of the conventional.
IFIN as a platform did not exist in the Islamic banking
industry nor in conventional banking industry
whether it is the US, the UK, or Europe. In Europe
you have one bank or finance company financing
20-50 or 100 retailers. They have instant financing
in Europe but not exactly the way IFIN does this is
as a platform - it is the future of the industry. You
can think about it as an aggregator - we aggregate
all type of retailers. You can think about
it as a finance platform where the
banks can connect to us (plug
and play) to become digital
instantly. Thus, you can
also think of us as a digital
transformation tool
for those institutions
looking to transfer their
services to become
fully digital.
HOW IS IFIN DIFFERENT
FROM OTHER MORE
TRADITIONAL FORMS
OF E-COMMERCE?
IS THIS STEP TOWARDS
DIGITAL EVOLUTION AND
DEVELOPMENT OF
THE

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ISLAMIC FINANCE INDUSTRY TO MAKE IT MORE In addition, IFIN allows all types of products not
COMPETITIVE TO THE CONVENTIONAL FINANCIAL SYSTEM? only murabaha. The bank can choose to offer ijara,
istisnaa, Salam, Service ijara, mudarba or musharaka.
Some banks have the money to build their digital Hence, the diversity that IFIN will bring to the market
system, either they bring in someone from outside to will enrich the entire Islamic finance industry with
build or they have their own resources. It is really our multi-instant financing products available in the
aim at the end of the day to help all institutions, banks, market.
finance companies and microfinance companies to
build their own digital system as we do not want
to put these guys in a disadvantageous position.
They can plug in to our system and use it and the PLEASE SHARE WITH OUR READERS THE SUCCESS STORY
main charge is on transaction basis. If the financial OF IFIN. IS IT A SPIN OFF FROM IFAAS OR AN INDEPENDENT
institution makes money, we make money. If a bank COMPANY?
receives a 100 applications and the banks approve
only 20 then we will charge for only the approved 20. IFIN is an independent company and majorly owned
We will not charge on the remaining 80. by IFAAS. It has been a very difficult journey and
we are yet to say it is fully successful. To put things
We want to be the 'Go To' industry. We have this in context, it is a story of a struggle. As an example
aim not because of it's regional basis, but because we setup the company in 2014 and we presented to
it's fast, it's better, and it is cheaper. This is where the First Bank in Oman in the same year and all top
we want to be and this is our obligation as Muslims management they liked the solution, however, they
to make our solution. People should come to us signed the contract in December 2017. It took three
not because it is halal and pay more and wait and
face more difficulties - no. We want non-muslims
and Muslims both, to apply and obtain finance and
be happy with a smile after that. This is the correct
concept of service. So we came in the middle to make
sure, the customer is able to choose the best bank,
the best offer, the fastest one and the easiest one for
them. So yeah it is a digital platform which will make
things easy for the customer.

HOW CAN THE RETAIL MURABAHA AS DEVELOPED, AIDED

AND ASSISTED BY IFIN REVOLUTIONALISE ISLAMIC RETAIL
FINANCING?
Currently, customers have to go to the retailer,
identify the goods that they want and take the
quotation, apply for finance and wait for a couple
of days and finally take the cheque from the bank
and go back to the retailer to pay for the goods. It's
a complicated process. Now what does that mean-
let us take car dealers as an example: 50% of people
who take a quotation from the show room- they
never come back, because the minute a customer
leaves the show room he can change his mind for
any reason.
The car dealer is losing business because he cannot
close the deal. We think IFIN can help car dealers
[or retailers] increase their sales instantly by 50%.
years just working with them to sign the contract and
then we took another two years to get regulatory
approval and then CoVID hit and everything was
shutdown. In June 2021, we finally went LIVE in
Oman. A member of bank management saw me on
the day we launched and he said you know Shaher,
I have never ever thought that this day will come -I
have heard about IFIN project for 7 years. It started
on top of the projects’ list and with time, as more
projects came in, it started going down the list.
Anybody else would have walked out of this project

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but you did not and you are LIVE now. So [the lesson
is] if you want to pursue something then you have to
keep pushing, specially, if you believe in the idea and
it’s outcome then you keep pushing forward.
WHAT CHALLENGES DID YOU FACE WHILE LAUNCHING
INNOVATIVE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS FOR ISLAMIC FINANCIAL
INSTITUTIONS? WHAT ARE, IF ANY, SOME OF THE
DISADVANTAGES OF IFIN FOR RETAILERS AND CONSUMERS?
You can name all kinds of challenges in the world and
you will find these [in the story of our journey]. We
planned what we wanted to do, we built a platform.
However, when we presented to our first bank
[client] we found that their needs are completely
different. Even on the most critical [part] which is the
credit decision engine. They had a different system
of scoring and [in comparison] what we had built was
completely different from their expectation. So we
had to rebuild a number of components of the system
to allow them to operate in the way they want. In
addition to the technology part, you will face another
challenge with the mentality of the people; change
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is against the normal thinking of a person. How do
you convince a credit officer of the bank to offer
finance to a person who has never seen never set
foot in the branch. He is never going to show his ID.
Giving a credit decision instantly is something they
have never done before. So convincing them to give
up control, convincing them to let a machine take
decision on their behalf, is still the biggest challenge
that we have.
[Other] Challenges with people, challenges with
regulations, challenges with the law, challenges with
the infrastructure, challenges with our own company,
the startup , challenge with the shareholder
because they are looking for returns, challenge
with the retailers [who] are challenging us to prove
the instantaneous nature of our transactions. So
challenges are on all different fronts but this is what
you have to do if you have a mission. You have to
overcome all these challenges. We take [these
challenges] one by one - we analyse them and [then]
we find the solutions around them.
IN WHAT AREA OF YOUR BUSINESS ARE YOU FOCUSING
YOUR SUSTAINABILITY EFFORTS?
Sustainability is built-in within IFIN operational
model and business model as we help the financial
institutions in ensuring sustainability in different
areas. If you do not have a low cost and long term
strategy for certain sector then you cannot sustain it.
Banks usually focus in profitable areas and this might
exclude poor areas because [poor areas] cannot
sustain [bank branch]. [In poor areas] the customers
are just a liability for the bank because small number
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is going to put deposit and small number is going to
be part of the profitable segment. We are changing
that, we are allowing banks to be able to offer
services to customers in all areas. We can do this
because IFIN digitalises the entire financing process
and make it cheaper to the bank who will only pay
a small cost. If we think about SMEs - you will be
able to reach to SMEs in areas where the bank does
not have any branches. By funding the SMEs we help
them to grow and to employ people from that area.
Thus, we will be able to help the sustainability of the
community itself. The result is that banks use IFIN
as a tool for them to boost financial inclusion efforts
and achieve their sustainability targets.
HOW HAS THE E-COMMERCE MARKET CHANGED DUE TO
COVID-19 AND WHERE DO YOU SEE IT GOING, ESPECIALLY
FOR CONSUMERS OF ISLAMIC FINANCE?
Oh it has changed a lot on our side. Before CoVID
it was very difficult to convince banks that IFIN can
help them by connecting to retailers and accepting
business from retailers. Suddenly, everything
stopped and [those] who continued to work and
sell are the guys who had e-commerce. These
[were the] guys who were delivering food, goods,
or merchandise. Irrespective of where the bank is
I LIKE TO BE PRACTICAL, I LEAVE MY STAFF, MY SENIOR
STAFF WITH FULL CONTROL OF WHAT THEY WANT TO
DO. I DO NOT LIKE TO INTERFERE WITH THEIR BUSINESS
WITH THE WAY THEY DO THINGS OR TAKE DECISIONS.
on the digital journey, most banks did shut down
completely. After CoVID it was a completely different
story - banks themselves changed. [The banks] could
not stop again and they could not shut down again.
[The banks now thought that] they needed their
customers to buy and to grow, so that they [could
now envision] this new channel. And we were ready
for them and this is why we think there is a change in
the mentality of the top management. So then, it was
about where we should go with this digitalisation and
what type of digitalisation should happen. Before
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everybody was thinking about it talking about it
and after CoVID a lot of guys were smart enough
to think of something new to bring in. So we were
preparing and rebuilding for this change. Yes CoVID
did change banks - it showed them the potential for
huge growth and opened everybody’s eyes to [the
advantages] of e-commerce. A secret- if you count
10 banks in the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] and
[you will] find that 6 or 7 of those are building their
own e-commerce now or talking about it. Since when
it is the [function of] banks to build e-commerce? [It is
that] they want to do it themselves and we are telling
[them] now don't build it - we already have it.
WE WOULD NOW LIKE TO COME TOWARDS SOME PERSONAL
QUESTIONS. WHAT IS YOUR KEY TO BEING PRODUCTIVE
THAT YOU CAN SHARE WITH US?
I think this is the most difficult question and the
most sensitive one because you do not know how to
assess your own productivity. I can tell if my staff is
productive or not but for me to [assess myself] is very
challenging [but] it is a challenge [faced] on a daily
basis. I have to repeat for myself to reprioritize, [to
decide] which issue to focus on, what to focus on and
what to do when you have multiple takes, multiple
operations in different countries and multiple staff in
each country. [At a time] when you are growing so
fast this is one of the biggest challenges that you face
as CEO of a startup company. We are LIVE in Oman
and Turkey and setting up in Saudi Arab, UAE and
Malaysia. We are also trying to build connection with
Egypt, Indonesia and Pakistan. We are doing this
because we are trying to help as much as possible.
I like to be practical, I leave my staff, my senior staff
with full control of what they want to do. I do not like
to interfere with their business with the way they do
things or take decisions. I hire top consultants and
| W W W. I S F I R E . N E T
 ISFIRE
COVER STORY

one of the social media - a picture of a man with an

axe digging a hole in a mountain, looking for treasure.
[At the end when there] was only one more hit to go
before hitting the treasure, the man had enough and
was already planing to quit. Similarly, when you do
not know at which point the project is going to be
successful, you always have to think that you have
just one [more] step and so you can continue to push
harder, work harder, while continuing to believe in
your abilities. Overall the main driver is that we do
this for the benefit of the entire ummah because we
want the ummah to be built correctly. We believe in
the Islamic solutions, we believe in the Islamic finance
industry and we want this model to be the most
successful model. We need to facilitate it to grow.
We know it's potential and we are helping Islamic
financial institutions to unleash their real potential.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE THINGS TO DO OUTSIDE OF

top senior staff because they can actually do their WORK?
job [without] the need for me to tell them their job.
Each one understands the strategy and have his/ her Time with the kids, is always the [best] thing. I also
own targets and they have to go around and do the like to go swimming and fishing.
needful. If I have to do everything myself then it's
a problem for everybody and for the company. So
as a CEO being productive means you actually hand
over the right task to the right person to deliver it for AT END THE OF THE INTERVIEW, PLEASE SHARE WITH OUR
you. The smartest thing a CEO will do is to choose READERS WHAT IS THE GROWTH STRATEGY OF IFIN IN THE
the three - four people who will work under [him] NEXT FIVE YEARS? IN OTHER WORDS, WHERE SHOULD WE
immediately. If you are a successful CEO then you
choose the right people and if you fail to choose
EXPECT TO SEE IFIN IN 2028?
the right people then you are a failed CEO, [simply]
We have a very aggressive growth strategy -we want
because you cannot do everything yourself. The
to be in over 20 countries within the next five years,
CEO who does everything himself is already failing
which is very challenging, very difficult and very
or failed CEO. As CEO the best thing you can do is to
ambitious. I hope [we will be able to successfully]
choose the right people around you. They will make
drive the company to reach up to its potential. The
you successful, if they are productive then you are
objective is to reach out to the biggest chunk of the
productive and vice versa.
Muslims’ community and offer them easy, fast and
reliable Islamic finance solutions. We want IFIN to
be the main solutions in the Islamic finance industry.
InshaAllah we want to be in all OIC countries and
WHAT IS THE MOST VALUABLE LESSON YOU’VE LEARNED then inshaAllah for all Muslims and Non-Muslims in
THROUGH THE COURSE OF YOUR CAREER? Europe and the US.

I think perseverance is the key to success of a startup.

[A person] can be smart, can be educated, can have
money but if the main person in the startup does
not have perseverance then that startup is not going
anywhere. One time, I saw a picture or something on

W W W. I S F I R E . N E T | ISFIRE, DECEMBER 2022 | I S F I R E C O V E R S T O RY | 29

 TALKING
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Dr. Ehsanullah Agha1

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A MAN SHALL NOT DESERVE BUT (THE
REWARD OF) HIS OWN EFFORT
(Qurān: 53:39)
Success is a multifaceted achievement that varies in its
form and accomplishment from individual to individual.
However, every success story leaves behind footprints
that allow us to understand the common patterns in
the journey of success. I have been on a quest to
explore why some Islamic banking professionals climb
the ladder of success faster than others, and what
makes them at the top of an organization’s hierarchy
and shining stars in the Islamic banking industry.
1. Purpose Driven
For more than five decades, researchers have been
identifying various leadership theories and frameworks
to train successful leaders. Recently, the focus has
shifted to developing purpose-driven leadership.
Academics argue that an executive’s most important
role is to be a steward of the organization’s purpose.
Psychologists describe purpose as the pathway to
greater well-being, while business experts consider it
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Whenever I get a chance, I ask a few of them and
have realized there are a few non-mystical secrets
behind their successful career. The first part of my
observations is published in Islamic Finance Review as
an article entitled “The Three Skills of Successful Sharī’a
Advisors”. In this article, I will highlight the common
personality traits of successful Islamic bankers that I
have observed over the years.
as a key to productivity and exceptional performance
(Craig & Snook, 2014). John Mackey, CEO of Whole
Foods Market once said, “Just as people cannot live
without eating, so a business cannot live without
profits. But most people do not live to eat, and neither
must businesses live just to make profits”. Like any
other profession, a career in Islamic banking can be
broadly classified into three categories:
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 TALKING
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WHAT: Career at this stage deals with the result
produced by the bank i.e., products and services
offered to the customers, and the income generated.
HOW: This refers to the mission statement of a
bank. Bankers in this stage, deal with the process,
procedures, and operations to run a bank.
WHY: It refers to the vision statement of a bank i.e.,
purpose. This is the leadership stage in the Islamic
banking career. WHY is the raison d’etre behind WHAT
an Islamic bank does and why it exists in the first place?
Hence, WHY does not refer to profit maximization and
money, which is the result, not a purpose.
The inspirational Islamic bankers always focus on
the WHY of their banks and the larger picture by
strategically thinking, acting, and communicating from
the inside out (WHY, HOW, and WHAT) of the Golden
Circle as introduced by Simon Sinek (2009). While
the rest usually communicates the other way around
(WHAT, HOW, and WHY) by focusing on WHAT
unique products their banks offer, HOW much profit
they make, and HOW efficient they are as depicted in
the below diagram.

The Golden Circle

Followers Why Leaders

Start with What The Cause Start with Why

How
The Value Prop

What
Products and Services

(Source: Start with Why)

It reminds us of the story of a janitor working at NASA.
During a visit to the NASA space center in 1962,
President John F. Kennedy noticed a janitor carrying
a broom. The President then casually asked the janitor
what he is doing for NASA, and the janitor replied, “I
am helping to put a man on the moon” (Carton, 2018).
A seasoned Islamic banker displayed his inspiring WHY
on his Twitter account as “an Islamic finance specialist
who wants to make the financial system a source of
mercy for humanity”. This reflects the prophetic cause
of Muhammad (P.B.U.H) who was sent as a source of
mercy for the world. No matter how large or small your
role is in the bank, you are contributing to materialise
the bigger goal.

