Crash courses are not enough.

What is needed is ongoing, standards-based training for everyone. From single individuals to entire banks. Anytime, anywhere.

In an effort to meet this growing demand for Islamic finance training, we created IslamicAdvisory.com, Islamic Finance Training, Online. IslamicAdvisory.com is the world's first dedicated Islamic finance training portal. The site offers training modules, certification, discussion forums, member profiles, a Q&A database, podcasts, and live webinars.

The website was beta launched on the 9th of March 2009 (12th of Rabi Al-Awwal 1430) and globally launched on the 11th of May 2009 by Islamic Advisory Group, an independent and privately held company incorporated in Dubai. The company was launched in 2007 and began providing face-to-face advisory, structuring, and training services while building the online portal. Based on its latest share sales, Islamic Advisory Group is valued at USD30 million. We have a small, passionate team of committed professionals, some of whom have been conducting face-to-face Islamic finance training for several years now.

Our Team

Atif R. Khan is Managing Director at IslamicAdvisory.com. While preparing to launch the website, he led the firm's execution on a variety of face-to-face advisory, structuring, and training assignments. Previously he was Director of Islamic Finance at BankT&D. In addition to working closely with Islamic financial institutions on product development, Atif studied the Shariah sciences for five years in Pakistan, the last years of which were spent one-on-one with some of the world's leading Islamic finance scholars. His earlier conventional finance experience includes investment banking at Morgan Stanley in New York and London, executing mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance transactions, and Chief Financial Officer of Iprox Limited in London. Atif earned a Bachelor's summa cum laude from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a Master's from Harvard University.

Sameer Hasan is Business Director at IslamicAdvisory.com. Previously he worked as Web Executive at Iniquus, a creative design and software development firm, and subsequently moved to Pan Arab Research Center, a Dubai-based leader in market research and information systems, where he was instrumental in the design and communication of several information products. Sameer studied Computer Science at St. Stephen's College, Delhi University and brings to Islamic Advisory Group his complementary experiences in the areas of web marketing, web design, research, and IT.

Asim Khan is Program Director at IslamicAdvisory.com. He develops the website's blended, interactive e-learning environment and draws on a wealth of pedagogical experience. An educator by training, Asim was previously Academic Director in a Canadian international school as well as an overseas teacher. Additionally, Asim advised administrative and managerial faculty at newly established international schools on how to organize their educational system. His strong belief that individuals thrive with a student-centered and hands-on learning experience is something that he brings to IslamicAdvisory.com. Asim has a Bachelor's in English from York University and a Bachelor's in Education with Distinction from the University of Western Ontario.

Zaynab Reza is a Business Analyst at IslamicAdvisory.com. She plays a critical role in researching, reviewing, writing, and editing IslamicAdvisory.com's content. Zaynab now also helps market IslamicAdvisory's services to clients around the world. Previously she worked as a professional teacher. Zaynab received a BBA from the Institute of Management Sciences in Pakistan.

Nasir Abdul Fattah is a member of the firm's Advisory Board. He brings a wealth of regional expertise, having worked with some of the GCC's largest institutional developers in his capacity as a director at Hilltop Dubai. He spearheaded one of the first investment vehicles into the region targeting North American investors and now devotes much of his time to institutionalizing this process through the development of Shariah-compliant REIT vehicles for global investors.

Khaled Qadir is a member of the firm's Advisory Board. He brings a rich background in development, having shepherded some of the UN's most ambitious humanitarian projects in less-developed economies. He also brings extensive expertise in large-scale developments with a special focus on Shariah-compliant fund creation, most notably as a director at Hilltop Dubai, in addition to his breadth of experience in creating and operating several successful businesses in the United States.

Mujeeb Beig is an Associate at IslamicAdvisory.com. He is also Head of Research and Product Development at First Dawood Islamic Bank and is widely regarded as an industry expert in structuring complex Islamic finance transactions, having previously developed Shariah compliant clean and secured money market deals, running finance products, personal cards, and zero coupons bonds. Previously he was Senior Vice President at Habib Bank AG Zurich. He is a part qualified Chartered Accountant and holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Islamic Banking and Finance from Jamia Darul Uloom.

