Ethica Institute of Islamic Finance™ is a training, certification, and advisory institute based in Dubai with over 20,000 paying users in 43 countries and over 100 institutions this year, more Islamic finance students than any other organization in the world. Ethica serves banks, universities, and governments, with some organizations training and certifying thousands of individuals through Ethica's 4-month CIFE™ (Certified Islamic Finance Executive™) program. Ethica's certification is the only online program in the world to fully comply with AAOIFI (Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions), the world's leading Islamic finance standard. As the most recognized Islamic finance certifier in the world, Ethica won the award for "Best Islamic Finance Qualification" by Global Islamic Finance Awards in the UK and received the award nomination for "Best Islamic Finance Training Institution" three years running by Islamic Business and Finance magazine. Ethica remains the only institute in Islamic finance to deliver training and certification 100% online.

• Ethica’s CIFE™ is now the fastest growing Islamic finance certification in the world
• Ethica’s CIFE™ is the only certificate accredited by leading scholars to conform to 2010 AAOIFI Shariah Standards, the industry’s most widely-accepted standard, and delivered online
• Ethica’s CIFE™ earned us a nomination for the “Best Islamic Finance Training Institution” by Islamic Business & Finance Awards, the industry’s most recognized award-granting body

At Ethica Institute of Islamic Finance™ we believe that many of the world's problems could be solved by providing alternatives to interest-based banking. If governments, companies, and individuals could focus on something other than repaying mounting debts, the world would be a much better place. We also believe that the industry urgently needs to comprehensively train the many people now entering Islamic finance.

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 certification, we created Ethica Institute of Islamic Finance™. The incredible response to our e-learning platform, IslamicAdvisory.com, necessitated the creation of Ethica™, a formalized, curriculum-based, certification program designed for both professionals and students. Ethica™ offers the world's first dedicated Islamic finance training portal offering training videos, certification, career counseling, recruiting assistance, live webinars, and the world’s largest library of scholar-approved answers available online.

Unlike traditional institutes typically run by academics and administrators, Ethica™ finds its roots in the cut-and-thrust of banking execution. This real-world experience translates directly into the effectiveness of Ethica’s™ practical content. Launched by a team of bankers and scholars who, to this day, conduct advisory and training assignments in the industry, content development for Ethica Institute of Islamic Finance™ began in 2002 before the parent company, Islamic Advisory Group, formally launched in Dubai in 2007. Based on its latest share sales, the company is currently valued at USD30 million.

Ethica™ Team

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.

Atif R. Khan is Managing Director at Ethica Institute™. 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 bankers and scholars. His earlier conventional finance experience includes investment banking at Morgan Stanley in New York and London, executing over $3 billion in transactions in several departments, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, equity capital markets, and debt capital markets. He went on to become Chief Financial Officer of Iprox Limited in London before pursuing his studies in Islamic finance. 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 Ethica Institute™. Previously he worked as an Internet Consultant 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 development, design and marketing of advertising and research tools. Sameer studied Computer Science at St. Stephen's College, Delhi University and brings complementary experiences in the areas of online strategy, project management, brand communication, marketing research and IT.

Zaynab Reza is a Business Analyst at Ethica Institute™. She plays a critical role in researching, reviewing, writing, and editing Ethica's™ content. Zaynab now also helps market Ethica'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 founding partner and 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 a real estate developer in 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 founding partner and 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 a real estate developer in 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 Ethica Institute™. 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 Ethica Institute™. 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 Ethica Institute™. 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.

Haris Zuberi is an Analyst at Ethica Institute™. He is also Senior Associate at KPMG where he advises Islamic banks, conducts financial audits, implements and tests internal control frameworks, performs strategy analyses, and formulates business plans. At Ethica, Haris is a critical member of the Institute's production, marketing, and distribution efforts, where he researches and reviews content, markets services, and manages clients and the broader community of learners. Haris is a Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan.

Romer Rosellon is Senior Audio Engineer at Ethica Institute™. 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.

Ethica™ Shariah Standards

Dr. Muhammad Zubair Usmani (Mufti) is a Shariah Consultant at Ethica Institute™ 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.

Dr. Ashraf Muneeb is a Shariah Scholar at Ethica Institute™ and a leading Hanafi scholar and Mufti. He qualified as a Certified Shariah Auditor and Advisor (CSAA) from AAOIFI, the highest certification possible from the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), the world's leading Islamic finance standard-setting body. He brings a wealth of practical knowledge accumulated over years of giving fatwas in commercial and personal law, conducting advisory work for establishing an Islamic bank with Ethica™, and regularly training professionals and students in Islamic law. Previously, he was Academic Director of the Qasid Institute in Amman and Academic Director of Qibla for the Islamic Sciences where he developed and taught the Islamic finance program. Dr. Ashraf has submitted several peer-reviewed papers to Dar al Ifta in Jordan about stocks and has been published in Aleqtesadiyyah magazine in Saudi Arabia. He graduated with honors from Mahad al-Fath in Damascus, received a MA in Islamic Studies with honors and a PhD in Islamic Studies with honors from Imam al-Ouzai, Beirut, throughout reading several books on methodology and Hanafi jurisprudence with leading Islamic scholars.

Tariq Bujasaim is a Shariah Consultant at Ethica Institute™. He worked as a Senior Shariah Auditor at Dubai Bank where he worked with leading Islamic finance scholars administering and implementing expert legal opinions according to AAOIFI Shariah Standards. He also provided introductory training in Islamic finance to new employees at Dubai Bank. Tariq is involved with developing Ethica's™ material from both a legal perspective as well as a pedagogical one. He has a degree in Islamic Studies from the College of Shariah and Islamic Studies at the University of Sharjah and a Bachelor's from Stanford University.

Yusuf Jha is a Chartered Sharia Auditor and Advisor formally certified by AAOIFI (Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions) and currently works for a major Islamic Bank in the GCC as as Senior Sharia Auditor. Alongside his daily tasks of consultancy and auditing he often presents products and ideas to his Sharia Board. Prior to his current role, he worked for BMB Islamic and Dar Al Istithmar in London. A graduate from the University of Birmingham, UK, he also worked as a Corporate Trainer and Systems Analyst at Accenture. He has received formal training in Islamic wills and inheritance tax and investment planning in the UK; and is qualified as a UK Chartered Independent Financial Advisor (IFA).

All certifications, examinations, training videos, and quizzes at Ethica Institute of Islamic Finance™ 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

Mateen Malik and Mujeeb Ur Rahman of Mansoft Technologies for site development and maintenance. James Clamp (www.jamesclamp.com) and Tim Ellingford for voice over. Ramiz Sabbagh and Sohail Nakhooda for certificate design.