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2. Continuing Professional Development
(CPD)
With the rise of FinTech in the fourth industrial
revolution; automation, blockchain, artificial
intelligence, and robot technology are disrupting
demand and the nature of existing jobs and skills in the
financial industry. According to the World Economic
Forum Report (2020) on the future of jobs, various
functions in the financial services sector are set to
be significantly replaced by machine labor in the near
future.
To remain relevant in the era of disruptive technologies,
successful Islamic bankers are consistently upgrading
their skills through continuous professional
development (CPD). It makes them aware of the latest
trends in the industry. As a career-long obligation for
practicing professionals, CPD stands for an ongoing
self-made process for professional skills development
through formal training and informal learning on the
job. For example, an executive Islamic banker said that
a secret of his career growth is productive reading and
writing. While reading compounds knowledge, writing
develops thought leadership.
3. Personal Development
Successful Islamic bankers are committed to
consistently growing themselves. Personal growth
brings a transformation in their mindset, heart-set,
health-set, and soul-set. While formal education taught
them some technical skills and modalities, personal
development instills compassion, mindfulness, and
gratitude that enable them to build their brand.
The degrees and certificates brought them to the
interview table, but personal growth keeps them
climbing the ladder. They are always working on
themselves to live to the fullest of their potential.
They invest heavily in their personal development to
build trust, integrity, and reputation which are the
most valuable currencies in financial services. They
passionately believe that success or failure is nothing
more than a vehicle for their personal growth.
4. Networking
In a corporate culture, where the rules of human
connections and personal interest are evolving at
breakneck speed, successful Islamic bankers frequently
invest their time and energy in building genuine and
healthy relationships. They consistently nurture a
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personal network of authentic and transformational
relationships with professionals in their field. Since
they know progression does not happen in isolation,
building a powerful network of allies becomes a trait
of their personality.
Your network is your net worth. For your career growth,
it is not only about “WHAT” you know (qualification
and experience) and “HOW” you can do it (expertise).
Your next move largely depends on “WHO” you know
(networking). The quality of your relationship matters
more than headcount. The networking guru and
author of ‘Never Eat Alone’ Keith Ferrazzi beatifically
articulated “Who you know is more important than
what you know”. This can be further substantiated by
the hiring statistics. According to jobvite.com, 40% of
hires come from referrals while only 21% of hiring is
done through career sites. Referrals get hired in an
average of 3 weeks while other applicants take up to 7
weeks. Referrals get paid more on average than normal
applicants.
5. Value-Creation
“In the hiring process, I have seen most of the
candidates are looking for money. They are unaware
of the secret that employers hire talent who can
add value to the organization, not money seekers”,
says Professor Humayon Dar, Director General of
Cambridge Institute of Islamic Finance. An employee
is an asset of a company and compensation is an
investment in that asset. Therefore, businesses do not
pay for the employees’ time spent on the premises,
rather, the compensation is paid for the positive value
created during that time. A banking career is subject
to the risk of competition, mergers, and acquisitions
in the industry. Your survival and retention in a
specific position significantly depend on your ability to
create value other than your job description. Islamic
bankers who master the art of making an identifiable,
noteworthy value-driven impact on the business
of their banks, create higher chances of pay raises,
promotions, recognition, and appreciation. The more
you create measurable and positive outcomes through
your actions, the more you increase your bank’s return
on investment (ROI) on your retention.
6. Mentorship
“If I had not had mentors, I wouldn't be here today.
I am a product of great mentoring, great coaching”,
says Indra Nooyi ex CEO of Pepsi. Bill Gates credited
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 TALKING
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Warren Buffet for teaching him how to deal with
tough situations and how to think long-term. Similarly,
Zuckerberg praised his inspiring mentor, Steve Jobs.
Steve Jobs used to go on a weekly walk with Bill
Campbell, the Silicon Valley coach, who also mentored
Google’s founders (Agha, 2019). Every individual
carries the seeds of greatness within himself, but
you need someone to identify the seed so it would
be planted in an appropriate region and weather
for optimal growth. A mentor is like a sculptor who
analyses his mentee with a humble conviction that a
unique and beautiful piece of art already exists within
the stone, and his job is only to unveil it. A mentor sees
an unexplored treasure of talent and skills in your DNA
and helps you to navigate your deserved destination.
A C-suit Islamic banking executive confirmed that
mentorship from seniors helps him in getting guidance,
motivation, keeping a work-life balance, and career
counseling.
7. Effective Communication
According to a 2016 LinkedIn survey, oral and written
communication proficiency consistently topped
the most sought-after soft skills among employers.
Business executives sometimes hire consultants
to coach them in sharpening their communication
skills (Schaub et al., 2017). For that very reason, the
skill of effective communication has a high demand
in the Islamic banking industry. In the context of
Islamic banking business, effective communication
skills can be described as a two-fold process; first,
comprehending the purpose and nature of a financial
product/query, and second, eloquently articulating
the Sharī’a principles, regulatory and risk requirements
about the enquired case in an engaging and deliberated
way without jeopardizing the sprite of Islamic law
(Agha, 2020). In addition to the local language where
the business operates, successful Islamic bankers are
also fluent in international business languages such as
English, French, etc. An Islamic banker who is skilled
in intercultural communication will not only be able
to work productively in the multicultural industry
of Islamic finance, but can also appreciate differing
values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors, to anticipate,
act, and react in appropriate ways to produce the most
effective results.
Conclusion
By analyzing the above qualities, it can be concluded
that these personality traits together point toward two
key principles of success. First is the Law of Resonance.
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Successful Islamic bankers attract people who resonate
with their wavelength, and opportunities in resonance
with their personas. As Dr. Steve articulated, the
universe does not give you what you want, it gives you
what you demand with your actions. In other words,
success is not about your dominant thought, it is about
your dominant identity. For higher career success, you
should change your personality to the frequency that
vibrates your dream future. This is why Qurān says,
“Allah will never change the condition of people until
they change themselves”.
Second, attaining success is not simply a matter of
luck. It is the product of a unique combination of skills,
mindset, and effort. Qurān refers to this principle as
“A man shall not deserve but (the reward of) his own
effort” in this world and the world hereafter. The
Prophet (P.B.U.H) used to pray, “O Allah, no one can
withhold what You have given, and none can give what
You have withheld, and no fortune can benefit anyone
without your permission”. Despite being a critical
factor in success, no formula can predict good luck.
However, through consistent hardworking with the
right mindset, you can increase your chances of being
“at the right time and place with the right skills” to grab
the opportunity.
References
1. Agha, E. (2019). 4 Reasons Why You Need a Mentor in Islamic
Banking Career. ISFIRE.
2. Agha, E. (2020). The Three Skills of Successful Sharīʿah
Advisors. ISFIRE.
3. Carton, A. M. (2018). “I’m not mopping the floors, I’m putting
a man on the moon”: How NASA leaders enhanced the
meaningfulness of work by changing the meaning of work.
Administrative Science Quarterly, 63(2), 323–369.
4. Craig, N., & Snook, S. (2014). From Purpose to Impact.
Harvard Business Review, 92(5), 104–111.
5. Forum, W. E. (2020). The Future of Jobs Report 2020.
6. Schaub, M., Eckert, J., Fehsenfeld, A., Hoffman, R. R.,
Krusniak, A., McCoy, T., Norman, R. J., Toscano, J., & others.
(2017). Business Communication for Success.
7. Sinek, S. (2009). Start with Why: How great leaders inspire
everyone to take action. Penguin.
1. Agha is an Islamic banker and holds a PhD in Islamic banking and
finance from International Islamic University Malaysia. He writes about
Islamic commercial law and Shari'a decision making in Islamic banking.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely of the author and do not
express the views of his employer. He can be reached at Ehsanaagha@
gmail.com
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Pause for Thought

Ribawi
Commodities Professor Humayon Dar, PhD (Cantab)

Silver
Gold Wheat

Barley Dates

Salt

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If gold, silver, wheat, barley, dates and salt are Ribawi
commodities, does it mean other commodities are
non-Ribawi?
If gold, silver, wheat, barley, dates and salt can only
be exchanged on spot and only in equal quantities,
does it mean other commodities can be exchanged
with deferment and in unequal quantities?
Calling these six commodities as Ribawi commodities
is insane. There are two Hadith’s quoted in this
context:
Ubida b. al-Simit (Allah be pleased with him) reported
Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying:
Gold is to be paid for by gold, silver by silver, wheat
by wheat, barley by barley, dates by dates, and salt by
salt, like for like and equal for equal, payment being
made hand to hand. If these classes differ, then sell as
you wish if payment is made hand to hand.
Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (Allah be pleased with him)
reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him)
as saying: Gold is to be paid for by gold, silver by silver,
wheat by wheat, barley by barley, dates by dates,
salt by salt, like by like, payment being made hand
to hand. He who made an addition to it, or asked for
an addition, in fact dealt in usury. The receiver and
the giver are equally guilty . The two Hadith’s refer
to a special situation, i.e., exchange of an item with
itself (i.e., selling something for a price denominated
in itself). This means selling wheat for wheat, gold for
gold, silver for sliver, etc.
The prohibition of Riba implies that they should be
exchanged in equal quantities even if the exchange is
spot. The Hadith’s also imply that these items cannot
be exchanged for themselves through a sale contract
if there is deferment of price or delivery. It doesn’t
mean that other contracts of exchange cannot
be used to exchange such items (and others), with
deferment. Of course wheat can be borrowed and so
could be either of the other six commodities and in
fact any other permissible asset.
The permissibility of sale of such commodities (and
by way of analogy of others) on spot basis is to
allow the transacting parties to benefit from quality
differential. Thus, it will make sense to exchange one
kilo of wheat with one kilo of wheat on spot only
if the two exchangeables differ in quality. No party
would exchange equal quantities of something if
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there is no quality differential. Two rational parties
will agree to exchange an asset X on spot in equal
quantities only if they differ in quality, i.e., exchange
of an asset take place on spot only if
X(qual1) > X(qual2) or
X(qual1) < X(qual2)
If X(qual1) is held by a Party A and X(qual2) is held by
Party B, the former will benefit from a spot exchange
of equal quantities if
X(qual1) < X(qual2)
and the latter will benefit from a spot exchange of
equal quantities if
X(qual1) > X(qual2)
If there is no quality differential, i.e.,
X(qual1) = X(qual2)
no exchange of equal quantities will take place, as
there is no benefit accruing to either of the parties.
Corollary: Any benefit accruing to either of the
transacting parties solely due to quantity differential
is Riba; and any benefit accruing to either of the
transacting parties due to quality differential is not
only permissible but desirable in the presence of the
prohibition of Riba. This applies to any transaction
whether on spot or with deferment.
X(qual1) - X(qual2) > 0 is permissible as long as
X(quant1) = X(quant 2)
X(qual2) - X(qual1) > 0 is permissible as long as
X(quant1) = X(quant 2)
X(qual1)|T0 - X(qual2)|T0 > 0 is a permissible trade
benefit (where X(qual1)|T0 is the amount of X with
qual1 delivered at T0 and X(qual2)|T0 is the amount of
X with qual2 delivered at T0, i.e., at the same time).
X(qual1)|T0 - X(qual2)|T1 > 0 isn’t a permissible benefit,
if such a trade is executed through a sale contract
(where X(qual1)|T0 is the amount of X with qual1
delivered at T0 and X(qual2)|T1 is the amount of X with
qual2 delivered at T1, i.e., on a future date).
X(qual1)|T0 - X(qual2)|T1 > 0 could be a permissible
benefit if it is accrued through another contract of
exchange, e.g., borrowing.
| ISFIRE, DECEMBER 2022 | TA L K I N G P O I N T S | 37
 PERSPECTIVES

A Catalyst for a Paradigm

Shift in Islamic Finance
FinTech and Future of Islamic Financial Thought Leadership

SAJID HUSAIN
Co-founder & CEO, Qiam

Introduction
Islamic Finance is the answer to the malaise of traditional finance. With its principles guided by Shari’a - particularly
no Riba (no interest), profit & loss sharing model, wealth equality - Islamic finance can fix what’s broken in traditional
finance, as long as it is followed and implemented to its true spirits.

For the last few years, Islamic finance is on a growth trajectory that’s outpacing the traditional finance. Its growth
is spurred by adoption by not only Muslims in Muslim majority countries, but also by people from other faith and
from developed countries like UK, Canada, Australia, and US and others. Islamic finance is now not just a religious
fervour, it has matured into a financial system that can withstand financial downturns and market crashes, thanks to
its core principles embedded in fairness, trust, transparency and equality.

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 PERSPECTIVES

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 PERSPECTIVES
Despite this growth, Islamic finance industry hasn’t
grown to its true potential.
Listed below are the few reasons why Islamic finance is
lagging behind the traditional finance industry:
• Lack of awareness and knowledge of Islamic
finance even within Muslims.
• Lack of trust amongst Muslims due to the dubious
adoption by many Islamic financial institutions,
particularly by so-called Islamic banks, wherein
many traditional finance instruments (thereby
not free from Riba) are wrapped around the
label of Halal and Shari’a compliant and sold to
unsuspecting customers.
• Hesitancy to adopt new technology and
digitalisation by Islamic scholars and resistance to
evolve.
• Lack of access to capital for small and medium
size companies that are looking to raise funds in
a Shari’a compliant way, to grow their business.
It may sound harsh, but we need to be self-critical
and look inwards for the solution. The solution lies in
looking forward, taking futuristic and bold steps, and
adopting new ways including adoption of technology
to achieve the potential that Islamic finance is capable
of.
The Problem
Traditional finance is a cancer eating everyone
from within
The core focus of traditional finance is wealth creation
through any possible means, as long as it benefits the
individuals. The wealthy and powerful control the
narrative of economic growth, and they retain most
of the wealth.
As has been widely reported, the world’s top 10%
richest own 76% of the world’s wealth and the same
10% corner 52% of the world’s income.1 During the
peak of COVID-19 pandemic years, the wealthy
became wealthier and the poor became poorer. Today
many countries are struggling economically due to
high inflation. And the inconsiderate money printing
on-demand, without backing of any economic activity,
didn’t help either. The system is rigged in favour of the
wealthy as history has shown that the wealthy who
1. U.S. National Debt Surpasses $30 Trillion: What This Means For You https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228201864
2. Economic inequality has deepened during pandemic https://weforum.org/agenda/2022/04/economic-inequality-wealth-gap-pandemic
40 | ISFIRE, DECEMBER 2022 | PERSPECTIVES | W W W. I S F I R E . N E T
have been known for wrongdoing haven’t been held
accountable; at least not enough to deter them in
future. By creating money out of nothing, fractional
reserve banking has proven to be detrimental to the
society at large. When one argues the ills of capitalism,
no article/discussion/argument goes without the
mention of the global financial crisis of 2007-08. After
millions of people suffered due to this great recession,
many started questioning the traditional finance
system.
Moreover, traditional finance is rooted in debt-based
financing, which is not only exploitative and damaging,
but also morally corrupt.
US sovereign debt today stands at an astounding $30
Trillion2, and it has always climbed only up and up
without dropping for close to a century! And the US
government will pay a staggering $5.4 Trillion3 only in
interest over the next 10 years.
Islamic Finance for everyone
Islamic Finance follows the tenets of Shari’a, which
proposes and encourages, a society that thrives on
equality, including wealth equity, generating and
accumulating wealth, but without dealing in usury
and interest, sharing risks thereby providing a level
playing field to all the parties involved in any financial
transaction, and avoiding speculation (gharar) and
gambling (maysir). It also emphasizes that money has
no intrinsic value and can only be used as a medium of
exchange. And once can’t make money out of money,
without the backing of real assets.
If you look at the principles of Shari’a without the prism
of the religion, it becomes clear that these principles
are based on sound economics and is a catalyst for
equality and an equitable society.
Islamic Finance: Missing in spirit
Islamic finance is the panacea for the ills of traditional
finance. It avoids the pitfalls of capitalistic mindset
that’s prevalent in traditional finance. Its core principles
provide ways for generating and sharing wealth across
all strata of the society.
But why don’t we see the ideal result of wealth equity
and economic prosperity that should have ideally been
enabled by Islamic finance?

Turns out, as sound as the principles of Shari’a may be,
the practitioners of Islamic finance have not been true
to their words when it comes to the implementation of
these principles in spirit.
Islamic banking industry is a great example. In order to
grow aggressively and keep pace with the competition
– in this case, the traditional banks – many Islamic
Banks indulge in offering instruments that may look
Shari’a compliant, but in effect are weakly complaint
to Shari’a. Commodity murabah’a is one such example
from among a few others which represent the same
instruments with unconvincing compliance to Shari’a
but which have been certified as Halal and permissible
by many Islamic scholars. Today, if you study the
financial statements of many Islamic banks, majority of
their assets are loans or debts!
It’s not just Islamic banks alone. Even among the
general Muslim population, the fervour for adherence
to Shari’a-compliant financial transaction is found
lacking. How many times have you seen Muslims
reacting to riba-based finance in the same way as they
react with shock to food that’s not certified as Halal?
Islamic Finance: Playing catch-up
Islamic finance is relatively young compared to
traditional finance. Whereas traditional finance is
few thousand years old, formal adoption of Islamic
finance started only fifty years ago. Even though it has
the advantage of starting relatively late, it has been
playing catch up with the traditional finance. Rather
than being bold and innovative, it has just been a
follower. It’s not just because Islamic finance had to
work within the same regulatory environment as the
traditional finance and had to compete against it,
but also due to hesitancy of the leaders to take bold
steps and bring about the change that the traditional
finance lacked. What is required is a paradigm shift in
Islamic finance, in its adoption, in its implementation
(Maqasid-al-Shari’a, as per the objectives of Shari’a)
and bring innovation to encourage the wider adoption
of Islamic Finance globally.
The Solution
Today, every part of our day-to-day lives is getting
reshaped thanks to the development of new
technologies. From 1990s - when people had to use
3. Interest cost on the national debt projected to nearly triple over the next decade https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2021/07/interest-costs-on-the-national-debt-
projected-to-nearly-triple-over-the-next-decade
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PERSPECTIVES
slow and noisy modems to connect to internet with
crawling speeds - to today where even the smallest
of devices are interconnected and being used by
billions across the world for instant communication.
The smartphone, in particular, has changed the social
patterns of people with the explosive growth of social
media.
So, the landscape of both traditional and Islamic
finance is being reshaped by innovation, thanks to
the maturity of technologies like Artificial Intelligence
(AI), Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality (AR & VR),
Blockchain & crypto, Internet of Things (IoT), and
Advanced Robotics to name a few.
Of particular interest is the adoption of Blockchain
and the crypto technology, particularly by the
FinTech companies that are propelling the growth
of the finance industry. Combined with AI and IoT,
Blockchain technology has the potential to disrupt not
just the financial industry but also other business areas
including healthcare, education, energy & utilities,
retail, tourism, sport, lifestyle, manufacturing, supply
chain, logistics and more. Blockchain can revolutionise
the Islamic finance industry through the adoption of
smart contracts and decentralization.
Transforming lives using Technology
Before we look at how technology can transform
the lives of people, let’s look at why we need a
transformation in the first place. Islam proposes the
concept of life after death, which is eternal, and we all
will be judged for how we lived our lives in the current
world. During this life Shari’a shows the way and acts
as a guide to our way of life. We need to understand
the objectives of Shari’a. We need to understand the
end, not just look at the means to the end. Muslims are
advised to keep this in mind while living their daily life
and every action they take.
In the context of wealth management, Shari’a proposes
a world which is equal, moral, fair, and trustworthy;
where wealth creation is done in an ethical way and
is made accessible to everyone. Traditional finance
encourages capitalism and individual profits at any
cost, irrespective of the impact on the social fabric of
the society. Islamic finance on the other hand strongly
encourages and enables equality, fairness, and trust.
Islamic social finance (zakat and sadaq’a) play a
significant role is addressing the wealth inequality.
| ISFIRE, DECEMBER 2022 | PERSPECTIVES | 41
 PERSPECTIVES
Technology creates a level playing field
In a world, where things are changing at the speed of
light, technology is playing a central role in changing
and disrupting the global business environment, more
so in the finance industry.
Today, thanks to technology, the access to financial
services is instant and global. This has created a
competitive environment for the financial institutions,
where they’ve to compete hard for customer attention,
acquisition, and retention.
Technology has enabled the digital transformation
at a rapid pace, and this has given an opportunity
for the financial institutions to expand globally and
get access to global customers. Today you can open
a bank account in ten minutes with a smartphone
and without leaving the comfort of your home. You
can transfer cryptocurrency to anyone in the world
within a minute. Digitalisation of financial industry has
opened up new avenues for the financial institutions
to offer new value-added services. thereby increasing
their revenue through new business models.
On the customer's side, technology provides an equal
opportunity to the world’s population to get access
to financial services that were unimaginable even a
decade back. The lines are blurred between developed,
developing, and under-developed countries when it
comes to the access to financial services. I can go out
on a limb and say that some of the developing and
underdeveloped nations are embracing innovative
technologies, particularly financial services, that aren’t
available in developed countries!
Thanks to the FinTech companies, today there’s hardly
a need to carry cash in your wallet/purse, as you can
pay through your smartphones to buy a coffee or an
expensive car from a showroom.
Building trust in the global village through
Islamic Fintech
The transformation is required not just at the
technology level, but also in the perception of what
benefits Islamic finance provides compared to
traditional finance. What will it take to enable the trust
between two unknown parties to conduct a financial
transaction, across the globe? How can the fairness
be ensured when you do business with someone who
is thousands of miles away and you don’t even know
how they look like or where they live?
Bringing the principles of Islamic finance and technology
can enable this. With the help of technology, we can
4. Global Islamic Report-2022
42 | ISFIRE, DECEMBER 2022 | PERSPECTIVES | W W W. I S F I R E . N E T
build and automate the principles in a way that makes
it seamless, easy, trustworthy for everyone to use.
Islamic FinTech can help achieve this objective.
The ethos of Shari’a and Islamic finance focuses
on trust, fairness, equality, and risk-sharing. Unlike
traditional finance, where the lender always has the
upper hand, Islamic finance provides an equal platform
for both parties, through trust and risk-sharing. Today,
the true implementation of Shari’a has been diluted
by none other than Islamic banks, who mimic the
traditional banks with instruments mimicking riba
based offering. This can be avoided by Islamic FinTech
wherein they can develop products that adhere to
principles of Shari’a and offer risk-sharing options out
of the box. Today, technologies like Blockchain and
smart contracts exist that can enforce adherence to
Shari’a principles. It also offers transparency and trust
between the parties.
Building competitive advantage over traditional
finance
It’s not just enough to digitalise our way of living and
assume that everything will be fine. From a long-term
perspective, we need to look at not only bringing more
Muslims under the fold of Islamic finance, but also
everyone globally; invite people from all faiths, who are
disillusioned by the traditional finance and are looking
for an ethical alternative. As the only morally fair
alternative to the traditional finance, Islamic FinTech
can play a significant role in fostering the competitive
advantage for the Islamic finance industry.
Propelling Islamic Economy through Islamic
FinTech
Along with the developments in technology, the
adoption and growth of Islamic finance has outpaced
the traditional finance industry. The Islamic FinTech
market size in the OIC was $79 Bn in 2021 and is
projected to grow at 17.9% CAGR to $179 Bn by
2026.4
This is due to multiple reasons:
• The population of the Muslims globally is around
25% of the world’s population.
• As per age demographics, they are young and
thanks to the internet and smartphones, they have
access to financial services on their fingertips.
• These youngsters are much more financial
savvy than their previous generation, and they
prefer to conduct their financial transactions,
wealth acquisition and management, in a Shari’a
 PERSPECTIVES

