Master Trainers

Dr. Abdullah Eissa Aydhy holding a PhD in Shariah from Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He was working in Alinma Bank as head of shariah scholars during 2009-2012. Also, he worked as assistant professor, shariah department at Jazan University 2015-2017. Dr. Aydhy currently a member in shariah committee at AAOIFI, and also in many International Islamic organizations, such as Tayseer Finance and Solidarity Saudi Takaful Company.

Furthermore, Dr. Aydhy has several publications in the field of Islamic finance industry.

Honorable Sh. Abdul Sattar Al Qattan,, CEO, Shura Shari’ah Consultancy, Kuwait; AAOIFI Shari’ah Standards Committee, Kuwait. Shaikh. Al-Qattan is holding a bachelor’s degree in Sharia, from Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University of Saudi Arabia, and completed his Higher Diploma in Comparative Jurisprudence in Kuwait University. He has served in many prominent Islamic Finance Institutions in Kuwait such as Kuwait Finance House, The Investment Dar and Aayan Leasing and Investment Co, he is currently the General Manager of Shura Sharia Consultation Company which is one of the pioneer Sharia Consultation Institutions in the region. Sheikh. Al-Qattan is a member in many International organizations supporting Islamic Finance Industry. He is also Sharia Board member in several financial institutions in the GCC region and other Arab countries such as Syria and Libya. While doing his excellent role in his career life he also has a vas variety of publications in Ijara, Sharia Governing, bankcards, Sukuk and many other research papers submitted to international Conferences in Islamic Banking and Financing in GCC Region, North Africa and Malaysia and participated as a speaker in most those Conferences.

Dr. Ahmed did his PhD on Comparative Law of Banking, as well as Master of Comparative Law (MCL) at the International Islamic University Malaysia. He also did Bachelor of Laws (LLB) with (Hons) at the same university. He worked in the banking industry for more than 11 years from Malaysia to Kuwait and Bahrain. He held several different positions in those Institutions during his time in the banking industry including the Head of Shari’a Compliance Department. The Banking Institutions that he has worked with include the Kuwait Finance House (Malaysia), the Kuwait Finance House (Kuwait) and Seera Investment bank in Bahrain. He also works periodically as Part time lecturer at Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance since 2016 (teaching Trust law and Principles of Fatwa and Applied Jurisprudence) as well as conducting other period CBB regulatory compliance trainings. He was a Trainer at the Institute of Banking & Finance in State of Kuwait in 2013-2014.

Currently, he is the Founder and partner of QUTOOF CONSULTANCY CO. WLL. Kingdom of Bahrain. It provides Islamic Banking Shari’a compliance advisory, governance, Shari’a external/internal audit, legal, Takaful consultancy, and training services.

Asfand is a versatile and highly motivated Islamic Banking & Finance professional. He is serving as Head of Product Development and Shari’ah Support Department at Askari Bank Ltd – Ikhlas Islamic Banking. Asfand became an affiliate of Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA) at a very young age of 20 years. During the following six years, his quest for professional excellence and passion for Islamic Finance led him to become one of the youngest Head of Product Development in Pakistan. In recognition of his efforts, he was nominated as winner of Cambridge IFA’s ‘Critics Choice Upcoming Personality in Islamic Retail Banking Award 2019’. Asfand carries extensive experience in Shari’ah Auditing. He was previously associated as Team Lead - Shari’ah Audit and Advisory Department at premier Islamic Bank in Pakistan where he established Shari’ah Audit Function in Central and North regions of Pakistan. He is a Working Group Member at Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) for review and amendment of Governance and Auditing Standards. Asfand is renowned across Islamic Banking Industry of Pakistan as a prolific speaker on Islamic Finance. He is an Independent Master Trainer at AAOIFI and a frequent speaker on Islamic Banking and Finance at various prestigious Islamic Banking and Finance fora including State Bank of Pakistan - National Institute of Banking and Finance (SBP-NIBAF) and Institute of Bankers Pakistan (IBP). On academic front, in addition to ACCA affiliation, Asfand holds Masters in Islamic Finance from INCEIF University (Malaysia) and Certified Islamic Professional Accountant (CIPA) & Certified Shari’ah Auditor & Advisor (CSAA) certifications from AAOIFI. He is also a member of Institute of Islamic Banking and Insurance (IIBI-UK) and Chartered Institute of Islamic Finance Professionals (CIIF-Malaysia).

