JEDDAH, 20 June 2007 — Saleh Kamel, president of Dallah Albaraka Group and chairman of the General Council of Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (GCIBFI), has called for a streamlining of the Shariah Council system to help deal with the different interpretations of Shariah compliance across the Islamic world.
In an exclusive interview with Oliver Cornock, country editor for Oxford Business Group (OBG), which was released yesterday — the authoritative UK-based publishing, research and consultancy services company — Saleh expressed his concern that some institutions tended to simply rebrand conventional financial tools without understanding the meaning of true Shariah compliance.
“The challenge is whether the owners, directors and employees truly understand what Islamic banking means. At GCIBFI we are working with key partners to implement a new model whereby fatwas would be issued by a single entity,” Saleh said.
“I hope that this would assist in helping to define the concepts and problems of the differing interpretation of Shariah compliance,” he said. The plan is that the GCIBFI, Islamic Development Bank and ISFB want to have a central Shariah council for issuing fatwas, in addition to a Shariah council for each bank, for further control.
Saleh outlined his vision for addressing such factors with intentions for an Islamic mega bank involved with all aspects of the sector on a global scale.
“GCIBFI represents 130 banks in 40 countries and we are developing a new model to enable us to work with all of them in every Islamic country,” its chairman said.
“The Dallah Albaraka Group will be looking to invest between $100 million and $200 million in the management portion of this new model.”
The president of Dallah Albaraka Group explained the broader concepts of Islamic economy and the emphasis it places on developing society.
“As yet we have not adequately emphasized the development of our countries and the earth — this is one of the most important tenets of the Islamic economy. At the Dallah Albaraka Group, we aim to work in any sector that doesn’t harm humans or the earth and we also look to how many jobs can be created through our projects.”