Muslims Population
25% of world’s Under 34 Years
population is Muslims
50%

7.9 BN
WORLD POPULATION
1.9 BN

24
YEARS Median age of
Muslims worldwide

Proportion of Muslim Population in World Population

compliant way. to reach $179 billion by 2026 at a CAGR of 17.9%

In addition to this, the adoption of Islamic finance compared to the overall global FinTech industry, which
by people from other faiths has also increased is expected to develop at a CAGR of 13.5% over the
significantly in countries like UK5, Canada, Australia, same time period.
and US. It provides them an alternative to traditional
finance, which they no longer consider as fair or just. Islamic FinTech industry is still in its infancy and its size
is just a fraction of traditional FinTech.
Islamic FinTech Landscape
But it’s not small by any means. Today, there are close
As per the Global Islamic FinTech Report-2022, Islamic
to 400 Islamic FinTech startups globally; and the
FinTech industry is poised to grow faster than their
numbers are growing rapidly. With a market size of
counterpart.
$79 Billion in 2021, projected at $179 Billion in 2026,
and 375 Islamic FinTech(s) globally, the Islamic FinTech
• The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
sector is showing signals of maturity.6
(OIC) countries’ Islamic FinTech transaction volume
was estimated to be $79 billion in 2021, accounting
The following image shows the landscape of the
for 0.8 percent of worldwide FinTech transactions
Islamic FinTech, categorized in three broad areas. This
according to the same report.
may not be the exhaustive classification, but most of
today’s Islamic FinTech are part of this.
• The Islamic FinTech market size is anticipated

Market Size Top 6 OIC Islamic Fintech Market Sizes 2021 ($Bn)
OIC countries are expected to continue
to grow the Islamic Fintech sector 26.0
at 17.9% CAGR through 2026
Key: 19.1
Other
Kuwait
Indonesia $79 Bn
4.8 4.8
Turkiye 4.4 4.2

UAE
Malaysia Saudi Arabia Iran Malaysia United Arab Turkiye Indonesia
Emirates
Iran
Saudi Arabia
2021 2026

Proportion of Muslim Population in World Population Islamic FinTech Market Size

5. Majority of non-Muslim UK consumers believe that Islamic finance is relevant to all faiths https://www.alrayanbank.co.uk/latest-news/majority-non-muslim-
uk-consumers-believe-islamic-finance-relevant-all-faiths
6. Global Islamic Fintech Report-2022

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 PERSPECTIVES

SAVE & INVEST

DEPOSITS & LENDING WEALTH MANAGEMENT

Challenger Banking Open Banking Asset Management Pension

Personal Finance Mortgage Robo-Advisory Personal Finance

Student Finance

GIVE & PROTECT

SOCIAL FINANCE INSURANCE

Zakat Sadaqah Takaful Re-Takaful

Waqf

FINANCE

RAISING FUNDS PAYMENTS DIGITAL ASSETS CAPITAL MARKETS ALTERNATIVE FINANCE

Crowdfunding Payments Remittances Wallets Digital Exchanges Sukuk SME Finance

Peer 2 Peer Forex Asset Tokenisation Investment Trading Trade Finance

Islamic FinTech Landscape

Blockchain: An introduction transparent and immutable. This is particularly useful

Technology innovation changes the way we live, and
the advancement of technology is happening at a rapid
pace. What a smartphone can do today was done with
twenty separate devices couple of decades back! As
the power of technology is growing, the time to get
access to it is reducing.
Blockchain is one of the new kids on the block.
Blockchain came into prominence in 2008, with
the publishing of a research paper on Bitcoin by its
pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto. Since then,
the popularity and its adoption have progressed at an
astounding pace.
Blockchain is a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT).
Though there are many ways to implement DLT,
Blockchain happens to be one of them. Blockchain is a
shared, immutable ledger that facilitates the process of
recording transactions and tracking assets in a business
network.7 Simply put, Blockchain is a decentralized
public ledger system that facilitates records of
business transactions between two parties, which is
for financial transactions as Blockchain can facilitate
transfer of funds globally, in the form of crypto,
without intermediation, securely and transparently.
What are the advantages/benefits of Blockchain?
1. Decentralization
Blockchain is a network of computers (also called
nodes) spread across the world where the data (record
of transactions) is stored in a synchronized way. This
ensures that the control and decision making are not
under one individual or group. This way, it not only
creates redundancy but also maintains the fidelity of
data that’s stored in Blockchain. Blockchain enables
sharing of data within an eco-system of business
where no single entity is exclusively in charge of the
system.
2. Transparency
Due to the decentralized nature of Blockchain, all the
transactions recorded can be viewed transparently by

7. What is Blockchain technology? https://www.ibm.com/in-en/topics/what-is-blockchain

44 | ISFIRE, DECEMBER 2022 | PERSPECTIVES | W W W. I S F I R E . N E T


Advantages/ Benefits of Blockchain
anyone. Anyone can use Blockchain explorer; explore it
to see all the transactions happening on Blockchain, in
real time. All transactions on Blockchain are recorded,
which are immutable, and are time-stamped. This
enables anyone to view the history of a transaction
and eliminates any opportunity of manipulation.
3. Trust
Because of the decentralized nature and transparency,
Blockchain creates the trust between two parties who
can engage in business dealings without intermediaries.
Any documentation that’s required for the business
transaction is also stored in Blockchain, or at least the
access to the document can be provided.
Taking one specific example, using Blockchain, you can
transfer funds to anyone in the world and the other
party can be confident that when you say you have
transferred, it’s visible for them to verify the transfer.
4. Speed and Increased Efficiency
Have you tried to transfer funds from your bank
account to someone who lives in a different country?
Not only it takes days, sometime weeks, to transfer
but it also comes at a high cost of transfer. Moreover,
8. Smart Contract https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_contract
W W W. I S F I R E . N E T
PERSPECTIVES
in the case of a delay, the bank on each side blames
the other one for delay. There’s no transparency of
activities during this transfer and you are at the mercy
of the banks to get the transactions completed, at their
convenience.
Blockchain removes the intermediation, excessive
paperwork and reduces the time to transfer with the
visibility of the transfer all the time. And it’s instant.
So, not only you save time, but it comes at greater
transparency and reduced overhead.
5. Smart Contracts
Though the concept of Blockchain and distributed
ledger technology existed much before Bitcoin in
1990s, Bitcoin is the first implementation of Blockchain
technology. When Bitcoin was released, it was used
only for transfer of bitcoin through its network. Smart
contract changed the Blockchain landscape and made
it more powerful, capable, and useful. Suddenly, with
smart contract, the utilities of Blockchain increased
dramatically. With smart contracts, the capability of
Blockchain goes beyond transfer of cryptos.
The term “Smart contract” was coined by Nick Szabo
in 1994.8 He referred smart contracts as “a set of
| ISFIRE, DECEMBER 2022 | PERSPECTIVES | 45
 PERSPECTIVES
promises, specified in digital form, including protocols
within which the parties perform on these promises."
A smart contract is a self-executing software code,
which resides on Blockchain, and is a set of terms of
contract that’s required to conduct business between
the parties. This software code is executed when
the terms in the contract are met. It’s self-executing
because it doesn’t require manual intervention by
the parties conducting the business transaction. As
per the contract written in the code, the moment any
of the contract condition is met, the smart contract
executes and carries the instructions mentioned in
the code. The smart contracts are also distributed,
meaning they are also replicated across the nodes
of the Blockchain and just like the data stored in
Blockchain, smart contracts are immutable, and once
deployed, the code cannot be changed by anyone. By
eliminating manual intervention and without the need
of intermediaries, a smart contract on a Blockchain
can make conducting business more efficient and
economical with no conflicts, and without delays. It
also reduces the chances of fraud as the contract and
Blockchain compatibilities with Shari'a Tenets
Islamic Finance
Contractual Shari’a tenets stipulate to put business
Obligations contract in writing to ensure fairness
and accountability. This is mentioned
in Quran (Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayat 282-
283)9
Trust Every business transaction between
parties is mandated to be built on mutual
trust and reliability. Shari’a considers this
as an essential element for conducting
business. There should not be any element
of ambiguity while conducting business
Transparency Shari’a stipulates that every business
activity is conducted transparently
between the parties; not just during the
initial sign-off period, but also during the
entire tenure of the business. This means,
the contract, the structuring, and the
operationalizing of the contract must be
transparent to all the parties.
Equality (Social Shari’a principles encourage equality
inclusion) in all aspects of life, including in wealth
management. It encourages wealth sharing
and creating an equitable society
9. Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayat 282-283 https://islamicstudies.info/reference.php?sura=2&verse=282-283
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the data are immutable and the contract execution is
self-managed by Blockchain. With smart contracts,
everyone can now use it, not just for crypto funds
transfer, but also use it to conduct real business
transactions on Blockchain. Now you can use it for
finance and accounting, supply chain, shipping and
transport, contract management, invoicing, and
payments, and much more.
Blockchain: A natural companion to Islamic
finance
One of the significant benefits of Blockchain, beyond
its technical capabilities is that core fundamental
principles of Blockchain resonate well with Islamic
finance and the tenets of Shari’a.
As you can see from the table below, many of the
tenets of Shari’a are implemented and already built-in
in Blockchain.
Blockchain
Smart contracts record and enforce the
contractual obligations of the business
transactions between parties
Trust is enabled through smart
contracts wherein all the business
contractual obligations are available for
all the parties to see and verify before
signing off on the business transaction
All the transactions happening on
Blockchain are transparent and visible to
anyone who wants to see them. Hence,
any contract execution happening
between parties are not only automatically
executed by the smart contracts, it also
is made transparent thus giving the
confidence to all the parties involved.
Though not obvious upfront, Blockchain
enables equality through unrestricted
access to everyone without restriction as
well as fractionalization, thereby providing
an equal opportunity for everyone to
participate in economic activities and social
inclusion
 PERSPECTIVES

This makes Blockchain an ideal technology platform
to develop innovative Islamic FinTech solutions that
are socially inclusive, trustworthy, transparent, and
available globally.
Applications of Blockchain in Islamic finance
As the Blockchain technology is maturing and the
adoption is increasing, it’s becoming clear that
Blockchain can be used in different functions of the
real-world businesses; it’s not just confined only to
finance. Below table depicts a non-exhaustive list of
potential use cases of Blockchain.

Block Use Cases for Islamic finance

Finance Business Real Estate Government

sukuk Supply Chain Tokenising and Benefits Records

Management fractionalising real estate Management
Digital Assets Warehouse Property evaluation Identity Management
Management
takaful (Insurance) Transport & Logistics Ownership records Voting

Islamic Social Finance Shop Floor Management Energy & Utilities Insurance

Microfinance Accounting & Invoicing Tokenising usage Fraud reduction through

transparent claims
management
Trade Finance Healthcare Metering, Billing & Expedited claim
invoicing processing
Payments (including Electronic Health Media & Entertainment Pay as you use model
international) Records (EHR) using IoT & Blockchain
Peer-to-peer lending Prescription Intellectual Property
Management Management

Technology Areas are already mainstream and are embedded in the

It needs to be emphasised that Blockchain technology
alone is not the answer for developing innovative
solutions for Islamic FinTech. There are other cutting-
edge technologies too, which can play a significant
role in pushing the boundaries of Islamic FinTech and
other areas too. In fact, Islamic FinTechs can do well by
combining some of these latest technologies to disrupt
the current finance industries, both Islamic finance and
traditional finance. Including Blockchain, they are:
1. Blockchain
• Simple smart contracts
• AI enabled smart contracts
• Metaverse
2. Internet of Things (IoT)
3. Artificial Intelligence (AI)
We could also include technologies like cloud
computing and big data to this list. But today they
technology landscape of the companies, particularly
FinTech.
Financial Applications on Blockchain
1. sukuk
In Islamic capital markets, sukuk is the most important
and popular instrument. Sukuk is a financial certificate
through which the investors gain partial ownership on
the obligator’s (issuer) assets until the sukuk matures.
Sukuk enables the businesses to raise capital without
diluting the equity.
Sukuks have become popular in the Islamic finance
world since 2000, with Malaysia being the first country
to issue sukuk, followed by Bahrain. Sukuk represents
aggregate and undivided shares of ownership in a
tangible asset as it relates to a specific project or a

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 PERSPECTIVES
specific investment activity.10 But today sukuk has
multiple challenges:
a. High ticket size
b. High barrier to entry for investors
c. Highly intermediated
d. High cost of operationalisation
e. Lack of transparency
Blockchain can address these challenges:
a. High ticket size: Today’s sukuks are issued
with upward of $100 Million, thereby depriving smaller
companies (SMEs) to raise capital through sukuks.
But with Blockchain, the issuance size can be brought
down to as low as $100,000.
b. High barrier to entry for investors: Due to the
high cost of issuance, the entry point for an investor is
also prohibitive to an extent that retail investors are
unable to participate in investing in sukuk. Today, the
majority of the investors in sukuks are large financial
institutions.
Blockchain enables fractionalization. This means that
the face value of the sukuk can also be brought down
to as low as $100. This removes the entry barrier for
“SUKUK ISSUANCE CAN BE DISRUPTED WITH THE
HELP OF BLOCKCHAIN AND IOT.”
small investors.
c. Highly intermediated: Today, the sukuk
issuance process is complicated due to multiple
intermediaries. This is also one of the major factor for
the inefficiency in issuing sukuks.
Thanks to smart contracts in Blockchain, many of
the activities conducted by intermediaries can be
automated and managed through smart contracts,
thereby reducing the number of intermediaries, and
increasing the efficiency.
d. High cost of operationalisation: Due to high
intermediation, the cost of sukuk issuance also is very
high today.
The issuance of sukuk through Blockchain can result in
huge cost saving to the issuers.
10. What is Sukuk https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sukuk.asp
11. What is KPI https://kpi.org/KPI-Basics
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e. Lack of transparency: One of the
shortcomings of today’s sukuk process is the lack of
transparency from the obligors to share the necessary
information at the right time.
With the help of Blockchain and the integration with
Internet of Things (IoT), business related data is made
available on Blockchain for the investors to see on a
real-time basis. Today, most businesses publish their
business performance on an annual basis, wherein with
Blockchain, business performance (key performance
indicators - KPIs)11 can be shared with investors even
on a daily basis.
Qiam12, an Islamic FinTech startup, does exactly that,
where they tokenize the sukuk on Blockchain and
all the sukuk activities including yield calculation,
disbursement, business performance are captured and
made available for investors on a just-in-time basis.
2. Digital Assets (Asset Tokenization)
Asset tokenization is the process of representing
physical and digital assets on Blockchain. It divides
the ownership of the asset into digital tokens, and
these tokens act as shares and proof of ownership of
the asset. These digital tokens now can be used for
trading, buying & selling, thereby enabling economic
value transfer between parties.
Real estate is one of the best use cases of asset
tokenization. Take an example of a large real estate
property that costs $100 Million. This type of asset is
usually accessible only to institutional investors. But
with tokenizing the property, the same property can
be split and represented in small size of $100 each.
Now these tokens can be traded on Blockchain, with
participation from even small investors. Imagine if the
property generates income through rentals. With the
help of smart contract, each individual token holder
 PERSPECTIVES

will automatically get a share of the rental in proportion • Infrastructure Projects

to their investment. This is just one of the simplest • Lifestyle (jewellery, clothes, lifestyle accessories)
example of how tokenising assets through Blockchain • Commodities
can enable opportunities to generate income that • Intellectual Property (IP)
wasn’t possible before. • Healthcare (patient data)
• Sports (memorabilia, tokenising players!)
Blockchain technology can democratise investment in
a wide variety of assets, both physical and digital: The following figure depicts an example of how real
assets can be tokenised and benefit.13
• Real Estate
• Art work

Tokenisation of Real Assets. Image courtesy Visual Capitalist

12. Qiam, an Islamic Fintech startup providing Sukuk on blockchain: https://qiam.io/sukuk

13. Blockchain Applications: Tokenization of Real Assets: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/sp/blockchain-applications-tokenization-of-real-assets/

