Shariah Qualifications
Your Guide to Islamic Finance
The IFSB is an international standard-setting organisation that promotes and enhances the soundness and stability of the Islamic financial services industry by issuing global standards and guiding principles for the industry.
The IFSB has 188 members from 61 regulatory and supervisory authorities, 8 international inter-governmental organisations, and 119 market players (financial institutions, professional firms and industry associations) operating in 45 jurisdictions.
The authoritative views of the IFSB accords with the consensus of opinion of all the major scholars of Islamic finance including eminent scholars such as Justice (ret) Sh Mufti Taqi Usmani.
According to the IFSB, a provider of Islamic financial services must ensure its Shariah board demonstrates its competence by meeting the following:
- Members hold at least a bachelor’s degree/ijazah from a recognised university in the sciences of Shariah, including Islamic transaction/commercial law (Fiqh al-Muamalat) and be able to demonstrate an adequate understanding of finance in general and Islamic finance in particular
- A Chairman of the Shariah board with at least three years’ experience of making Shariah pronouncements/resolutions in Islamic finance, or at least four years’ post qualification experience in teaching or research in Islamic finance
- Demonstrate specific skills in the financial services industry in accordance with the line of business of the financial service provider e.g banking, home finance, funds management
- Additionally the following must be satisfied:
- While carrying out his or her duties, a member of the Shariah board should always have complete moral, intellectual and professional independence e.g no conflicts of interest
- Clear terms of reference regarding its mandate and responsibility
- Well-defined operating procedures and lines of reporting
- A respectable character and be of good conduct, particularly in terms of honesty, integrity and reputation in his or her professional business and financial dealings
- Continuous and transparent disclosure on Shariah compliance e.g Shariah certification