One of the most common questions that I get is from Shariah Graduates of Islamic Universities and Islamic Seminaries (Darul Ulooms) regarding career prospects in the Islamic Finance Industry. The most recent was the one below that I received from a Shariah Graduate (Mufti) from the subcontinent:
“𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘬𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘐𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘩 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘳”
I thought it would be more beneficial to write a brief post due to the frequency of the question. 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗵 𝗜 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝗮 𝘄𝗲𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀.
Briefly though for a Shariah Graduate:
𝟭) 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗶𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹-𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗵 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻 𝗜𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗜𝗙𝗜). However, getting into a Shariah Department with no experience is not easy at all. Furthermore, if you are from a country with no or a limited number of IFIs this makes it much more difficult. While there are still opportunities in Shariah Departments in the major Islamic finance hubs, due to the number of local Shariah Graduates there is a growing trend of localisation and the hiring of foreigners has been reducing. However, if you are able to get into a Shariah Department and get experience, then more opportunities usually arise.
𝟮) 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗴𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗹𝗮𝘄 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺 𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗹𝗮𝘄 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀. Law firms are heavily involved in Islamic finance and although your main role may not be as a Shariah Advisor, they always need people with an understanding of Shariah as they do most of the transaction documentation for the large transactions and liaise with the Shariah Advisors of IFIs etc.
𝟯) 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗵 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘆/𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆. However, this will mean you will have to compete with others doing the same thing and try to market yourself and company in order to win clients. Furthermore, the market is competitive and cyclical. During the many years I’ve been in the IF industry, a lot of such companies have closed down or become less active. There are some that have done very well. You can also work for one that is already established.
𝟰) 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆/𝗦𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿/𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗜𝗙𝗜𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿. Generally you can’t apply and would usually be approached. However, in recent years regulators have imposed limitations on the number of IFIs that any individual can sit on. Furthermore, like point 1, there is increased localisation in this regard.
𝟱) 𝗔 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗮 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗵 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 as there is a possibility that regulators will eventually impose External Shariah Audit on IFIs for better Shariah Governance.