Ahmed Ali Siddiqui is an Associate at IslamicAdvisory.com. He is also Vice President and Manager of Product Development and Shariah Compliance and Secretary to the Shariah Supervisory Board at Meezan Bank where he manages all product development initiatives, formulates policy guidelines, oversees Islamic banking training, and conducts Shariah audits alongside the Shariah Advisor Dr. Imran Usmani. He has been instrumental in launching the bank's car financing and home financing products and continues to advise on a number of other products. Ahmed is actively involved with training and advisory assignments around the world and is a frequent speaker at Islamic finance conferences. Ahmed holds a BBA and MBA from the Institute of Business Administration with six gold medals.

Imran Mufti is Legal Counsel at IslamicAdvisory.com. He is also a lawyer at the Dubai office of Lovells where he specializes in Islamic capital markets. His recent experience includes advising on some of the most high profile Sukuk transactions to date including the US$3.52 billion pre-IPO Sukuk for Nakheel, the US$2.53 billion convertible Sukuk for Aldar, the dual-listed US$750 million Sukuk for Dubai Islamic Bank and the US$600million Sukuk for Dar Al-Arkan Real Estate Development Company (representing the first international Sukuk for a Saudi corporate entity). Imran studied law at the University of London and is qualified as a lawyer both in the United Kingdom and in New York.

Romer Rosellon is Senior Audio Engineer at IslamicAdvisory.com. With over 12 years of live and post production experience in sound engineering and digital remastering, Romer makes good audio sound great. Previously he was at Amerasian Studios, a music album post production facility of Viva Entertainment Company. Romer majored in Classical Guitar at the College of Music, University of the Philippines.

Our Shariah Standards

Dr. Muhammad Zubair Usmani (Mufti) is a Shariah Consultant at IslamicAdvisory where he reviews and approves our certification and handles training and consultancy work on a case-by-case basis. As one of the world's leading Islamic finance scholars and a noted expert on AAOIFI Shariah Standards, he also serves as a Shariah Advisor at Muslim Commercial Bank, Pak-Qatar Takaful, and ICAP's Accounting Committee where he oversees the development, execution and compliance of Islamic banking products. He is increasingly involved with a variety of sukuk and private equity related forums around the world and is an active trainer in all areas of Islamic finance. He is a regular featured speaker at the National Institute for Banking and Finance, Jamia Darul Uloom, and the Centre for Islamic Economics, and is an internationally recognized scholar in Islamic finance. He holds the Alamiyyah and Takhassus from Jamia Darul Uloom.

Shaykh Tariq Bujasaim Al-Falasi is a Shariah Consultant at IslamicAdvisory. He is also Senior Shariah Auditor at Dubai Bank where he works closely with leading Islamic finance scholars researching, administering, and implementing expert legal opinions according to AAOIFI Shariah Standards. Tariq is involved with developing IslamicAdvisory's material from both a legal perspective as well as a pedagogical one. He has a degree in jurisprudence from the College of Shariah and Islamic Studies at the University of Sharjah and a Bachelor's from Stanford University.

All training modules, quizzes, and Q&As at IslamicAdvisory are based on AAOIFI's latest Shariah Standards. AAOIFI, pronounced "a-yo-fee," is the world's leading standard-setting body for Islamic finance and these standards are the same ones chosen by many of the major financial centres of the world. We are independent of AAOIFI and promote their Shariah Standards because we believe that doing so promotes common global standards, greater Shariah convergence and cooperation among scholars, and increased clarity among financial institutions who wish to better manage their product development and Shariah teams. To learn more about AAOIFI, please go to www.aaoifi.com.

Dubai

Dubai is the region's leading financial centre, and one of the world's leading Islamic financial hubs. With hundreds of financial institutions in Dubai alone, and thousands more in neighboring GCC countries, the city offered us an unparalleled opportunity to be at the centre of the global financial markets. Somewhere between the important Islamic financial markets of London, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuala Lumpur sits Dubai, with its superior infrastructural, legal, and regulatory standards and its world-class pipeline of landmark financial transactions, Dubai bridges the East and the West like no other financial centre in the world.

Credits

Hema Chaudhry and Preeti Singh of Synapse Communications for site construction. Mateen Malik of Mansoft Technologies for ongoing site development. James Clamp (www.jamesclamp.com) and Tim Ellingford for voice over. Ramiz Sabbagh and Sohail Nakhooda for certificate design.