Asfand is a strong advocate of learning through sharing and collaboration. The IBA Press has published his case studies in eminent book titled “Case Studies in Islamic Finance and Shari’ah Compliance”. His recent academic contribution titled “Hidden Traps in Shari’ah Auditing” has been published in Cambridge IFA’s Global Islamic Finance Report (GIFR) 2019.

Having a diversified cross-functional experience in Islamic Finance, Business Management and Operation, Project Management and Administration for more than two decades, Ehsan has hands-on experience of people and projects management, with a rich experience of working with board of directors and senior management of banks, regulators, auditors and legal counsels. He has exclusively served Islamic Financial Industry with institutions like World Bank-IFC, National Bank of Pakistan, ABL, Soneri Bank, NAFA, Askari General Insurance Company Takaful Window (AGICO), Emirates Global Islamic Bank now Al Baraka Bank Pakistan, UBL, Yasaar Ltd - UAE & UK, Minhaj Advisory – UAE, Arif Habib for more than a decade now. He has structured several Sukuk and CPs including the largest Sukuk in Pakistan; a hundred billion Sukuk for Neelum Jhelum Hydro Power, Engro Polymers, Fatima Fertilizer, Fauji Fertilizer, IBL, TPL and HUBCO. Previously he worked on Sitara Peroxide, Sitara Energy, Security Leasing Corporation Limited and National Industrial Parks in Pakistan. Currently, he run my own consulting as “ESAAC”, offering a complete turnkey solution for Islamic financial institutions, including banks, takaful companies, modarabas and other institution. He also served as a member of the Technical Committee for Developing Accounting & Auditing Standard for Islamic Financial Institution at Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP). As member of SAF at State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), he worked actively with SBP in matters pertaining to Islamic Banks including Shariah Standard on Shirkat-ul-Milk usually used for Housing Finance, Tawarruq, Commodity Murabahah, Treasury, Trade Finance and Agricultural Financing Products. At ESAAC, he has the privilege to work on a project of World Bank-IFC for developing Islamic Re-Mortgage Finance. He has worked with SECP team on Takaful Rules 2012 with its insurance division. At National Bank of Pakistan, he managed to covert nearly two hundred conventional banking branches into Islamic Banking Branches. This is the largest conversion program in Pakistan taking place in a span of approximately two years. He possess a unique combination of religious and contemporary education that is very relevant to Islamic Banking. He graduated and accomplished Masters in Business Administration (MBA) with specialization in Finance and Masters in Economics (MA) from IoBM and Karachi University respectively. He also completed traditional Islamic studies and graduated as a Mufti, achieving Masters (MA) in Traditional Islamic Studies and specializing in Islamic Jurisprudence (PGD-Mufti) from Pakistan’s renowned Islamic School, Jamia-Tur-Rasheed. He has accomplished Bachelors in Law and Legislation (LLB). This unique blend of educational combination gives him an edge upon many others to understand, correlate and align modern day banking practices with Shariah principles. Beside this, he conducts courses and sessions on Islamic Banking, Capital Markets, Derivatives, Takaful and Risk Management in renowned Business schools like CBM, IBA and KUBS.   Phone: +92-213-483-3944 Cell: +92-300-828-6191 [email protected], [email protected]

Mufti Faraz Adam is a UK-based Islamic Finance & Fintech consultant and heads the UK Shariah advisory firm Amanah Advisors. He is advising several global Islamic financial institutions spread across the UK, US, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, UAE, and other countries.

Mufti Faraz completed a six-year Alimiyyah program (Islamic Studies) in the UK after which he went on to specialise in Islamic law and finished a Mufti course in Durban, South Africa. He holds a Master’s Degree in Islamic Finance, Banking, and Management from Newman University, UK. He qualified with an MBA Diploma from the International Business Management Institute and successfully accomplished a Fintech Specialisation course from the University of Michigan. He recently achieved the ACCA Level 4 Qualification in Accounting and Business. He is passionate about the development of the Islamic economy and serves across its various sectors such as Islamic banking, Islamic capital markets, Takaful, SME financing, and Islamic social finance.