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 PERSPECTIVES
3. Takaful (Insurance)
One of the biggest problem that insurance industry
faces is insurance fraud and false claims. Like sukuk,
takaful industry can be disrupted with the help of
Blockchain. Though, there are many regulatory and
legal hurdles that needs to be crossed before takaful
on Blockchain can be widely adopted by the industry,
it’s ripe for intervention.
As per CB Insights, these are the following applications
of takaful on Blockchain14.
a. Fraud detection & risk prevention: By moving
insurance claims onto an immutable ledger, Blockchain
technology can help eliminate common sources of
fraud in the insurance industry.
b. Property & casualty (P&C) insurance: A
shared ledger and insurance policies executed through
smart contracts can bring an order of magnitude
improvement in efficiency to property and casualty
insurance.
c. Health insurance: With Blockchain
technology, medical records can be cryptographically
secured and shared between health providers,
increasing interoperability in the health insurance
ecosystem.
d. Reinsurance: By securing reinsurance
contracts on the Blockchain through smart contracts,
Blockchain technology can simplify the flow of
information and payments between insurers and
reinsurers.
e. Life insurance: Blockchain technology can
take the burden of filing a death claim away from family
members by replacing the manual process of filing
claims with an automated system built on a Blockchain
ledger.
f. Travel insurance: By automating claims,
processes and efficiently sharing information between
stakeholders, Blockchain travel insurance can save
insurers time while reducing the burden on travelers.
“ZAKAT, SADAQ’A AND WAQF ARE WAYS
THROUGH WHICH WEALTH REDISTRIBUTION IS
ENABLED IN ISLAM.”
14. How blockchain is disrupting Insurance: https://www.cbinsights.com/research/blockchain-insurance-disruption/
15. Qiam, an Islamic Fintech startup providing Zakat & sadaq’a h solution built on blockchain: https://qiam.io/
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In addition to this, with the usage of IoT devices in
takaful, the insurers can get data from the devices (like
automotive) which can help them in claims submission
and processing. This again can reduce false claims and
make the entire process transparent.
4. Islamic Social Finance (Zakat, sadaq’a & waqf)
Wealth equality is one of the most important tenets of
Shari’a. Unfortunately, the amount of wealth disparity
that we see around the world is staggering.
Unfortunately, though these concepts of Islamic
social finance are noble, however – it’s regretful to
say – the implementation by the Muslim Ummah is
anything but perfect. It has been widely reported that
yearly global zakat collection is around $600 billion (a
conservative figure). It may as well reach close to $1
Trillion yearly. But only $15 billion is traceable from
Muzakki (contributors) to Mustahiq (beneficiaries).
This inefficiency can be attributed to multiple factors,
including a lack of transparency by zakat collecting &
distributing institutions.
Blockchain can help streamline the process of zakat
collection and distribution, in a transparent way without
any intermediation. It eliminates mismanagement and
willful corruption by unscrupulous parties.
Through smart contract, zakat collection and
distribution can be automated wherein the
contributors can directly send their contribution
which until it reaches the beneficiaries, stays in the
Blockchain (in the form of crypto). This way, even
the intermediating institutions will not get access to
funds, except for their fee that they are eligible to get
as Amil (individuals or institutions who facilitate zakat
collection and distribution).
 PERSPECTIVES

In order to remove mismanagement and fraud, the
beneficiaries can be qualified through their KYC. This
ensures that the contributed funds are reaching the
intended beneficiaries.
Like zakat, sadaq’a contribution can also be made
through Blockchain, which provides a transparent
way of collection and distribution. Qiam15, intends
to build an end-to-end zakat & sadaq’a solution built
on Blockchain. Contributions can be made using the
mobile app, which ensures that only KYC approved
individuals are enabled to contribute as well as
receive the zakat funds. The mobile app helps the
contributors to calculate the zakat (based on Nisab)
in a simple way wherein they enter their assets and
liabilities, and the app calculates the zakat amount
payable by the contributors. The contributor’s data
is kept confidential and isn’t visible to anyone but the
individual contributors.

Zakat Collection & Distribution Flow

Muzakki Blockchain Mustahiq
(Contributors) (Beneficiaries)

Zakat al-Maal

Zakat al-Fitr

Marriage

Zakat Institutions
Education

Healthcare

Causes

Zakat Collection and Distribution Flow

5. Microfinance companies return the fund based on the structuring

Microfinance is a facility which is provided to small
companies which can’t raise funds through large
financial institutions. This type of finance is also Shari’a
based, which means, no riba is involved.
This can be enabled through Blockchain. Interested
investors can transfer the money to microfinance
institutions through the Blockchain, which provides
the funding to the deserving small companies. The
like mudarabah and murabaha. Some institutions
provide Qard-al-hasan, which is a riba/interest free
loan to individuals.
6. Trade Finance
Trade finance provides the companies with the funds
that are required to buy raw materials to build/make/
manufacture their products. Most of the times, due to
the accounts receivables, the companies don’t have the

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 PERSPECTIVES

required cash to purchase the raw materials, and so,

they depend on trade financing to fulfill their current
shortage of cash. In order for the trade financing
to work smoothly, data and information exchange
between the parties has to happen in a transparent
and timely manner.

Here too, Blockchain can play a significant role in

streamlining the exchange of trade data. Smart
contracts can remove the manual process of data
verification, consolidation and data matching, thereby
making the process more efficient and transparent.

7. Peer-to-Peer Lending
As per a paper published by Mesut Pişkin Merve Can
Kuş,16 Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending allows people with
fund surplus to lend to people who need funds via
online platforms. Those who need funds become able
to choose the most suitable fund provider and lender.
In this type of intermediation, banks are out of the
equation, and online platforms bring together the ones
in need with the ones with surplus funds.

Those in need of funding can communicate directly

with the people they will borrow, while they become
able to obtain funds at cheaper costs. Islamic P2P
lending model, unlike conventional banking, is based
on profit-loss partnership and requires a product of
financing to trade as a physical good or service.
Blockchain brings the transparency to both parties,
including the proof of Shari’a compliance.
Islamic FinTech & ESG
As the Islamic FinTech brings out Shari’a compliant
products and solutions, solving real business problems,
they are also well positioned to champion the ESG
(Environmental, Social & Governance) initiatives as
ESG principles lends well to the principles followed by
Islamic Finance (and thereby, Islamic FinTech).
Islamic FinTech’s product offering can provide impetus
to ESG. For instance, let’s take example of sukuk
issuance. Today, there are more and more ESG or
Green sukuk are issued where the focus is one or
all the elements of ESG. Specifically, the social and
governance part is already enshrined in the Shari'a
guidelines, which encourages risk management,
transparency, ensuring rights managements to name
a few. Hence, Islamic FinTech are at the forefront of
highlighting and promoting ESG based initiatives.
Islamic FinTech: Design Thinking
We have covered how Blockchain and other
technologies can help Islamic FinTech to provide
solutions that are more ethical, transparent, equal and
provides access to all. But we need to think beyond
the obvious and look at what more can be done to
promote the Islamic Finance to the world.
Imagine self-enforcing smart contracts that can
validate proof-of-principle, compliance to Shari’a,
and complete the transaction between two parties,
without intervention. Tokenise fatwas on Blockchain,
anyone?
Imagine AI enabled smart contract solving KYC, AML
and provide robo-advisory. Through Machine Learning
(ML), these smart contracts become better and better
at detecting fraud and money laundering. AI is the
logical evolution for smart contract. Instead of fixed
self-enforcing rules, it can learn and be more adaptive.
Go beyond the obvious and challenge the status
quo
Today, when we meet with the industry veterans
and people with knowledge, what we hear is the

16. Islamic Online P2P Lending: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336819268_Islamic_Online_P2P_Lending_Platform

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number of challenges that Islamic FinTech will face;
be it regulatory, license, jurisdiction, legal compliance,
awareness, willingness to adopt and more!
What is required is, a collective effort to address these
challenges and enable the Islamic FinTech to grow
within and beyond the Islamic world. Islamic Finance
is suitable, beneficial for the global population. It’s
time we do our bit to invite everyone to adopt Islamic
Finance and facilitate Islamic FinTech to cross the
hurdles. Islamic FinTech has the potential to help boost
the global economy.
Challenges
For Islamic FinTech to grow and thrive there’s no
denying the fact that it will have to go through certain
challenges. Compared to the traditional FinTech
industry, Islamic FinTech has additional challenges in
the form of regulation, jurisdiction, and AML.
Regulation
When it comes to Blockchain and crypto, most of the
FinTech (both traditional and Islamic), don’t have a
choice but to go to offshore locations to launch their
companies and issue tokens.
W W W. I S F I R E . N E T
PERSPECTIVES
But there is a silver lining, as UAE has announced
VARA (Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority) which aims
to create an advanced framework for virtual assets.
We hope that it’ll pave the way for others to emulate
and enable an open environment for Blockchain-based
Islamic FinTech startups to grow.
Access to funding
As the Islamic Finance industry is just a fraction of
the traditional finance industry, it’s not surprising that
raising funds for Islamic FinTech is more difficult - more
so - if the startup happens to be an Islamic FinTech
building products using Blockchain.
But then, just like every startup founder, Islamic
FinTech founders will have to hustle doubly hard to
land funding. There’s no magic formula here.
Resistance to change
One of the hurdles for Islamic Finance to increase its
adoption is the lack of awareness. Even today many
Muslims don’t have the knowledge of how Islamic
Finance works. In addition, many who do understand
resist moving from traditional finance to Islamic
finance. It could be due to comfort factor or the fear
of unknown. This can be addressed only through hard
campaigning through channels like social media to
promote awareness.
Conclusion
As we head toward the future, technological
advancement will keep on providing opportunities
for us to grow, as individuals and as community. We
need to have an open mind to adopt a way of life that’s
ethical, fair, equitable, shareable, and socially inclusive.
This is what Islamic jurisprudence chiefly emphasizes
(Maqasid-al-Shari’a).
Islamic FinTech will play a pivotal role in enabling an
equitable world where access to wealth creation is
available to everyone, providing opportunities as a
society to grow inclusively. Insha Allah.
| ISFIRE, DECEMBER 2022 | PERSPECTIVES | 53
 ISFIRE
ANALYSIS

A FIVE YEAR TREND

Khwaja Ehsan Elahi

This article is an attempt to observe the patterns and

get insights from the Islamic banking data of Pakistan
for the past 5 years. Based on the data of more than
20 Islamic banks operating in Pakistan, we try to
answer a series of some engrossing questions from
the data, (2017 to 2022), and attempt to show the
results through using data visualization.

In order to increase outreach of Islamic financial
services in the country, the central bank of Pakistan –
State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) allows to provide Islamic
banking services in the following three ways:
• Full-fledged Islamic banks
• Islamic standalone branches of conventional
banks
• Islamic windows set up in conventional branches
We have gathered the data on all these three
business models of Islamic banking to see the trends
for the last five years. While there are a number of
dimensions to analyze the data, we shall restrict this
article to the number of locations (branches and
windows etc.,) and the deposit size.
Although there are only 5 full-fledged Islamic banks
out of around 22, it is still believed that people
prefer to use Islamic financial services offered by a
full-fledged Islamic bank instead of approaching the
Islamic branches or windows of conventional banks.
The Shari’a Governance Framework (issued by SBP)
is the same for all Islamic banks irrespective of their
business model but the perception of general public
is different when it comes to Islamic branches and
windows.
We used the deposit size and growth as a proxy for
public demand towards Islamic banks. Using the data
available with us, we tried to see whether the afore-
said business models has an impact on deposit size
and growth of an Islamic bank.

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The chart on next page demonstrates that total
deposit of full-fledged Islamic banks remained much
higher than other two models in last 5 years. One
argument here could be that the number of branches
of full-fledged Islamic banks are greater than the
Islamic branches and windows of conventional
branches.
However, it is interesting to note that the data does
not accept this hypothesis. The combined number
of Islamic branches and windows is greater than
branches of full-fledged Islamic banks in all five years.
So, the data proves that it is the not the number of
business locations that is fueling the deposit growth
of full-fledged Islamic banks compared to other
W W W. I S F I R E . N E T
ISFIRE
ANALYSIS
business models.
During 2020, massive growth rate was shown in
total deposit of full-fledged branches despite the
CoVID and decrease in profit rates. One possible
explanation could be that almost all industries were
shut down and there was no significant demand. As
a result, companies and individuals preferred to keep
their deposit in banks.
Significance of IBWs:
Another insight that we get from the above chart
is that IBWs have played a great role in attracting
deposits for conventional banks which offer Islamic
| ISFIRE, DECEMBER 2022 | I S F I R E A NA LYS I S | 55
 ISFIRE
ANALYSIS

Figure 01: Five Year Trend of Islamic Bank’s Total Deposits

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 ISFIRE
ANALYSIS

Figure 02: Yearly growth in IBBs and IBWs

financial services too. The total deposit of banks Conclusion

having IBWs are higher than those working with
The data for the past five years shows that:
Islamic branches only (there is a dip in total deposit
• There is an increased demand for Islamic banking
during 2020 because Bank Alfalah closed all its 121
• The growth after 2019 is much faster than
IBWs and continued with Islamic branches only).
previous years
• Full-fledged Islamic banks attract more deposits
The above chart supports our hypothesis stated
despite having less branches
above that the number of locations is not the main
factor behind attracting more deposits to full-
The Federal Shari'a Court has recently given its
fledged Islamic banks. On the contrary, the number
verdict to eliminate riba (interest) from the country
of outlets of full-fledged branches are less than other
within five years. The conventional banks shall have
two models; whereas combined deposit of IBBs &
to convert their operations to Shari’a compliant
IBB+IBWs are less than combined deposit of full-
practices. The data also supports this and shows
fledged branches.
that people are more interested in and have higher
demand for full-fledged Islamic banks.
We can see in above chart that for each year the
number of branches of full-fledged Islamic banks
is less than those of two other business models
combined. For example, in 2019, total number of IBBs Limitation:
and IBBs plus IBWs were 2,777 and total deposit Banks which were excluded in each year due to non-
were Pkr. 1,020,093 (million). On the other hand, availability of data:
total number of full-fledged outlets were 1,706; 2017 – Silk Bank, Sindh Bank, Summit Bank
whereas total deposit was Pkr. 1,582,866 (million). 2018 – Sindh Bank, Summit Bank
2019 – Silk Bank, Summit Bank
So, it is evident from the data that more numbers 2020 – Silk Bank, Sindh Bank, Summit Bank
of outlets of Islamic branches and windows are not 2021 – Silk Bank
enough to outperform the full-fledged Islamic banks
in terms of deposit mobilization.

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 ISFIRE
PERSONALITY

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 ISFIRE
PERSONALITY

Chief Risk Officer, Etiqa Insurance &Takaful

Ageas Asia Country Manager (Malaysia), Ageas Group

Luisa Evaristo is the Chief Risk Officer of Etiqa

Insurance & Takaful and member of the Senior
Executive Committee of Maybank Ageas Holdings
Berhad since 2014. In her role, she is a permanent
invitee to the Audit Committee Board, Board Risk
Management Committee and Board Oversight
Committee of Information Technology.

She has co-created and transformed the risk

management strategy, standards as well as embedded
practices across the Etiqa companies based in
Malaysia and Singapore. Her efforts in advocating
and developing the Takaful risk management were
marked with the creation of a dedicated Shari’a Risk
unit, 6 years ago, with oversight over Etiqa Family
& General Takaful Shari’a related risks aligned with
Shari’a recently revised Governance Framework
issued by Bank Negara. Over the past 8 years she has
been advocating and sponsoring the development of
takaful business and risk management, preserving and
elevating the Shari’a values and principles.

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 ISFIRE
PERSONALITY

Her professional expertise is demonstrated in strategy Women Council committed with mentoring and
formulation and executions, strategic business reviews, coaching women to rise in their chosen careers. She
capital and risk assessments, financial performance, believes in diversity, equality and inclusion, acting as a
agile and digital reportings and communications. true ambassador and ally.

She is and has been involved in enabling and providing In a domain that is largely male-dominated, she is a
risk challenge leadership across multiple regulatory leading female invited to share her knowledge on topics
and strategic initiatives in the domain of finance, related to insurance and takaful as well as on women
compliance, actuarial, technology and innovation. She in leadership. Given her experience, knowledge and
is a dynamic and a knowledgeable forward-looking reputation she is frequently contributing as a speaker
leader in financial services, with over 25 years of in conferences, as a trainer at academies, as an
experience in banking, insurance and pension expert in supervisory insurance and takaful
funds management in Europe and Asia. initiatives and working groups. She is a
She has developed and implemented passionate contributor to sustainability
enterprise risk management and capital and environment/climate risk related
management frameworks. developments, which has led her to
become one of the insurance and
Prior to her assignment in takaful panel of speakers during
Malaysia, Luisa successfully the JC3 Flagship Conference
led the implementation of by Bank Negara and Securities
the transformational change Commission in 2021. She is a
management programmes, passionate mentor, advocate
the Group wide Solvency II and sponsor of diversity and
Programme for Ageas across inclusion. Leadership roles on
several countries and the sustainability with participation
modality adopted for at industry and shareholders
this transformation was technical working groups.
sensitive to different
cultures. She drives She has addressed several
successful change conferences on the subjects
management and of risk management, insurance
inspires females in the and takaful held in ASEAN
organisation by partnering and Asia Pacific regions.
with businesses, She has been awarded
independent directors, the prestigious accolade
industry regulators of the 25th Most
and shareholders, Influential Women in
constructively and Islamic Business and
successfully transferring Finance by WOMANi
the necessary skills, 2021 reported by
tools and leadership Cambridge IFA. This
to empower respective year, she was titled as
highly motivated team of WOMANi Influencer
individuals. - Women who
have or continue
Luisa is the appointed Ageas to influence thought
Country Manager covering processes related
Malaysia and Singapore with gender diversity in
since 2016, successfully IsBF, encouraging women
coordinating and enabling participation in labour
valuable knowledge exchange force of one or all segments
through the business strategy in IsBF, and providing
partnership between Ageas, mentoring to younger
Etiqa and Maybank. She is a generations of women,
member of the Maybank Group directly or indirectly.

