The Sharī’ah Board of the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Institutions (AAOIFI) held its 60th meeting over a span of three days, from Thursday 10 Rabi Al-Awwal 1441H, corresponding to 7 November 2019 to Saturday 12 Rabi Al-Awwal 1441H, corresponding to 9 November 2019 in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The standard discussion in this meeting continued for more than 25 hours, the members analysed the issues, and reviewed the Sharī’ah and technical reports.  Accordingly, the Shari’ah board made several key resolutions in this regard, including:

• Approving the exposure draft of the Sharī’ah standard on “Debit Card and Credit Card”. This standard has been issued by the Sharī’ah Board 17 years ago, however, the substantial technical and technological advances in the financial transactions resulted in a vast array of newly emerging matters in this area, which had led the Shari’ah board to make a decision of revising the standard to keep up with the development of the financial transactions. The Shari’ah Board has mandated one of its members –known for expertise and technical excellence in this field- to prepare a detailed study regarding the subject along with an exposure draft of the revised standard. The Sharī’ah Board discussed this exposure draft in a series of long meetings and deliberations.

It is pertinent to note that, before holding the Sharī’ah Board last meeting, the Secretariat had arranged two meetings between representatives of Visa Company and some members of the Sharī’ah Board. These meetings were supported –hosted and generously sponsored by Alinma Bank at the Bank’s Headquarter. The Board and Secretariat would like to take this opportunity to thank Alinma Bank for their support. The objective of these two meetings was to understand the technical characteristics of credit cards.

The Sharī’ah Board in this meeting hosted a senior official from the Visa Company for the same purpose. The meetings had a clear impact on the understanding of the operations and practices of the credit cards. This understanding of the precise procedures assisted in the Shari’ah decision making process.

The Board approved the standard and directed the Secretariat to issue the exposure draft on AAOIFI’s official website and hold public hearings in various countries to obtain comments and suggestions from the industry.

• The Board also deliberated on a number of reports prepared by the Secretariat regarding the technical efforts related to the Shari’ah standards and the meetings of Shari’ah board committees. The Shari’ah Board also commended the diligent efforts of the Secretariat.

• It is worth noting that this was the last meeting before the board completes its “4 years” term.. The Nominations Committee is in the process of selecting and appointing members for the next term. Further details will be announced soon, Allah willing.

AAOIFI, always, welcomes notes, comments, and contributions by those interested in the Islamic finance industry around the globe.