Dr. Mufti Irshad Ahmad Aijaz, a male Pakistani, appointed as a Shari’ah Advisory Board (SAB) Member of Tropical Bank Ltd.

Dr.  Irshad Ahmad holds Shahadah Aalimiyyah (Masters degree in Islamic and Arabic Studies) and he has completed his degree of Takhassus in Iftaa  (Specialization in Islamic Jurisprudence and Fatwa equivalent to M. Phill) from Jamia Dar-ul-Uloom, Karachi, Pakistan; a leading educational institute led by the world-renowned Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani. He also has a Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA Finance) and a Ph.D in Islamic Studies  with special relevance to Islamic Finance.

He served / serving as a member of many  task forces for Islamization of banking and financial system and has been a part for developing alternatives, review of policies and prepration and review of the standards for the Islamic finance and banking industry in Pakistan.

He is the Dean of faculty of Social Sciences, Al Ghazal University, Karachi,  Pakistan and a visiting faculty member of many institutions including National Institute of Banking and Finance, Pakistan (a subsidiary of State Bank of Pakistan), Centre for Islamic Economic (division of Jamia Dar-ul-Uloom, Karachi), and Institute of Business Administration, Karachi,  Pakistan. He is  a seasoned trainer and subject matter expert in the field of Islamic finance and banking.

Currently he serves as the Chairman, Shariah Advisory Committee of State Bank of Pakistan, Chairman, Shariah Advisory Committee of Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and Member, AAOIFI Governance and Ethics Board (AGEB), Bahrain .

Prof. Dr. Younes Soualhi, a male Algerian, appointed as a Shari’ah Advisory Board (SAB) Member of Tropical Bank Ltd.

Prof. Dr. Younes holds a PhD (Usul al-Fiqh) from International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM), Masters (Usul al-Fiqh) from University of Malaysia (UM), B.A (Shari’ah - Usul al-Fiqh) from Emir Abdulqadir University of Islamic Sciences in Algeria. He is a Registered financial planner and also holds a Diploma in Human Sciences.

He is a Registered Financial Planner (RFP) under Malaysian Financial Planning Council (MFPC) and a member of the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) Shariah sub-committee. He serves as a Senior Researcher at International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA). He is also a Senior Researcher Fellow and Professor at INCEIF University, Malaysia. 

He is currently a Chairman of Shariah Committee of Al-Rajhi Bank, Malaysia, the sole Shariah advisor for Kuwait Retakaful (Labuan), the Chairman of Shariah council of experts for Salam Takaful, Nigeria, Shari’ah Member of the Malaysian Stock Exchange (Bursa Malaysia), and the Chairman of Aljazair Mutahidah Takaful company in Algeria. He was previously the Chairman of the Shari’ah board of Munich Re Retakaful and a member of Shari’ah Committee of HSBC Amanah Malaysia.

He has twenty-seven (27) years of wide-ranging teaching experience and taught Islamic finance subjects such as Takaful and Retakaful courses for Masters and Ph.D levels. He is a Former Vice-President of the Faculty of Islamic Finance: International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM). He has also published articles and books in Islamic Banking and Finance particularly on Takaful and Retakaful.

Dr. Mohamed Burhan Arbouna holds a Ph.D. in laws with specialization in Islamic financial transactions and banking and finance from International Islamic University Malaysia, and Masters in Comparative Laws. He also holds B.A. degree in Shari'a and Higher Diploma in Education from Islamic University, Medina. He is an expert in Islamic banking and finance since 1997.

Dr. Arbouna worked as Head of Shari’a Compliance in various Islamic Banks and Financial institutions, including;

• Al Salam Bank, Bahrain.
• Kuwait Finance House, Bahrain.
• Seera Investment Bank BSC Bahrain.

He was the AAOIFI Shari’a Standards Coordination and consultation officer at the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI)–Bahrain.

Dr. Arbouna also sits on various Shari’a Supervisory Boards/Shari’a consultants/Shari’a working groups around the globe, including the following, among others;

• Bahrain Development Bank, Bahrain.
• International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM), Bahrain.
• Gulf African Bank, Kenya.
• Nigerian Central Bank, Nigeria.
• International Islamic Services Boards (IFSB), Malaysia.
• Accounting and Auditing for Islamic financial institutions (AAOIFI), Bahrain.
• First Global, Sri Lanka.
• Yasaar Consultancy Limited, UK.
• Khaleeji Islamic Consultancy, UK.

Dr. Arbouna lectures on Islamic banking and finance and gives consultancy on orientation and professional programs for several professional and educational institutions.

He is a key speaker in various Islamic banking and finance and Takaful (Islamic Insurance) forums and conferences.