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 ISFIRE
PERSONALITY

W W W. I S F I R E . N E T | ISFIRE, DECEMBER 2022 | I S F I R E P E R S O NA L I T Y | 61

 POINT
OF VIEW

CAPACITY
BUILDING
OF ISLAMIC
FINANCIAL
SYSTEM THE ROLE OF SHARI'A-COMPLIANT,
SUSTAINABILITY, AND FINTECH
Abimbola Yusuf Durojaye
Founder & Director Al-Wahyyain Institute

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 POINT OF
VIEW

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 POINT
OF VIEW
ABSTRACT
Whilst the Islamic finance growth has been rapid in
recent years, the essence of maintaining this progress
in a fast-changing world is highly encouraged within
various emerging opportunities globally, and at the
same time beholding the core values and quintessence
of the industry.
A well-known principle of the Shari’a (i.e. Islamic
Law) is that, all things are permissible until they are
proven unlawful (1). This principle unlocks the barriers
of integrating newly surfacing ideas and innovations
for the futurism of the Islamic finance industry.
Sustainability and FinTech are two of the most widely
communicated concepts to support the industry
growth today due to its environmental and social
gains, transparency, efficiency and feasibility.
Meanwhile, compliance with the Shari’a maxims also
curbs Islamic financial institutions from performing
or funding businesses that could generate negative
impact at every facet of the business processes. This
manuscript aims to analyse mechanisms of integrating
and promoting sustainability ideas and FinTech
innovations into Islamic financial practices without
compromising its key role of Shari’a screening, so as
to have a footprint in the sustainable development
goals and solve several challenges of people around
the world.
KEYWORDS: CAPACITY BUILDING, ISLAMIC
FINANCE, SHARI'A-COMPLIANT, SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT, AND FINTECH.
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Actions for capacity building in the Islamic financial
industry are viewed to be confined within the
framework of the current Islamic financial system with
technological, social, economic, and environmental
considerations and screening. However, there are
impediments to this financial system due to a lack of
knowledge and a weak, stringent approach towards
these potential opportunities to derive economic
prosperity and security while preserving the Shari’a
interest. Correspondingly, educational creativity like
Islamic finance capacity building awareness, seminars,
forums, and more, are organized and initiated across
various parts of the world where Shari’a scholars,
industry professionals and experts study the
background, opportunities and benefits offered by
the Islamic financial sector. Islamic banks also need
to play important roles by looking into the impact of
64 | ISFIRE, DECEMBER 2022 | POINT OF VIEW | W W W. I S F I R E . N E T
their business actions (2), and proactively screen and
coordinate every stage of their activities in line with
Shari’a and capacity building standards.
Luckily, the Islamic finance industry has transcended
the evaluation stage of awareness and acceptance
among various subscribers of different backgrounds,
race and religious beliefs, and is now recognized as one
of the world’s leading financial industry. Consequently,
the countless number of advocates and subscribers of
the Islamic finance will not appreciate the industry to
be restricted to a limited spaced market, they’d rather
like it be broadened into mainstream transactions.
To actualise this idea, an effective profit-oriented,
social and environmental gain products in business
financing must be provided by the Islamic financial
institutions such as banks, for both Muslim and non-
Muslim communities. Though, some standards could
hinder the competitive margin of this type of products
based on jurisdictions. Nevertheless, a well-organized
system and services for investing customers could be
a helping hand. This urgent need has birthed the idea
of capacity building of the Islamic financial system.
Basically, Islamic finance surfaces from a set of
distinctive maxims as spotted by the Islamic economics
development during the 1950s. Instead of becoming
an original emergence that is independent, the roots
of Islamic finance was regarded as a methodological
foundation conjugated with institutional conventional
banking idea that is dominated by Shari’a compliance.
This approach has led towards the firmness and
resilience of the Islamic financial structure even during
the global financial crisis in 2008 (3). The fundamental
goal of Islamic finance is not about “money making”
alone (4), It revolves around the practical reinforcement
of social prosperity and economic stability. Therein,
the good alignment of the society’s financial corporate
bodies’ aims and standards will determine how robust
and successful a society will become (5). The private
enterprise has led the industry’s growth via developing
various innovation products, which has championed
several financial commodities within the Islamic finance
sector fitted to meet the potential market needs.
Alongside, the Islamic finance industry’s purview is
being spread to tap from the newly emerging areas
such as green sukuk funding and risk management
utilising Shari’a compliant confined implementations.
Additionally, financial engineering and designs are
also attractive to advance Shari’a-compliant products
to serve the present day market demands. Ultimately,
Islamic finance has been growing in recent years to be
a possible driver for strengthening financial inclusion
due to it being diverse risk-sharing arrangement which

lessens the financial cost of doing business (6). This
manuscript shall explore the duties, which Shari’a
compliant businesses play to exploit these emerging
opportunities to further the capacity building of
the Islamic financial industry and encourage its
sustainability over the coming years.
2.0 POSITION OF SHARI’A-COMPLIANT
INVESTMENTS
The core value of Shari’a-compliant businesses is to
provide an answer for poverty reduction, economic
development and social fairness and equality which
are also the cornerstones of the prohibition of Riba
(interest/usury), according to Islamic legal system (i.e.
Shari’a). Furthermore, the modes of contract in the
Shari’a structure also go around productive venture
and financial stability. This point has been proven
during the 2008/2009 global financial crisis when the
Islamic financial institutions had a lower influence in
contrast to conventional financial institutions.
Islamic finance offers an unconventional access to
the development established through an inclusive,
fairness, and shared benefit in the allocation of
resources. For instance, risk-sharing under Shari’a
compliant transactions increases contract impositions
and fulfillment by both parties to generate more
profit possibilities. Debt-based financing instrument
of Islamic Finance fosters social involvement via risk-
sharing agreement, demanding all agreeing parties
to abide by all obligations along with those related
to social or environmental security. In conclusion,
Shari’a-compliant investment does not only aid the
implementation of moral business activities, but in
addition, promotes sustainable development of the
economies.
Finance within the scope of Shari’a stand by the
moral doctrine that supports the society to rise
above covetousness and enhance the maxims of
public commodities and social justice. According
to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), “Islamic
finance refers to the provision of financial services in
accordance with the Shari’a Islamic law, principles and
rules. Shari’a does not permit the receipt and payment
of ‘Riba’ (interest), ‘gharar’ (excessive uncertainty),
‘maysir’ (gambling), short sales or financing activities
that it considers harmful to the society. Instead, the
parties must share the risks and rewards of a business
transaction and the transaction should have a real
economic purpose without undue speculation, and not
involve any exploitation of either party.” (7).
W W W. I S F I R E . N E T
POINT OF
VIEW
In distinction to the IMF and Islamic finance definition,
it is crystal clear that exploitation and social injustice
are motives behind the prohibition of ‘Riba’ (interest/
usury), which is contrary to the conventional
capitalist structure, in which few groups of the rich
and powerful pull the masses off the opportunity of
financial contribution to invest in the economy. The
understanding of money in the Islamic economy is a
means of exchange, which eases market transactions.
Hence, money cannot generate money, as it is done
in conventional interest-based finance. Islamic modes
of finance speak for real asset that will secure profit
and value to any national economy (8). It is guided
by the virtuous and ethical principles, which are
supportive of the eco-friendly businesses to secure
environmental preservation and growth. In respect to
that, investment in the economy will act in accordance
with the standards of Islamic finance, which drives
capital and investment for encouraging sustainable
development. Nevertheless, the power of the Islamic
finance system in realizing the national aims of any
economy needs strong government aid to reinforce
the Shari’a compliance guidelines and unlock the
potential of Islamic finance in attaining national
and environmental goals. Lastly, the foundation of
equity and justice under the Shari’a necessitates that
resources are to be distributed between the members
of a community. All members must be allocated with
equal rights to financial resources to participate in the
society’s investments.
3.0 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
OPPORTUNITIES
The concept of the un-sustainable development goals
aims to leave no-one behind. As a result, it advocates
for a comprehensive involvement and contribution
of everyone up to the level of decision-making. This
approach of the United Nations in September 2015
corresponds to the inclusiveness ideology under
Shari’a view, which mandates the significance of
everybody’s participation in societal change and
development. That indicated, the excellence of life
is proportional to the development which aids all-
round support for everyone, against social injustice,
poverty, unfairness and environmental deterioration
(9). b screening, which includes the removal of interest
(Riba), enormous uncertainty (gharar) and keeping away
of unlawful industries. Meanwhile, the sustainable
implementation model necessitates positive screening
like environmental and social results blended with
Shari’a negative screening (10).
| ISFIRE, DECEMBER 2022 | POINT OF VIEW | 65
 POINT
OF VIEW

AGM Internal & External Stakeholders

Clients, employees as well as civil
society trade unions and
specialised environmental and
huanitarian NGOs

BOARD
Overall oversight on sustainability
compliance review

Shariah Committe/Shariah Supervisory Board

Oversight on Shariah related matters to ensure
Shariah compliance of operations products and
financing by also considering the sustainability in
relation to Maqasid

Risk Management Credit Committee Audit Committee Sustainability Committee (SC)

Committee
Oversight on sustainability
risk management in line
with SC reporting
Oversight on sustainability Provide independent
compliance in line with SC assessment of the
reporting sustainability
compliance
Provide independent assessment
of the sustainability related
consequences of projects financing
solutions and products through
enabling function

Management
Ensure executions of business
and operations are sustainable
compliant in all the aspects
defined by Maqasid Al-Shariah
and provide support and the
necessary sources

Reporting
Information/input Flow

Enlarged Governance Framework of Sustainability with Shari’a-Compliance

It is tough to foster the societal welfare without a hale
and sound environment. Hence, Green Investment
are an integral part of strengthening environmental
potentials and encouraging sustainable development.
According to Brundtland Commission on sustainable
development, “ (It is said to be) meeting the needs
of the present without compromising the ability
of future generations to meet their own needs.”
(11). The possibility to achieve people’s needs and
maintain human sustainability can be expanded
through Green Investments which can generate more
job opportunities and boost the quality of life of all
members of the community to restore social stability
and bond.
3.1 Islamic Broad View of Sustainable
Development
While the Shari’a (Islamic legal system) supports
societal, economic, and environmental developments,
it also addresses the current economic and business
model by putting forward a broad stake holding-formed
balance (miizan) viewpoint within the Shari’a system
of development. By means of this model, the idea of
Iqtisaad (a wide Arabic term used for ‘Economic’) will be
the lead and recommended point. Iqtisaad is an Arabic
word which originated from the word ‘Qasd’ and ‘Qist’.
Qasd, which means “aiming at an objective”, “right path
and Qist which means “fair share”, “justice” (12). Thus,

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 POINT OF
VIEW

it can be clarified as “allocating the right of everything 4.0 FINTECH INCLUSION:

in its spot”, which consequently is the act of “displaying
Financial Technology or FinTech is a term overturned
justice”. Similarly, it also means “aiming towards a goal”
lately for technological revolution in financial services.
which signifies the liberation and empowerment of all
It is considered as a game changer that aims to connect
associate within it centered development.
the dots between the financial industry and technology
to advance sustainable economic development.
Iqtisaad seeks to support and preserve an essential
Before now, the financial industry has moved through
balance between all stakeholders of a tenable world.
various phases of development from book balancing to
Humans, environment, and the animal world are
the setting up of central national banks and payment
stakeholders of this world and must be assigned an
remittance, and later, the addition of sophisticated
equal chance and room to thrive and progress as balance
asset markets and more financial products (13).
demands. Consequently, in the financial and economic
sector, there must be a comprehensive thought of all
Similarly, a great idea of technological developments
stakeholders’ interest including all things surrounding
have occurred and have been integrated innovatively
us because they are placed as a trust (Amaanah) for us,
in many areas of finance such as payment, savings,
suggesting that humans are expected to preserve this
lending, financial counseling, and risk management to
balance and ward off disharmonious co-existence. In
name a few (14). Furthermore, the FinTech community
line with this established logic, the thought of Shari’a
is wide and incorporates technology builders, FinTech
compliant risk needs to be integrated after screening
ventures, customers, government bodies, regulators,
of Riba (Interest), gharar (excessive uncertainty), and
financial institutions, and Shari’a scholars in the event
unlawful industries, and with positive screening of
of Islamic FinTech.
social and environmental risks to boost prosperity and
avert all damage in business activities.

Major Technologies Transforming Financial Services

Technology Financial Services

Pay Save Borrow Manage Get

Foundations Innovations Risks Advice
Investment advice (robots)
AI Machine learning Credit decisions
Regtech, fraud detection
Big Data Predictive analytics
Asset trading

Settle payments
Distributed ledger B2B
Distributed (Blockchain) Back-office and recording
Computing Digital currencies

Automatic transactions
Smart contracts
Security
Cryptography Biometrics
Identity protection

Easy to use digital wallets; Finance dashboards; P2P

Mobile Access APIs
Crowd-funding
Internet Digital wallets Inter-operability and expandability

Source: IMF staff.

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The adoption of technological evolutions called
ABCD of technologies (A - Artificial Intelligence (AI) ,
B - Blockchain, C – Cloud Computing, and D – Data)
has led the way to smart agreement and bonds, digital
wallet, online payment, machine learning, digital
currencies, and predictive analytics to maintain a few
(15). Following this development of FinTech, there
is an essential demand to look into the regulation to
enhance fairness, transparency and accountability
(16). Consequently, RegTech is an area to harness
also. Uniformly, there has been a rise in the duty of
InsurTech (17).
As reported by the PWC Global FinTech Report of
2019, about 48% of financial service organizations
have fixed on a full scale into their strategic operating
model (18). Similarly, about 37% of financial service
organizations have integrated evolving technologies
into the product and services they render (19).

FS

4% 12% 36% 48%

No formal strategy
We have an informal strategy that we have discussed internally but not documented
We have an informal, documented fintech strategy, but it is not fully embedded across our strategic operating model
FinTech is fully embedded across our strategi operating model

Organisations in China and Brazil are more likely to have fully embedded FinTech across their strategic operating model (58%
and 55%, respectively), compared with organisations in the US and Germany (37% and 36%, respectively)*
Multinational and large corporations are more likely to have fully embedded fintech across their strategic operating model
(53%), compared with middle-market or micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (39% and 34%, respectively)

Financial Services (FS) and FinTech Integration Landscape

Collaborations among financial service organizations
and FinTech allows effortless, flexible and general low
risk settings for the two participants to meet each
other’s robustness. Additionally, tech companies can
grasp the influence from the company’s financing and
possibly from their present customers’ connections
and brand. Meanwhile, these collaborations provide
beneficial opportunities for financial service and
FinTech companies to determine and recognize
problems, and also work on improving their companies
expansion (20).
4.1 Position of FinTech in Islamic Finance
The general view of technology under Shari’a discourse
is permissibility, except it is utilized in occurrences
which oppose any ruling or conditions of the Islamic
legal system known as Shari’a (21). In respect of
that, FinTech applications and exercises should abide
by the rulings of the Islamic legal system (Shari’a) as
similar to Islamic finance practice by abstaining from
prohibited component in the business activities like
Interest/Usury (Riba), Gambling (Maysir), Excessive
Uncertainty (Gharar), Harms (Dharar). Additionally,
it is essential to be straightforward without hidden
charges or irresponsible financing. About $49 billion
was estimated in 2020 to be the global Islamic
FinTech market size for OIC (Organization of Islamic
Cooperation) countries which constitutes only 0.7
percent of the present global FinTech market size. All
the same, it is now projected to expand at 21 percent
CAGR to 128 billion by 2025 (22), where Saudi Arabia,
Iran, UAE, Malaysia, and Indonesia stand among top 5
OIC FinTech markets by transaction volume.

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Top 5 Islamic FinTech Market Sizes 2020 ($ Bn)
17.9
9.2
Saudi Arabia Iran
Top 5 countries Leading Islamic FinTech Market Capacity 2020
4.2 Index Positions of Global Islamic
FinTech Scores 2021
The index on next page showcases countries that are
highly favorable to the development of FinTech within
the Islamic finance market & ecosystem using 32
measures across five district divisions for each country
as follows: Talent; Regulation; Infrastructure; FinTech
in Islamic Finance & Ecosystem; and Capital (23). 9 out
of 10 countries which are OIC members lead the table
except the United Kingdom which already possesses a
strong Islamic FinTech atmosphere due to a supporting
regulatory form.
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POINT OF
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3.7 3.0 2.9
United Arab Malaysia Indonesia
Emirates
4.3 Challenges and Opportunities of
Islamic FinTech
As reported by the Islamic Finance News (IFN), the
service of FinTech within the Islamic finance comprises
of nine classifications which are blockchain and
cryptocurrency, trading and investment, personal
finance, digital banking, peer-to-peer finance,
Crowdfunding, data and analytics, remittances and
forex, insurtech, and banking software (24). If we
look at the FinTech services within the Islamic finance
ecosystem, regulatory risks and information protection
are the main threats arising from its adoption, which
if overlooked can result to gone and misplaced
opportunities in Islamic FinTech investing.
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Top 20 Countries by GIFT Index scores

Malaysia 87
Saudi Arabia 76
United Arab Emirates 70
Indonesia 66
United Kingdom 56
Bahrain 54
Kuwait 48
Iran 46
Pakistan 44
Qatar 44
Jordan 41
Singapore 41
United States 40
Hong Kong 38
Oman 38
Australia 35
Switzerland 35
Canada 35
Bangladesh 35
Luxembourg 34

OIC countries
Non-OIC countries

Top 20 Countries by GIFT Index

The broad diversity of the FinTech service and business 5.0 CONCLUSION
model makes it demanding for regulators to develop a
The discourse in this write-up has concentrated on
universal regulatory structure. Hence, Islamic financial
Shari’a complaint investment, sustainable development
institutions, tech startups, and regulators need to
opportunities, and FinTech inclusion in the growth
have earnest discussions and deep commitment with
of Islamic finance industry capacity. Whilst Islamic
each other to build strong trust and compliancy room
finance is experiencing growth and acceptance from
within the Islamic FinTech ecosystem. Considering the
people of different walks of life, creating a structure
increase of cyber security incidents, since few years
that not only meets the demand of Shari’a, but is also
ago, it is incumbent to develop adequate security
sustainable and will put the industry in front of the
standards and arrangement to mitigate the risk of
map, is highly needed. Thus, investments that comply
customers losing their personal data and investments.
with Shari’a and are environmentally-friendly have
Flipping the coin, there are opportunities for Islamic
the potential to play a prime position in enhancing
FinTech via collaboration between Islamic financial
the essentials for environmental governance, and
institutions and FinTech startup. Instead of seeing
encouraging development, justice, equity through
each as competitors, collaboration creates an avenue
moderate and reasonable utilisation of resources.
to build up their brands, gain more customer trust and
The Shari’a gives a leading light to foster sustainable
loyalty, and reduce service solution cost.
development by commanding Muslims to keep away