Mr. Tabraze currently working as Chairperson (Accounting & Law) and Full Time Faculty Member at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi since December 2014. IBA is the top business school of Pakistan and has an active program in accounting and finance in collaboration with professional accounting bodies like ICAP, ACCA and CIMA. He has been associated with The Accounting & Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) in multiple projects, he also worked as Director Technical Services at Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) from June 2011 till December 2014. He is PhD (in progress) Leicester University, UK. Research is about Audit Quality & Regulation. Mr. Tabraze is a Fellow Member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (member since 2000).  He Became Fellow Member of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, ACCA (UK) in 2005 (membership obtained in 1999). Currently not on active members register. Hold Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Mathematics from University of Karachi (1994). Mr. Tabraze Conducts different training programs in various institutions, such as ICAP, AAOIFI and Asian Development Bank. Mr. Tabraze Publications: 1-      Ansari, O. M., Tabraze, H. 2018. Accounting for Islamic Finance: Application of IFRS and the Shari’ah Differences. Journal of Islamic Financial Accounting, 2(1), pp.13-22.

Nazir, Usman and Tabraze, Haroon. 2017. Khazanay.com set their accounts straight. In: 2nd International Case Study Conference (ICSC 2017), 30th-31st October 2017, Adya Hotel, Langkawi Island, Kedah, Malaysia

Dr Hurriyah El Islamy is the Best National and Global Islamic Finance Activist/Proponent Award Winner (Bank Indonesia 2018) who currently serves the Executive Board of Badan Pengelola Keuangan Haji Indonesia (Presidential Decree 74/2017) and the IsDB’s APIF Supervisory Committee (23/06/2020). She is also IMF Expert in Islamic Finance, FAA certified Assessor, Shariah Board Member and Strategic Advisor of Islamic Fintech Alliance and was the Head of Professional Development in AAOIFI prior to which she served as AAOIFI Shariah Central Board Working Group member. With over two decades of experience globally, she served, among others, as Director, Group Head Shariah and Governance and Group Legal - Islamic Banking and Capital Markets of CIMB Group; Director, Head of Legal Capinnova Investment Bank; Head of AML and Compliance and Legal Counsel Kuwait Finance House Bahrain; Chairperson, Audit and Legal Committee of Bahrain Associations of Banks. She was trained in Leadership in General Counsel (2019) and Negotiation and Leadership (2012) by Harvard Law School, received multiple academic awards including from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, graduated as the Best Overall LLB student from International Islamic University Malaysia, wrote multiple publications in several disciplines including Islamic finance and was IFN Correspondence on Legal Frameworks.

She has been providing advice and consultancy to regulators and/or entities in several jurisdiction on Islamic finance related matters.

Mufti Ibrahim Essa is a well-known recognized Shariah Scholar in the field of Islamic Banking and Takaful. Mufti Ibrahim Essa has completed his Darse Nizami (Masters in Quran and Sunnah) and Takhassus fil Ifta (Specialization in Islamic Jurisprudence) from Jamiah Darul Uloom Karachi. Currently he is working as teacher and Member of Darul Ifta Jamiah Darul – Uloom Karachi.

Mufti Ibrahim Essa is also associated as Chairman Shariah Board ZTBL and Member Shariah Board Habib Metropolitan Bank Limited. He was associated with Ernst & Young Ford Rhides Sidat Hyder & Co as Shariah Advisor from 2007 to 2015. He is also the Shariah Advisor of number of Islamic Financial Institutions National and International including Craft 3 Investment USA (USA), Atrium Syndicates Lloyds of London, EFU Takaful, ORIX Leasing Pakistan Ltd etc. Number of Charitable Institutions including The Indus Hospital, TCF, LRBT, Chhipa, Shahid Afridi Foundation, etc. take Shariah advices from Mufti Sahab on their Zakat and Donation matters. Mufti Ibrahim has also written more than four thousand Fatawa on different topic.

