Enhancing the competence and effectiveness of Sharı‘ah advisory boards : case of Islamic Banking institutions in Pakistan

Abstract EN

The objective of this paper is to make an assessment of the competence of the members of Shar¯ı‘ah Boards of the Islamic Banking Institutions (IBIs) in terms of enabling and ensuring Shar¯ı‘ah compliance of banks business.

The competency of Shar¯ı‘ah board members is considered as a critical issue in the State Banks Shar¯ı‘ah Governance Framework (SGF), which considers degree from any Waf ¯aq al-Mad¯aris as the basic qualification for their appointment.

The paper investigates into the curricula of mad¯aris (religious schools) in Pakistan and orientation of the mad¯aris graduates for understanding increasingly innovative banking and finance operations.

It also analyzes the syllabubs of the specialization/takhas.

s.us.

f¯ı al-fiqh/takhas.

s.us.

f¯ı al-ift¯a in the mad¯aris.

Some pragmatic recommendations have been made to enhance the expertise of the Shar¯ı‘ah board members in the light of SBPs Fit & Proper criteria.

This is a pioneer study discussing the scheme of studies in Pakistani mad¯aris and provides a basis for further research on this area.