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from engaging in misconduct and resources wastage,
as such actions create environmental degradation
and shows immorality. Therefore, any structure of
misconduct, including environmental misconducts is
impermissible from the Shari’a view.
FinTech, as a game changer, also has a key duty in
enhancing the method of which financial services
are rendered with regard to time, charges, and
accessibility. Hence, incorporating such a technology
in Islamic finance will create inexpensive financial
services accessible for unbanked people and
corporations. Furthermore, the majority of FinTech
solutions in Islamic finance are limited to payment
and deposits, crowdfunding and asset management,
while opportunities are widely open in other areas
like insurance, regulations, and blockchain in terms of
market potential and investment attraction.
6.0 REFERENCES
1. Abdur-Rahman bin Nasser Al-Saa’di : Jurisprudence Principles,
Edition of Dar Ibn Al-Jawzi.
2. CIBAFI Sustainability Guide for Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs),
Pg.16
3. Islamic Finance For Asia : Development, Prospects and Inclusive
Growth, Pg.04
4. CIBAFI Sustainability Guide for Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs),
Pg.40
5. Schiller, 2012:7, Chapra 1992, 2000.
6. Islamic Finance For Asia: Development, Prospects, and Inclusive
Growth, Pg.05
7. International Monetary Fund (IMF), The IMF and Islamic Finance Monetary Fund
(2012).https://www.imf.org/external/themes/islamicfinance/
index.htm (accessed on 07, July 2022)
8. Further details regarding Islamic mode of Finance and Shariah-
Compliant Investment appear in Moutaz Abojab et. al. eds, Islamic
Economics (Kualar Lumpur, Malaysia, ISRA, 2018)
9. Amer Al-Roubaie, Adel Sarea, Building Capacity for Green
Economy: The Role of Islamic Finance.
10. CIBAFI Sustainability Guide for Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs
l, Pg.24
11. Harlem Brundtland, Our Common Future (1987), Pg.41.
https://www.kdp.org/initiatives/Pdf/BrundtlandReport.pdf
(accessed on 13,June 2022).
12. Al-Hasani, 1989
13. Arthur, K.N (2017). The emergence of financial Innovation and its
W W W. I S F I R E . N E T
POINT OF
VIEW
Governance a historical literature review. - Journal of Innovation
Management -
14. Forbes. (08, October 2018). 3 ways financial Advisors are using
Technology to Better Serve you. Forbes. Retrieved from Forbes.
com/sites/adamsarhan/2018/10/08/03-ways-financial-advisors-
are-using-technology-to-better-serve-you/#2492cc255d7a
15. Lochy, J. (09, September 2019). Big Data in the financial Service
Industry –From data to insights. Retrieved from www.finextra.
com/blogposting/17847/big-data-in-the-financial-services-
industry-from-data-to-insights
16. Bofondi, M, & Gobbi, G. (23, December 2017). The Big Promise
of Fintech. EUROPEAN ECONOMY. Retrieved from https://www.
european-economy.eu/2017-2/the-big-promise-of-fintech
17. Mc Kinsey and Co. (March 2017). Insurtech-the threat that
inspires.
18. PwC Global Fintech Report (2019). Crossing the Lines: How
Fintech is propelling FS and TMT firms out of their lanes. Pg.04
19. PWC Global Fintech Report (2019). Crossing the Lines: How
Fintech is propelling FS and TMT firms out of their lanes. Pg.07
20. Kelly, S., Ferenzy, D., & McGrath, A. (2017). How Financial
Institutions and Fintechs Are Partnering for Inclusion: Lessons
from the Frontline. Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion;
Institute of International Finance.
21. Oseni, U. A., & Ali, S. N. (Eds.). (2019). FINTECH IN ISLAMIC
FINANCE. Routledge. Price Waterhouse Coopers. (2017). Global
Fintech Report 2017. Price Waterhouse Coopers.
22. Islamic Fintech Market to hit $128bln by 2025; Saudi, UAE lead
OIC group.https://www.zawya.com/en/business/islamic-fintech-
market-to-hit-128bln-by-2025 (Accessed 22,July 2022)
23. Ahmed, T., Basit, A., & Chikoh, R.-U. (2021). Global Fintech in
Islamic Finance Report 2021. DinarStandard and Elipses
24. AMF. (2021). Fintech in Islamic Finance in the Arab Region:
Imperatives, challenges and the way forward. Abu Dhabi : Arab
| ISFIRE, DECEMBER 2022 | POINT OF VIEW | 71
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OF VIEW

AN UNDERSTANDING OF

BLOCKCHAIN AS

TECHNOLOGY
Ahmad Manzoor
Founder & CEO Pakistan Blockchain Institute & AnZ Technologies

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What is Blockchain?
The ledger is often used to track and manage asset
ownership, however, Blockchain can be a simple
record keeping system for any kind of data – whether
that data is related to asset ownership or not.
Although Blockchain is often described as a new and
cutting-edge technology, the truth is that Blockchain
is nothing more than a combination of old concepts,
technologies, and methodologies.

These old components include ledgers, cryptography

& peer-to-peer networking as well as thoughts
like consensus & immutability but in a better and
comprehensive manner. At the core of Blockchain is
a ledger, a record keeping system which allows the
keepers of a ledger to tell a story.

The story I normally start from is the barter system

(goods against goods system) where 100 people are
living in the street and 2 of them want to trade for
a transaction. Let's consider their names as Hamza &
Arez. Hamza wants to have some gold while Arez wants
some wheat. In this context, they gather the remaining
98 people and announce this transaction. At first, they
verify that they are trading on their own goods. Then,
after the verification, they announce the changing of
the ownership. In this example, the transaction will be
saved in memory of all 98 individuals involved, which
will serve as the ledger.

As you see, the above story revolves around the

ownership and history of the ownership of assets.
Although ledgers are usually used to record financial
transactions, however, they can also be used to record
just about any type of data imaginable. The earliest
ledgers in human history appeared over 7,000 years
ago and marked a key development milestone in
human society, culture, and economics.

Another core component of the Blockchain

technologies is cryptography – the study of how to
pass information back and forth in the presence of
adversaries, bad actors, or simply audiences with no
knowledge. Although cryptography is often thought of
as a cutting-edge discipline, it is really quite ancient.
As long as there have been two or more people who
wished to keep a secret from someone else, there has
been cryptography.
Here in Blockchain, we use cryptography to protect
anonymity, to provide ledger immutability, and to
validate claims that people make against assets
tracked and managed on the Blockchain. The 3rd
technology, as mentioned above, is the computer
networking technology, specifically peer-to-peer
network architectures. The same technology that
serves as the backbone of our modern internet also
underlies Blockchain (always remember the Internet is
underlying technology of Blockchain & Blockchain is
underlying technology of DApps). Adding a peer-to-
peer (P2P) network architectures in the mix increases
redundancy along with fault tolerance and makes it
resilient by removing single points of failure commonly
found in typical network architectures.

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Misconceptions about Blockchain • And no centralized control. Because the system

of record is decentralized and replicated in its
Blockchain became a buzz word in last few years,
entirety in multiple places, there’s no need for
following are few misconceptions about Blockchain:
a central administrator and all the costs and
infrastructure that comes with it, so you can save
• Blockchain = Bitcoin (it’s not)
a lot of money as you are using the multiple nodes
• Blockchain can only be used for financial sector
to save the data or we can say the copies of the
• Everyone can see private information on the
same data.
Blockchain
• Smart Contracts have the same legal value as
As mentioned above, this a very important technology
regular contracts
in the upcoming world, before this pandemic most of
• Blockchain can only be public
us were unable to understand how we can save money
through “work from home concept”.

This revolutionizing technology can change the

Technologies behind the Blockchain paradigm of the economy with:
Blockchain is a combined use of existing older
technology. • Digital Documentation
• Digital Certificates
• Ledger – 7,000 year old technology, triple-entry • Digital Currency
accounting.
• Cryptography – “coding messages” has been When economy will shift towards the digital economy,
used for thousands of years, and still used in just think how much we can save with this eco-system.
complex S/W algorithms for military and business
applications like Blockchain.
• Computer Networking Technology –Blockchain
makes extensive use of P2P networking Use-Cases of Blockchain
architectures.
Blockchain technology has a lot of use-cases around
the industries. As mentioned above, Blockchain is
not only about Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies; it’s about
record keeping with transparency & immutability.
Why is Blockchain required? Following are few use-cases we will discuss within this
Blockchain is one of the most important & revolutionary section:
technology of this era, like the internet was in 1990’s. • Blockchain in Education
Let’s talk about few advantages of the Blockchain • Blockchain in Healthcare
technology: • Blockchain in Government
• Blockchain in Charity
• You get a history of all the activities, when you look • Blockchain in Supply Chain
at a regular database, you’re getting a snapshot • Blockchain in Identity Management
of data that’s up to date in that moment in time. • Blockchain in Finance
Blockchain does this too, but it also maintains a
complete record of all the information that existed Where ever you need to keep the records or for
before. It is a database with history archives if you transparency reasons, you will need the Blockchain
can say it that way. Technology to be implemented.

• No one is able to hack the central point. The fact I hope, through this article, you were able to understand
that Blockchain is a decentralized way of storing the ins and outs of the Blockchain Technology, and
and accessing data makes the whole system how it will change our world.
incredibly secure – because, unlike a centralized
database, there’s no one single point of entry
or failure for hackers. This makes it particularly
useful for recording transactions in more secure
manner, and makes the data more secure.

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GIFA2 22
Celebrating the Distinctiveness of Africa

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The 12th Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA) and
the Global Islamic Finance Summit took place at the
Kempinski Palace in Djibouti, Africa. The event was
hosted by HE Ismail Omar Guelleh, the President of
Djibouti and the Central Bank of Djibouti. HE Abiy
Ahmed, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia was the Chief
Guest of the ceremony. The international event was
well attended with ambassadors from 26 countries,
senior ministers, members of the cabinet, multilateral
institutions, and local & international institutions and
individuals.
This Global Islamic Finance Summit was organised to
provide a forum for the government and the private
sector organisations to promote opportunities for
investment in Islamic financial instruments and
gain greater understanding of the challenges faced
by both sectors. In addition, the summit intends to
highlight the potential of Africa in developing its
economy with respect to Islamic finance and focusing
on the role of Islamic social finance.
There were three sessions, the first was “Technology
Adoption and Innovation in Islamic Banking and
Finance”. The panelists discussed the importance
of technological adoption for Islamic banks and how
technology can ease banking and financial services
for the underprivileged and the financially excluded
and also to enhance the experience for the banked.
Technological adoption in Africa is limited due to
infrastructure capabilities, however, there is still huge
potential for advancements in this field.
The second session was “Islamic Social Finance and
its Potential Role in the Economic Development of
Africa”. The session held valuable discussion on the
subject of, how social finance can be embedded
in the core of Islamic banking system and social
responsibility be made a cornerstone to ensure the
rapid economic development of the nation and the
Islamic finance industry.
The last session was a high-powered Governor’s
Panel, including Governors of three central banks
from 3 countries. Eng. Ali Abdilahi Dahir, Governor
of the Bank of Somaliland; Abdullahi M. Abdullahi,
Governor of the Central Bank of Somalia, and
Ahmed Osman Ali, Governor of the Central Bank
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of Djibouti. The Governors’ discussed how it was
similar and different to run an Islamic financial
organisation versus a conventional central bank. The
Governors also touched on the possibility of having
one centralised Shari’a board for all central banks in
an attempt to sustain resources, share expertise and
have a standard regulatory policy and system.
The unique circumstances surrounding this financial
crisis have brought to the centre stage the role of
Islamic social finance in alleviating the social and
economic impacts. Reeling from this pandemic,
Islamic finance in general and Islamic social finance,
in particular, will have to develop innovative and
sustainable products and services to further enhance
and develop the industry to its full potential.
Africa is emerging as an Islamic financing and
investment centre and this continent has huge
potential to shift the growth curve of Islamic
finance to cater to a large population. Sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA) has around 18% of the world's Muslim
population but its Islamic finance assets make up only
1% of such global assets.
The Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA) were
founded as part of the advocacy campaign for the
Islamic banking and finance industry. Since then,
the event has been held annually with its top award
– the Global Islamic Finance Leadership Award
– presented to heads of state or government (or
equivalent) for their leadership and advocacy roles
in promoting Islamic banking and finance in their
respective jurisdictions or globally. The winners
of the prestigious GIFA award are recognised as
GIFA Laureates. This year, our GIFA Laureate is His
Excellency Abiy Ahmed Ali, Prime Minister of the
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Under his
able leadership, Ethiopia is emerging as the giant of
East Africa.
“This is indeed a matter of huge pride for us that
the Summit and Awards are being hosted by HE
Ismail Omar Guelleh who was our GIFA Laureate in
2017 when GIFA was hosted by the then President
of Kazakhstan, HE Nursultan Nazarbayev,” said
Professor Humayon Dar, Founder of GIFA. “We are
the only awards body that have honoured prime
 ISFIRE
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ministers and presidents of the countries for their Shari'a Authenticity Award 2022
commendable contributions to promotion of Islamic Shari'a Auditor of the year 2022
banking and finance. In fact, we are second to only Best Islamic Bank 2022
Nobel Peace Prize Committee in terms of the number
Meezan Bank Limited
of laureates drawn from the top echelons of the
political spectrum.”
Meezan Bank, Pakistan’s first and largest dedicated
Islamic bank, is a publicly listed company with a paid-
GIFA Laureates over the years have included: HE
up capital of PKR10 billion. It is one of the fastest
Tun Abdullah Badawi, Former Prime Minister of
growing financial institutions in the banking sector
Malaysia (2011); HRH Sultan Nazrin Shah of Perak
of the country. The Bank provides a comprehensive
(2012); HE Shaukat Aziz, Former Prime Minister of
range of Islamic banking products and services
Pakistan (2013); HE Nursultan Nazarbayev, First
through a retail banking network of over 930
President of Kazakhstan (2014); HH Muhammadu
branches in over 290 cities across Pakistan. Meezan
Sanusi II, the then Emir of Kano, Nigeria (2015); HE
Bank operates strictly under the principles of
Joko Widodo, President of Indonesia (2016); HE
Islamic Shari'a and is well-recognised for its product
Ismail Omar Guelleh, President of Djibouti (2017); HE
development capability and Islamic banking research
Bakir Izetbegovic, Former Chairman of Presidency of
and advisory services.
Bosnia-Herzegovina (2018); HE Cyril Ramaphosa,
President of the Republic of South Africa (2019); and
HE Dr Arif Alvi, President of the Islamic Republic of
Pioneering of Islamic Insurance in Djibouti 2022
Pakistan (2020), and HE Ma'ruf Amin, Vice President
Tamini Insurance Company
of Indonesia (2021).

After more than a decade of great contribution

Other GIFA winners come from around the world and
into the progress of Islamic Banking, Salaam Group
were selected based on a proprietary methodology,
Djibouti has opened in 2021 the first Islamic Insurance
making GIFA the most objectively administered
company to add another link in the chain of Islamic
awards in the Islamic financial services industry.
Financial system in the Republic of Djibouti. Tamini
Insurance is an alternative of providing modern
GIFA 2022 acknowledges them for their dedicated
insurance services which comply with Shari’a law.
efforts to promote Islamic banking and finance in
their countries, and respective institutions and of
course for their commitment to continue to make
GIFA Prudence Award (Islamic Asset Management)
Islamic banking and finance relevant to the global 2022
financial markets.
Alpha Capital - Saudi Arabia

Alpha Capital Company (“Alpha”) is a leading capital

GIFA Power Award (Islamic Rating) 2022
market institution, headquartered in Riyadh and
RAM Rating Services Berhad
licensed by the Capital Market Authority to conduct
asset management and alternative investments
RAM Rating Services Berhad is the leading and
services. The firm has around SAR10 billion in client
largest credit rating agency in Malaysia and Southeast
assets under management and advisement. Its clients
Asia. Renowned for its independent and insightful
include government entities, local and international
views, RAM’s credit ratings and assessments serve
institutional investors, leading family offices, and
as defining benchmarks for investors and market
ultra-high-net-worth individuals.
participants to make sound decisions.