Mezbah Uddin Ahmed is a researcher at International Shari’ah Research Academy of Islamic Finance (ISRA), Malaysia. He is also actively involved in various Shariah audit, advisory and consultancy projects at ISRA Consulting. He also regularly provides training on different areas of Islamic finance including AAOIFI’s CSAA and CIPA preparation programs. Mezbah writes regularly on contemporary issues related to Islamic finance. He has published in international refereed journals, newspapers, magazines and book chapters. His notable contributions include the Islamic Financial System: Principles & Operations (2nd edition) textbook, which is one of ISRA’s flagship publications and a compulsory read in various universities. Mezbah holds both CSAA and CIPA certifications of AAOIFI. He was a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA), obtained a BSc in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes University, UK and MSc in Islamic Banking and Finance (MIBF) from IIUM Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance (IIiBF), Malaysia.

Dr. Beltagi, CEO of the Egyptian Islamic Finance Association, has over 37 years of experience in the field of Islamic banking and finance. After obtaining his PhD and LLM degrees in accountancy from Al-Azhar University, in Egypt, Dr. Beltagi was heading the Planning & Studies Department of Al-Rajhi Bank. He worked also as programs manager of Shari’a Compliant Banking in Saudi Arabia Monetary Agency. Then, he was the Vice chairman of Shari’a Board in both National Bank of Development and GM of Shari’a Board Banque Misr. Furthermore, Dr. Beltagi has several publications in the field of Islamic finance (e.g. basics of development of the planning budget in Islamic banks, concepts of Islamic banking and financing formulas used in Islamic banks, etc.)

In addition, Dr. Beltagi was a Certified Expert at Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions and an Expert approved by the Islamic Development Bank.

Moosa Tariq Khoory is currently Head of Internal Sharia Audit at Dubai Islamic Bank and a member of AAOIFI Governance and Ethics Board, in addition to being a member of the Sharia Standards Committee (Dubai) reporting to AAOIFI’s Sharia Board. He is also a member in the Internal Sharia Supervisory Committee of Amlak Finance.

Moosa is the Founder Chairman of the “Sharia Professionals Association”, the first of its kind in the UAE, where Sharia Departments of Islamic banks and financial Institutions in the UAE discuss the practical issues of their profession. Moosa holds master’s degree in Islamic Law & Legal Theory from University of Sharjah.

Dr. Imran Ashraf Usmani, son of Mufti Taqi Usmani, is a distinguished Shariah Scholar with specialization in Islamic Fiqh and Fatwa from Jamia Darul Uloom. He is a PhD scholar of Islamic Finance and holds law graduate as well. He holds several positions, including the following: -President & CEO. Usmani & Co Pvt. Ltd. -Member Steering Committee for implementation of Islamic banking in Pakistan. -Group Head. Resident Shariah Board Member of Meezan Bank Ltd. -Executive Shariah Board Member of Guidance Financial Group. -Shariah Supervisory Board Member of Bank Sarasin Switzerland. -Shariah Board Member of AIG Chartis Takaful, Bahrain. -Executive Director of the Hira Foundation School and Hira Institute of Emerging Sciences. -Chairman Sub Executive Committee, Center of Islamic Economics. -Chairman Board of Academics IBA, Center of Excellence in Islamic Finance. -Chairman Shariah Board of House Building Finance Corporation. -Chairman Shariah Board of PMEX. Pakistan Mercantile Exchange. -Chairman Shariah Compliant Screening index board, Pakistan Stock Exchange. -Chairman Amanah Bank Sirilanka

Dr. Omar Hafiz is an associate professor of Islamic finance in King Abdulaziz university. He is A Saudi citizen born in Almadina in 1950 and got his Ph. D from Indiana University bloomington USA in 1981 and a bachelor degree in Islamic studies in 2005 from king Abdulaziz university. He joined department of Economics in 1981 after graduation for Around 9 years where he served as chairman of the department and director of the first international research center in Islamic economics. in 1990 he left the university for working in Islamic Finance industry where he worked for Islamic Development Bank for around 15 years and for other Islamic finance and Takaful institutions for more than 10 years. He published some books in Arabic and supervised a lot of dissertations in Islamic economics, and in 2017 He returned back to his university to work in Islamic Economics Institute.