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GIFA Power Award (Islamic Asset Management) 2022
Saturna Sendirian Berhad
Saturna Sdn. Bhd. is the wholly-owned Malaysian
subsidiary of US-based Saturna Capital Corporation.
Saturna Sdn Bhd holds an Islamic Fund Management
Licence ("IFML") with the Malaysian Securities
Commission and is an adviser/fund manager to the
ASEAN Equity Fund, the ICD Global Sustainable
Fund, and is a technical adviser to the SAM Global
Equity Dollar Fund in Indonesia. In collaboration
with our global investment team, Saturna Sdn
Bhd manages several successful Shari'a-compliant
strategies that incorporate Environmental, Social &
Governance (ESG) criteria.
Most Innovative Islamic Financial Product 2022
RHB Islamic Bank
RHB Multi-Currency Account (“RHB MCA”) was
incepted in 1996, the first pioneer bank with Multi-
Currency Account in Malaysia. RHB Multi-Currency
Account Islamic (“RHB MCA-i”) was first introduced
in 2005 under the Wadiah Shari'a contract. In 2018
we changed our RHB MCA-i from Wadiah contract
to Qard contract and is now known as Qard Multi-
Currency Current Account-i (“QMCCA-i”), which
refers to a contract of lending money by a lender
(Customer) to a borrower (Bank) where the latter is
bound to repay an equivalent replacement amount
to the lender.
Islamic Social Responsibility Award 2022
Zakat, Sadaqah and Waqf Division (ZAWAF)
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
Zakat, Sadaqah and Waqf Division (ZAWAF) is a
division under Malaysian Universiti Teknologi MARA
(UiTM) Chancellery that manages UiTM’s zakat,
sadaqa and waqf funds and assets. Starting from
small unit to manage zakat in 1998, the set-up later
evolved into university’s centre for zakat, sadaqa
and waqf. Towards sustainable development and
Maqasid al-Shari'a, ZAWAF’s mission is to source
financial support for UiTM focusing on social aspect.
Being the largest university in Malaysia in term of
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population and Muslim in numbers, such philanthropy
is becoming university’s overarching principles.
GIFA Excellence Award (Islamic FinTech Innovation)
2022
ALAMI
ALAMI is a Shari'a-based financial technology
company established in 2018 by Dima Djani, Harza
Sandityo, and Bembi Juniar. Currently, ALAMI is one
of the largest Shari'a-based financing platforms for
MSMEs globally, with more than US$200 million
loans disbursed and a Non-Performing Financing
("NPF") rate of 0% (Success Rate of Repayment
of 100%). ALAMI has provided financing to more
than 10,000 MSME projects in strategic sectors in
Indonesia.
GIFA Excellence Award (Human Capital Development)
2022
Salaam Center
Salaam Center is a leading provider in Training,
Research and Consultancy that is based in Djibouti
and operates within the region of East Africa. The
Center is a forum where customised consultancies,
tailor-made vocational training and research-
based- solutions are combined in order to unlock
profitability. Through the lens of its experts, the
Center understand that personal development and
enrichment are vital for growth and progression and
to reach self-full potential. That is why it is relentless
when it comes to offering the best professional
trainings for learners seeking to further their
education or career development.
GIFA Excellence Award (Islamic Finance Training &
Education) 2022
Brunei Institute of Leadership & Islamic Finance
(BILIF)
Brunei Institute of Leadership & Islamic Finance
(BILIF) was established in 2010 as the Centre
of Excellence for the finance industry in Brunei
Darussalam, providing high-quality learning solutions,

including signature and collaborative events for
human capacity development in the areas of Islamic
finance and leadership. Under the purview of Brunei
Darussalam Central Bank (BDCB), BILIF plays a
fundamental role in Pillar 5 of Brunei Darussalam
Financial Sector Blueprint.
GIFA Excellence Award (Islamic Financial Ratings)
2022
Fitch Ratings
Fitch Ratings is a leading provider of credit ratings,
commentary, and research. Dedicated to providing
value beyond rating through independent and
prospective credit opinions, Fitch Ratings offers
global perspectives shaped by strong local market
experience and credit market expertise. The
additional context, perspective, and insights we
provide help investors to make important credit
judgments with confidence.
GIFA Excellence Award (Islamic Microfinance) 2022
TEKUN NASIONAL
TEKUN Nasional is an agency under the Ministry of
Entrepreneurial and Cooperative Development. It
was established on 9 November, 1998. The objective
of establishing TEKUN Nasional is to provide simple
and quick financing facilities to bumiputeras in order
to kick-start or further expand their businesses. Since
2008, TEKUN Nasional has undergone changes and
reforms to cater to the current trends in becoming a
strategic entrepreneur development partner to the
entrepreneur community instead of merely being a
financing entity.
GIFA Excellence Award (lslamic Retail Banking) 2022
East Africa Bank, Djibouti
East Africa Bank is a financial service provider with
its headquarters in Djibouti, operates as a fully
Shari'a-compliant bank that is licensed and regulated
by the Central Bank of Djibouti. The Bank is part of
Dahabshil group holdings and is proud of its legacy,
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which traces its roots to innovative solutions that have
transformed the lives of its customers throughout its
history. The Bank has enlisted prominent and high-
profile personalities in the region and globally, as part
of Board of Directors and Shari'a scholars sitting on
the Bank’s Shari'a board to play an oversight role.
GIFA Excellence Award (Trade Finance) 2022
SABA AFRICAN BANK
Saba African Bank, since its establishment in 2011,
has made diverse and fundamental contributions
that have influenced banking at the local level, and
participated in the establishment of a competitive
banking stage, where the bank sought to work on all
dimensions and influences to create a banking reality
that enhances the national economy and pours in
its entirety into the building and development of
customers and society in general.
GIFA Excellence Award (Premier Islamic Banking
Services) 2022
Standard Bank Shari’a Banking
The Standard Bank Group is a financial institution
that offers banking and financial services to
individuals, businesses, institutions and corporations
in Africa and abroad. With a strategy to become a
future ready platform organisation, the Group has
made some internal structural changes. The Group
has three core client segments; consumer & high net
worth clients; business and commercial clients and
wholesale clients. The client segments will serve
our clients using all the physical and digital channels
that our clients prefer. Our structure also includes
an innovation capability to generate future-ready
solutions and new business models.
GIFA Championship Award (Islamic Digital Solutions)
2022
IBFNET GROUP
The Islamic Business and Finance Network is the
maiden online community in the field created in the
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year 1999 for exchange of views among students,
researchers, knowledge-seekers and professionals
interested in this rising discipline. Two decades
later, this Network was moved to blockchain with
an expansion of its mandate – from a forum for
exchange of “views” to a meeting place for exchange
of “values” facilitated through a pair of native tokens
– IBF Exchange (IBFX) and IBF Esteem (IBFS).
GIFA Championship Award (Best Islamic Finance
Qualifications) 2022
Malaysian Financial Planning Council (MFPC)
The Malaysian Financial Planning Council (MFPC)
was set up in 2004 at the of Negara Malaysia
(Central Bank of Malaysia). Its main objective is
to promote the nationwide development and
enhancement of the financial planning profession
by conducting professional education programmes
leading to recognised professional financial planning
designations. It also provides an evolving set of Best
Practice Standards and Code of Ethics for adherence
by Registered Financial Planner (RFP) and Shari'a RFP
designees.
GIFA Championship Award (Islamic Asset
Management) 2022
Albilad Capital
Albilad Capital, the investment arm of Bank Albilad,
was established in 2008 with a capital of SAR200
millions, licensed by the Saudi Capital Market
Authority (License No. 08100-37) to provide
dealing activities, arrangement, advisory, custody,
investment management and funds operations as
well as investment management of securities.
GIFA Championship Award (Takaful) 2022
Prudential BSN Takaful Berhad
Established in 2006 through the licence awarded by
the Central Bank of Malaysia, Prudential BSN Takaful
Berhad (PruBSN) is a joint venture between the UK-
based Prudential plc and Bank Simpanan Nasional.
Premised on the concept of ta`awun (co-operation
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and mutual assistance), PruBSN provides a range of
Shari'a-compliant family takaful protection solutions.
Today, PruBSN has over 17,000 takaful agents who
serve the evolving health and protection needs of
more than 1 million Malaysians and their families.
GIFA Championship Award (Digital Banking) 2022
Islamic International Arab Bank
Islamic International Arab Bank (IIAB) is a Jordanian
bank founded in 1997 that plays a vital role in
supporting the national economy through state-
of-art Shari'a-compliant financial solutions specially
designed to serve individuals, small-and-medium-
sized enterprises, corporates, and mega projects with
a proven track record in increasing financial inclusion
in a wide segment, especially less-privileged people,
youth, women, and businesses managed or owned by
women in all governorates of Jordan.
GIFA Market Leadership Award (Islamic
Securitization) 2022
Cagamas Berhad
Cagamas Berhad (Cagamas), the National Mortgage
Corporation of Malaysia, was established in 1986 to
promote home ownership and contribute towards
national development. It contributes towards the
growth of the capital markets, Islamic finance and
other priority sectors through issuance of innovative
instruments. The provision of liquidity to financial
institutions at a reasonable cost to the primary lenders
of housing loans encourages further expansion of
financing for houses at an affordable cost.
GIFA Market Leadership Award (Islamic Finance
Technology Solutions) 2022
Silverlake Axis
Silverlake Axis Ltd (SAL) provides financial services
technology to the banking, insurance, payment, and
retail industries. Founded in 1989, SAL has built an
impeccable track record of successful core banking
implementations. In less than two decades after its
inception, over 40% of the top 20 largest banks in

South-East Asia run Silverlake Axis’ core banking
solution. Today, Silverlake Axis is the core system
platform partner of choice for 3 of the 5 largest
ASEAN super regional financial institutions.
GIFA Market Leadership Award (Islamic Financial
Intelligence & Ratings) 2022
Moody’s Investors Service
Moody’s Investors Service (MIS) is a leading global
provider of credit ratings, research, and risk analysis.
A rating from Moody’s enables issuers to create
timely, go-to-market debt strategies with the ability to
capture wider investor focus and provides investors
with a comprehensive view of global debt markets
through our credit ratings and research. Moody’s
trusted insights can help decision-makers navigate
the safest path through turmoil and market volatility.
GIFA Market Leadership Award (Shari'a ESG
Investments) 2022
BNP Paribas Asset Management Malaysia
BNP Paribas Asset Management ('BNPP AM') is the
investment arm of BNP Paribas, a leading banking
group in Europe with international reach. BNPP AM
aims to generate long-term sustainable investment
returns for its clients, based on unique sustainability-
capabilities focused around five key strategies: High
Conviction Strategies, Private Debt & Real Assets,
Multi-Asset, Quantitative & Solutions (MAQS),
Emerging Markets and Liquidity Solutions, with
investment processes incorporating quantitative and
fundamental analysis.
GIFA Market Leadership Award (Islamic Asset
Management) 2022
SEDCO Capital
SEDCO Capital is a Shari'a-compliant, ESG led asset
management and investment advisory firm. We
provide clients with investment solutions through a
dynamic asset allocation process across diversified
asset classes that deliver strong risk-adjusted returns.
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The firm is headquartered in Jeddah with offices in
Riyadh, Luxembourg, London and Dubai, maintaining
a global perspective and reach. Regulated by the
Capital Market Authority of Saudi Arabia (CMA),
SEDCO Capital obtained its license in 2009.
GIFA Market Leadership Award (Takaful) 2022
Tawuniya Insurance Company
Tawuniya Insurance Company is the pioneer of the
Saudi Arabian insurance sector. Since its establishment
in 1986 as a Saudi joint stock company, Tawuniya has
provided various insurance programmes that meet
the needs of society in accordance with Shari'a-
compliant cooperative insurance concept. Tawuniya
has a track record of excellence that underpins its
business management and customer assurance.
GIFA Market Leadership Award (Islamic Banking
Window Operations) 2022
Meethaq Islamic Banking
Meethaq Islamic Banking from Bank Muscat is the
most popular and largest Islamic banking services
provider in Oman, offering a full suite of Shari’a-
compliant retail, corporate banking and wholesale
banking products and services. Every Meethaq
product goes through the process of Shari’a
compliance certification by the Shari’a Supervisory
Board and is created in line with the guidelines of
the Central Bank of Oman. Meethaq’s adoption
of AAOIFI standards (Accounting & Auditing
Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions) further
distinguishes Meethaq Islamic banking practices in
terms of standardisation of its products and services
complementing its world-class Islamic banking
experience.
GIFA Market Leadership Award (Islamic SME Banking)
2022
BTPN Syariah
BTPN Syariah is the only bank in Indonesia that
focuses on serving productive underprivileged
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families - also known as the “unbankable” for having
neither financial records nor legal documentation,
and the Bank’s infrastructure has been built to ensure
that the products and services are able to effectively
serve this segment.
GIFA Market Leadership Award (Developing Islamic
Finance in USA) 2022
LARIBA Banking Group
LBG
LARIBA
Bank Of Whittier
In 1987, LARIBA pioneered Riba Free (RF) Islamic
banking & finance in America. It is the only grassroots
community-owned RF institution in America.
LARIBA is a movement that popularised RF lifestyle
to all people of all faiths. LARIBA started in 1987
with a $200,000 capital collected from friends in
$5,000 and $10,000 denominations. Today, it owns
two vibrant institutions collectively called, LARIBA
Banking Group – LBG, serving all 50 states riba-free
financial services. independent Shari’a Audits are
conducted and published on website.
GIFA Market Leadership Award (Islamic Banking)
2022
PT Bank Syariah Indonesia Tbk
PT Bank Syariah Indonesia Tbk (BSI) is the largest
Shari'a bank in Indonesia which was established
from the merger of three state-owned Shari'a banks.
Commanding a total asset of 277.34 trillion Rupiah
and a core capital of more than 24,59 trillion Rupiah,
make BSI as the one of 7 biggest bank in Indonesia
and the 10th Shari'a bank globally in 2025 based
on market capitalisation. We’re optimistic that BSI
will be a champion Shari'a bank, that will be able to
explore the vast yet to be explored potentials in the
Shari'a market.
Best Islamic Finance Technology Product 2022
ETHOS AFP™
DDCAP Group™ (DDCAP), a market intermediary and
financial technology solutions provider, continues
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to invest in and develop its multiple award-winning
Shari’a compliant financial technology. ETHOS AFP™
is a bespoke, real-time trade and post trade services
platform which provides continuous coverage and
enables customers worldwide to purchase assets and
commodity in support of their financial requirements
and products from our responsible, diverse inventory.
The platform delivers an array of benefits and
efficiencies while mitigating risks. DDCAP continues
to make significant investments to ensure ETHOS
AFP™ remains the industry benchmark.
Best Non-Bank Islamic Finance Institution 2022
Siraj Finance PJSC
Siraj Finance PJSC is a private joint stock company
based in Abu Dhabi and regulated by the Central
Bank of the UAE. Siraj Finance is a part of Trizac
Holding LLC, which is an integral entity of the Al-
Otaiba Group of Companies. Siraj Finance proudly
offers a multitude of financial products, designed in
compliance with the Shari’a principles.
Best Supporting Institution of the Year 2022
Acuity Knowledge Partners
Acuity Knowledge Partners (Acuity) is a leading
provider of bespoke research, analytics, staffing
and technology solutions to the financial services
sector. Headquartered in London, Acuity Knowledge
Partners has nearly two decades of experience
in servicing over 430 clients by deploying its
5,000-specialist workforce of analysts and delivery
experts across its global delivery network. It provides
its clients with unique assistance to innovate and
implement transformation programmes, increase
operational efficiency, and manage costs and improve
their servicing lines.
Best Orphan Welfare Programme 2022
Yatim Mandiri Foundations
Since it was established on May 31, 1994, Yatim Mandiri
has come a long way in its efforts to encourage and
empower underprivileged orphans in various parts
of Indonesia. Empowerment through educational

assistance programmes for underprivileged orphans,
Al-Qur'an teacher allowances and orphanage
health servicing with wealth access assistance for
orphanages have become the common routine for
orphanages’ volunteers.
Best Technology Platform in Islamic Banking &
Finance 2022
Assidq by Sedania As Salam Capital Sdn Bhd
As-Sidq is a patented Shari'a-compliant digital
commodity trading platform that facilitates
secure, real-time and anytime brokerage of digital
commodities for financial institutions’ tawarruq
(commodity murabaha) requirements. Being the only
Islamic FinTech solutions provider in tawarruq with
digital commodity murabaha-based transactions,
SASC's As-Sidq platform has performed over
104,000 tawarruq transactions, assisted in disbursing
over RM6.9 billion in funds, and has served over 80
financial institutions to date despite the economic
slowdown caused by the pandemic.
Best Shari’a Compliant Commodity Broker 2022
Eiger Trading Advisors Limited
Eiger Trading Advisors Limited is an asset trading
company, specialising in the facilitation of Shari'a-
compliant financial products and services across the
globe. Since our formation in 2008, Eiger’s goal has
been to deliver technology-driven solutions to the
Islamic finance industry, drawing from expertise in
Islamic finance, IT software development and physical
commodity trading.
Best Islamic Crowdfunding Platform 2022
Ethis Group
Ethis is a FinTech, impact investment and Islamic
crowdfunding leader with a growing global
community of funders originating from more than
80 countries. Ethis is one of few firms licensed to
operate investment platforms in multiple countries,
most notably for P2P financing by the Financial
Services Authority Indonesia, Equity Crowdfunding
by Securities Commission Malaysia and the global
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platform for both ECF and P2P financing by the
Capital Market Authority of Oman.
Best Islamic Digital Solutions Provider 2022
Aion Digital
Aion is a leading FinTech headquartered in Bahrain,
with a presence in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the
UAE. Through its state-of-the-art digital engagement
platform, the company’s key focus is the digital and
data transformation of banks. The Aion platform
embeds regulatory and banking innovations for the
quick and cost-effective launch of digital banking
services.
Best Islamic Wealth Management Solutions Award
2022
National Bonds
National Bonds Corporation is a Shari'a-compliant
savings and investment company, established in
2006. The company provides UAE nationals, UAE
residents and non-residents with an opportunity to
build and fortify their savings safety net, as well as
invest in high-return programs. Its goal is to encourage
a disciplined savings habit for people across the 7
emirates, in line with the UAE Government Vision for
a financially secure and sustainable future.
Best Real Estate Deal 2022
Arada
Arada has successfully completed the issuance of its
first public financing deal, a $350 million Sukuk, which
has been listed on the London Stock Exchange. The
deal, which reopened the MENA US dollar markets
after a six-week hiatus, was also the first US dollar
corporate Sukuk globally in 2022. By closing this
Sukuk, Arada also became Sharjah’s first Corporate
issuer for five years, the first Real Estate issuer from
the region in 2022 and the first US dollar Benchmark
Non-Sovereign issuer in two months. The proceeds
for the sukuk will be used for the management of
existing bilateral funding, general corporate purposes
and to support development at Arada’s existing
projects.
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Best Sustainability Sukuk of the Year 2022
Yinson Holdings Berhad
Yinson Holdings Berhad (“Yinson” or the “Group”)
is a global energy infrastructure and technology
company, listed on the Main Market of Bursa
Malaysia Securities Berhad. Yinson currently invests
in four business divisions – Yinson Production,
Yinson Renewables, Yinson GreenTech and Regulus
Offshore. Our geographical presence extends across
the world, from West Africa, the Americas, Europe
and Southeast Asia.
Best Islamic Finance Solutions Provider 2022
Codebase Technologies
Codebase Technologies is one of the world's fastest-
growing open API banking solutions providers. With
a vision to “disrupt the way technology is utilised,
for a greater purpose," we engineer impactful digital
financial experiences for conventional and Islamic
banks, FinTechs, neobanks, lenders, and start-ups.
Our award-winning Digibanc FinTech platform is
a cloud-enabled, API-driven, and highly adaptable
digital banking platform allowing institutions to
deliver inclusive digital financial services.
Best Islamic Finance Technology Provider 2022
International Turnkey Systems – ITS
Since 1981, ITS has kept on providing advanced
technology solutions for financial institutions,
governments, and private sector organisations
across a wide array of industries with demonstrated
technology competencies and high-end skill
capabilities that support critical business functions.
Best Islamic Rating Agency 2022
MARC Ratings Berhad
Malaysian Rating Corporation Berhad (MARC)’s
overarching focus since inception has been, and
continues to be, on delivering information, insights,
solutions and benchmarks to contribute towards
more robust and sustainable capital markets. MARC’s
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core capabilities are in infrastructure, project and
structured finance, given our long-standing track
record in rating domestic toll roads, power plants,
water assets and ports. MARC has also established
its credentials in green financing, having rated the
majority of solar power projects in Malaysia.
Best Sharia Advisory Firm 2022
Elzar Shariah Solution Sdn Bhd
Elzar Shariah Solution Sdn Bhd is a professional
Shari'a advisory and consultancy firm, specialising
in end-to-end Islamic finance solutions and Shari'a
advisory work. The company was established in
2016 in the spirit of contributing to a growing and
robust ecosystem of Islamic finance and economy
which has seen massive growth and unprecedented
global recognition in recent years. We intend to help
businesses in applying Shari'a knowledge in both
financial and non-financial sector to further expand
the boundaries of Islamic finance and economy.
Best Islamic Microfinance Institution 2022
Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia
Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) is a Private Trust body
incorporated in Malaysia on September 17, 1987 to
serve as a microfinance institution (MFI) that provides
microfinance to poor households and low-income
households in Malaysia. The Project executed the
approach of Grameen Bank, Bangladesh to Malaysia
in reducing rural poverty by handing over micro credit
rights to the poor. This approach offers a closely
supervised micro credit financing scheme to the poor
for them to undertake any economic activity based
on their skills to increase their family income.
Best Islamic Capital Market Award 2022
Indonesia Stock Exchange
The COVID-19 pandemic has led Indonesia Stock
Exchange (IDX) to accelerate its digital transformation
and to encourage a responsible investment through
various initiatives. This is done to maintain the
spirit of growth in this recovery momentum and

to achieve financial sustainability. IDX continues to
strive and actively prioritise the Green Economy
and Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG)
investment programmes as well as digitising capital
market products and services.
Best Islamic Stock Exchange 2022
Pakistan Stock Exchange Limited
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) is amongst the oldest
exchanges in Asia. Presently, 40% shareholding
in PSX is held by a consortium of leading Chinese
exchanges (Shanghai Stock Exchange, Shenzhen
Stock Exchange, & China Financial Futures Exchange),
and 60% by general public, which includes initial
shareholders, local and foreign investors. PSX is now
a listed company and trades under the ‘PSX’ symbol.
As a frontline regulator, PSX follows international
best practices which includes a comprehensive and
robust regulatory framework that governs all aspects
and entities of the stock market ecosystem.
Best Islamic Fund Manager 2022
Oasis Crescent Capital (Pty) Ltd.
Oasis is a diversified wealth management company
focused on delivering real value to its investors over
the long term. The company provides services relating
to asset management and financial advice. It also
offers a wide investment product range that includes,
discretionary savings, tax incentivised products,
retirement funds, long–term insurance products &
endowments. As a privately owned family business,
established in 1997, Oasis is represented in several
countries which include South Africa, the United
Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland,
Singapore, Malaysia and Mauritius.
Best Takaful Company 2022
Etiqa General and Family Takaful
Etiqa General Takaful Berhad and Etiqa Family
Takaful Berhad are operating entities of Etiqa, a
leading insurance and Takaful business in ASEAN,
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offering a full range of Life and General insurance
policies, as well as Family and General Takaful plans
via more than 10,000 agents, 46 branches and 17
offices. Respectively Etiqa General Takaful is the
largest general takaful company in Malaysia with
over a market share of over 40% while Etiqa Family
Takaful is the largest family takaful company in
Malaysia as measured by New Business and is also
the fast growing in the Group Medical business.
Best Family Takaful Company 2022
PT Capital Life Syariah
PT Capital Life Syariah was officially established in
order to carry out life insurance business activities
with Shari’a principles. PT Capital Life Syariah vision
is “To be the best and most trusted Shari’a life
insurance company, as well as contribute towards
improving the Shari’a life insurance industry”. Our
mission is to consistently present the best Shari’a
life insurance products and personal services for
customers, consistently improve the capabilities of
the company's human resources and infrastructure
in order to provide the best service to all customers
while focusing on maintenance of trust, providing
value addition to all company stakeholders”.
Best Islamic Project Finance House 2022
AmInvestment Bank Berhad
AmInvestment Bank Berhad (AmInvestment Bank)
is a member of the AmBank Group. With a 30-
year track record as Malaysia’s leading investment
bank, we offer our clients a comprehensive suite
of investment banking products and services,
encompassing corporate finance, debt markets,
equities, fund management, private banking and
broking. AmInvestment Bank has long-standing
credentials in structuring award-winning debt and
capital markets solutions for a full spectrum of
clients, who range from corporate and institutional
to government-linked entities.
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Best Islamic Banking Window 2022
FNB Islamic Banking
FNB is the oldest bank in South Africa, and its roots
can be traced back to 1838. When looking at FNB's
history, two things in particular stand out. The first is
a story of survival - different circumstances in South
Africa have posed many great challenges in our
history, all of which FNB has successfully met. This
track record provides a strong foundation for our
future challenges. The second is a story of people -
our history has always been firmly influenced by the
needs of the people we serve.
Best Islamic Banking Brand 2022
Al Salam Bank
Al Salam Bank was established in the Kingdom
of Bahrain in 2006, and has since cemented its
reputation as the fastest growing bank in the
Kingdom and a highly influential force in the Islamic
banking industry regionally. Leveraging on its robust
financial standing as the industry’s strongest in asset
capital, the Bank has a proven track record in risk
mitigation and effectively shifting to market dynamics
through its agile growth strategy and solid financial
performance.
Best Islamic Investment Bank 2022
GFH Financial Group B.S.C.
GFH is a well renowned financial group in the GCC
region, with a diversified offering and pioneering track
record. Headquartered in Bahrain, GFH’s innovative
approach to Islamic investment banking services has
been recognised internationally for over a decade.
GFH has developed a strong and consistent ability to
identify, successfully bring to market and capitalise
on a wide range of solid investment opportunities
in some of the world’s most dynamic markets
and sectors. This approach signifies the Group’s
investment insights and commitment to increase
the value of its assets, and financial returns to its
investors and shareholders.
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Best Islamic Bank for SME Banking 2022
AmBank Islamic Berhad
AmBank Islamic Berhad (AmBank Islamic) is the
Islamic banking arm of AmBank Group (the Group)
and offers a comprehensive range of Shari'a-
compliant retail and non-retail banking products and
services including investment, treasury, and trade
solutions. Our primary role as a credit intermediary
is anchored by our value-based intermediation (VBI)
aspiration. This is an integral strategy to catalyse
our journey towards becoming a purpose-based
organisation where we consider the environmental,
social and governance (ESG) impacts of our business
and conduct to ensure that they contribute to the
greater good of our stakeholders, whilst being
mindful of financial returns to our share holder.
Best Central Bank of the Year 2022
BANK INDONESIA
Bank Indonesia is mandated with one overarching
goal, namely to create and maintain rupiah stability.
Towards that goal, Bank Indonesia is tasked with
managing the monetary, payment system and
financial system stability. Further, Bank Indonesia's
vision is to become the foremost digital central bank
that creates tangible contribution to the national
economy and be the best central bank amongst
emerging market countries towards an advanced
Indonesia.
Upcoming Shari'a Scholar 2022
Dr Zaharuddin Abd Rahman
Adjunct Professor Dr Zaharuddin Abd Rahman is
a renowned visage in the revered sphere of Shari’a
acquiescence and halal observation. His far-reaching
contribution to the world of Shari’a-compliance
and halal-related industries spans over 22 years
encompasses unswerving contribution in banking
and Takaful institutions, corporate companies, higher
education, the F&B segment, the cosmetics industry,
educational technologies, telcos, the Malaysian
Government & GLCs plus Malaysian regulators (BNM

& the Securities Commission of Malaysia). His fame
for experience in Shari’a compliance regulations and
halal-centric proficiency has enabled him to actively
impart his quintessential know-how in countries
like Singapore, Brunei, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain,
Trinidad Tobago, United Kingdom and the USA. At
present, he is the Founding Managing Director of
Elzar Group of Companies, Elzar Shariah Solutions
Sdn. Bhd., Myclass Technologies Sdn. Bhd., Aaalim
Aulad Islamic Preschool, MyDental Care, Shah Alam,
Urban Mobility Asia and a solar PV company, Suria
and Sonne Sdn. Bhd. He is currently serving as
Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Business and
Accountancy in University of Selangor (UNISEL).
GIFA Advocacy Award (Islamic Capital Market) 2022
Irwan Abdalloh
Irwan Abdalloh has been working at the Indonesia
Stock Exchange (IDX) since 2000. He began to focus
on developing the Islamic capital market since 2010.
Presently, he is the head of Islamic capital market in
IDX. In addition, he is also a member of Islamic capital
market committee at the National Shari’a Board of
Indonesia, a Vice Chairman of the Islamic capital
market committee at the Islamic Economy Society, a
member of Islamic capital market committee at the
Islamic Economics Expert Association, and a member
of Shari'a stock selection committee. He is the
originator of Shari’a Capital Market School, an
integrated training on stock investment in the Islamic
capital market; the Indonesia Sharia Stocks Index
(ISSI), an Islamic stock composite index; the Sharia
Online Trading System (SOTS), the world’s first
Shari'a-compliant online trading platform for retail
investors, and the tradable Shari'a stocks zakat and
the tradable Shari'a stocks waqf.
GIFA Special Award (Shari'a Advisory Leadership)
2022
Ahcene Lahsasna
Dr Ahcene Lahsasna is currently the CEO of SALIHIN
Shari’a Advisory & Chief Academic Officer of
SALIHIN Academy. Prior to that, he was an Associate
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Professor at INCEIF. Dr Lahsansa is a Council Member
of the Malaysian Financial Planning Council (MFPC),
a Member of the Grand Council of the Chartered
Islamic Finance Institute (CIIF) and Association of
Shariah Advisors Malaysia (ASAS), Chairman of the
Shari’a Committee of Standards Chartered Saadiq
Bank (Malaysia), and a Shari’a Advisory Council
Member of RGA Re-Takaful (Labuan). He is a CPIF
(Chartered Professional Islamic Finance), an RFP
(Register Financial Planner), a FAP (FAA Accreditation
Panel), a CPT (Certified Professional Trainer) by the
FAA, and a Certified Trainer by CIBAFI (General
Council for Islamic banks and financial institutions in
Bahrain) and MFPC. He is also a Certified Trainer by
HRDF, which is a Government Agency.
Most Outstanding Leader in Islamic Asset
Management 2022
Adam Ismail Ebrahim
Adam Ismail Ebrahim is the Chief Executive Officer
and Chief Investment Officer of the Oasis Group,
a wealth management organisation he established
in 1997. With keen entrepreneurial acumen, a
passionate and disciplined approach to investments,
Mr Ebrahim’s leadership has developed Oasis into
a well-diversified and sustainable business in the
regulated ethical investment environment. As the
Chief Executive Officer, Adam is responsible for the
strategic direction and operating agility of the firm,
including its financial soundness, the development
of new and improved business, the delivery of
simple and relevant product solutions, creating and
sustaining strategic alliances, leading the Group’s
customer service capability, optimising the business
processes with technology, and motivating and
mentoring a skilled and determined team.
Most Outstanding Leader in Takaful 2022
Fitri Hartati, SE, MM, AAIJ, AIIS, QIP, CPLHI, AMRP
Fitri Hartati, as the President Director, is an
Indonesian citizen. Experienced in the life insurance
industry, especially in operations and marketing
for more than 25 years, both in joint ventures and
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nationally, has served as Director of Operations at
PT Capital Life Indonesia. She has certification of
experts in the management of Life Insurance, Shari'a
Insurance and Health Insurance and has met the risk
management qualification of an insurance company
level 5 from Association of Indonesian Insurance
Management Experts (AAMAI).
Takaful CEO of the Year 2022
Wan Saifulrizal Wan Ismail
Wan Saifulrizal Wan Ismail is a qualified actuary
with more than 20 years of experience in the
takaful and insurance industry with the regulator,
insurance consulting outfit, life insurer and family
takaful operator. Since his appointment as the Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) of PruBSN in January 2020,
Wan has led the company through record growth
in new business sales and customers. He further
shaped the strategy behind the user growth of
Pulse by Prudential app, the first AI-powered health
app of its kind in the region. Wan is also the Chairman
for PruBSN’s charitable arm, PruBSN Prihatin, where
he has ensured the successful implementation
of PruBSN Microtakaful Jariyah programme, a
microtakaful programme for the Malaysian population
section faced with unyielding poverty.
Islamic Banker of the Year 2022
Syed Amir Ali
Syed Amir Ali is a Chartered Accountant by
profession from the Institute of Chartered
Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) and Institute
of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales
(ICAEW). He completed chartered accountancy with
distinction and secured a Gold Medal from ICAP.
He is also a Chartered Certified Accountant from
the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
(ACCA), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) from the
CFA Institute of USA. Continuing his professional
journey, he has also secured another Gold Medal
in MBA from Hamdard University. Besides these
professional qualifications, he is also an LLB &
Commerce graduate. He excelled in the ambit of
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Finance, Treasury, Investment & Corporate Banking
throughout his association with domestic and
international organizations including A.F Ferguson
& Co, and Shell. He spearheaded the Corporate and
Investment Group of Meezan Bank before moving to
BankIslami in 2018, which has continuously thrived
under his leadership and seen exponential progress.
GIFA CEO of the Year 2022
Eqhwan Mokhzanee
Eqhwan Mokhzanee manages and oversees AmBank
Islamic and is also responsible to chart its strategic
direction. He has approximately 25 years of corporate
and financial services experience. Thereafter, he
worked with local and foreign banks where he was
exposed to corporate banking, debt capital market,
corporate finance, financial advisory and real estate
investment. Eqhwan has been invited as a speaker at
conferences in Malaysia and overseas. He was the
1st Chairman of the industry-level Working Group
which developed the value-based intermediation
(VBI) sectoral guides for the palm oil, renewable
energy and energy efficiency sectors which were
issued on March 31, 2021.
Islamic Finance Personality of the Year 2022
Mohd Muazzam Mohamed
Mohd Muazzam Mohamed is the Group Chief
Executive Officer of Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad,
the only full-fledged Islamic bank publicly listed
on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia. Formerly
a Partner with KPMG Malaysia and an Executive
Director with KPMG Management Consulting, Mohd
Muazzam joined Bank Islam on May 11, 2015 as
Chief Financial Officer before being appointed to his
current position on December 5, 2018. With over 22
years of experience in the field of finance, audit and
consulting, Mohd Muazzam plays an instrumental
role in Malaysia’s Islamic finance industry, serving
as the President of Association of Islamic Banking
and Financial Institutions Malaysia (AIBIM) and
the Chairman of Value-Based Intermediation (VBI)
Community of Practitioners.

Global Islamic Finance Leadership Award (Institution)
2022
DDCAP Group™
Headquartered in London, DDCAP Group™
(DDCAP) is a market intermediary and financial
technology solutions provider connecting the global
Islamic financial market responsibly. Established in
1998, we have 25 years’ experience providing award-
winning commodity and asset facilitation services to
support our customers’ Shari'a compliant financial
requirements. DDCAP facilitates commodities and
services, providing systems solutions to over 300
financial sector customers worldwide, including
banks, non-bank financial institutions, asset managers
and FinTechs, across a diverse range of Shari'a-
compliant products, contracts and asset classes.
We have a dedicated team of professionals, with
broad, complementary skill sets drawn from financial
industry backgrounds, focused on providing services
to Islamic financial market participants from around
the world.
Global Islamic Finance Leadership Award (Country)
2022
The Republic of Djibouti
Djibouti is a small strategically located country
on the northeast coast of the Horn of Africa. It is
situated on the Bab el Mandeb Strait, which lies to
the east and separates the Red Sea from the Gulf
of Aden. Amid the steady expansion of Djibouti’s
financial sector over the recent years, Islamic finance
has been taking an increasingly prominent role. The
country introduced Islamic banking in 2006 with
the establishment of an Islamic bank branch, and
since then Islamic finance spread quickly. Of the 11
existing banks, four are Islamic, and the segment
currently accounts for between 15% and 20% of the
total banking industry assets.
According to fourth-quarter 2015 information from
the Central Bank of Djibouti (Banque Centrale de
Djibouti, BCD) the three Islamic banks operating
in Djibouti had assets of over DJF50bn ($280m),
disbursed 15% of total credits allocated in the country
and currently accounts for 25% of total assets in the
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banking sector. The global Islamic finance market
has been expanding at an average annual rate of 10-
12% over the past decade, according to 2015 figures
from the World Bank and it now accounts for assets
approaching $2trn.
The attraction of Djibouti as an Islamic banking
destination is fairly clear, given the strong and positive
reception from the population and the political
leadership's support for Islamic finance. Islamic
finance is set to become increasingly integrated
with the country’s financial sector over the coming
years, and its impact on the competitive landscape is
already being felt in some ways.
Global Islamic Finance Leadership Award 2022
His Excellency Abiy Ahmed Ali (PhD)
Prime Minister, Federal Democratic Republic of
Ethiopia
His Excellency Abiy Ahmed Ali (PhD) is the fourth
Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic
of Ethiopia. Inheriting a divided society, in all his
speeches and actions PM Abiy Ahmed has made
national unity, peaceful co-existence, shared growth
and regional integration, a central theme of his
administration. His inaugural speech inspired hope
and renewed collective sense of purpose in Ethiopia.
He has rich and wide-ranging experiences serving
government in different roles, offering a unique blend
of leadership, vision and knowledge in professional
and organisational skills. Under his leadership,
Ethiopia can rightly be called the emerging giant of
East Africa. In recent years, it has emerged as a major
power in the Horn of Africa, enjoying rapid economic
growth and increased strategic importance in the
region. Ethiopia accommodated Islamic finance in
its financial system through interest-free banking
window in 2011 and full-fledged interest-free
banking by the end of 2019. HE Abiy Ahmed played
a major role in paving way for the Central Bank to
enable the establishment of an Islamic bank. Today,
Islamic finance in Ethiopia is represented by three
financial institutions; Islamic banks, Islamic Insurance
and Islamic microfinance.
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