Dr. Shahul Hameed Mohamed Ibrahim is a Chartered Accountant (Malaysia). He is also a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (UK)   (FCCA) and Chartered Islamic Finance Professional (CIFP). He is a graduate of Kolej Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman College, Kuala Lumpur with a Diploma in Commerce (Financial Accounting). He also holds an MA(Accounting and Finance) from Lancaster University (Accounting and Taxation) and  PhD from the University of Dundee on Islamic Accounting, as well as the Post Graduate Diploma in Islamic Revealed Knowledge from IIUM . He has been teaching for more than 25 years in higher education in both Malaysia and overseas, with another 5 years in practice and industry as an accountant.  He held the position of Head of Accounting at the Department of Accounting   at the Kulliyah of Economics and Management, IIUM and rose from assistant lecturer to Associate professor over 17 years of service in IIUM including undertaking his Masters and PhD degrees.

In 2008 he retired from IIUM and joined INCEIF and was promoted to Head of CIFP in 2009 which post he executed until 2012. In January 2015, Dr Shahul left for the Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies as visiting professor and in August 2018 to United Arab Emirates University as visiting faculty until December 2015.  Dr Shahul has published a number of journal articles, conference papers and delivered talks in Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Qatar, Jeddah, Yemen, Sri Lanka and India.  He is also the author of the first textbook on Islamic accounting He has conducted training in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and Yemen. Dr Shahul had a short stint with AAOIFI as a senior consultant in 2007. He was a Shariah Committee Member of the Malaysian Industrial Development Bank Bhd, a development finance institution set up by the Government of Malaysia, for six years until December 2017. He is currently in the editorial board of the AAOIFI journal and member of the Education Committee of AAOIFI as well as a Trustee/Director in the Farrash Foundation.

Yousuf is an experienced Islamic FinTech strategist with a passion for spearheading Islamic Finance 3.0. He has 10+ years of experience in managing tech solutions and providing shari'ah advisory. Blending academic training in Shari’ah and Islamic Finance with hands-on experience in technology, he envisions a sustainable future of Islamic Finance. Yousuf holds an MSc degree in Islamic Finance from INCEIF, Malaysia. Earlier, he graduated in Shari'ah and Islamic Jurisprudence. He is an AAOIFI Certified Shari'ah Advisor and Auditor (CSAA) and a Registered Shariah Adviser by the Securities Commission of Malaysia. He advises institutions in several countries including Malaysia, South Africa, UAE & Bangladesh. He is also a member of the Working Group, Governance Standard Committee at AAOIFI. At Ethis, Yousuf brings his expertise in Shari'ah, Technology, and leadership to head the operations and Shari'ah. Ethis pioneered several Islamic Crowdfunding platforms for investment and charity. Ethis Indonesia is an award-winning Islamic Property Crowdfunding platform that brings together retail crowd-investors, Islamic institutions, and impact investors to fund Social Housing developments. In Malaysia, Ethis launched its flagship platform Global Sadaqah, an Islamic Social Finance crowdfunding marketplace in 2018. Ethis was also recently awarded Malaysia’s first Islamic Equity Crowdfunding license, which is targeted to launch in 2020.   Yousuf co-founded IFA Consultancy - the pioneer Islamic Finance training and consultancy firm in Bangladesh. The institution has provided training to more than 400 students since its inception. It also organised the first Islamic Fintech Conference, first Islamic Ecommerce workshop and many other Islamic Finance training and workshops. Yousuf conducted various researches, published articles and reports; such as “Responsible Finance - Ethical and Islamic Finance: Meeting the Global Agenda” - published by RFI Foundation together with IFSB. Yousuf co-authored the report with Tan Sri Dr Zeti, the former Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia and Ms Azleena - former Central Banker and Islamic Finance Expert. Yousuf also contributed to the BNM Guidance document on Value-based Intermediation as part of the INCEIF team. He also worked on the commentary for Shari'ah Standards issued by BNM as part of the ISRA team. Other articles include “Will Shari’ah Robo-Advisors replace Shari’ah Advisors?” in Islamic Finance Review (ISFIRE), UK and “Conventional Futures: A Review of Major issues from Islamic Finance Perspective” for International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education.