Islamic Bank | Corporate Profile | About Us (original) (raw)

Justice (Retd.) Muhammad Taqi Usmani is a renowned figure in the field of Shariah, particularly in Islamic finance. He currently holds advisory positions in a number of financial institutions practicing Islamic banking and finance. He has vast experience in Islamic Shariah, teaching various subjects on Islam for more than 50 years. He has served as a Judge in the Shariat Appellate Bench, Supreme Court of Pakistan from 1982 to 2002. He is also a permanent member of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, an organ of OIC based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He has served as the Vice Chairman of the above mentioned Academy for nine years.

He is generally known as one of the leading Shariah scholars active in the field of Islamic finance. For more than a decade he has served as Chairman or Member of Shariah Supervisory Boards of a dozen Islamic banks and financial institutions in various parts of the world. He presently serves as Chairman of the International Shariah Council for the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) in Bahrain. He has held many positions in the higher echelons of the education sector of Pakistan and has participated in numerous commissions set up by the Government of Pakistan in the field of education and economics. Since 1967, he has been the Chief Editor of the monthly Urdu language magazine ‘Albalagh’ and since 1990, he has been Chief Editor of the monthly English-language magazine ‘Albalagh International’. He has also contributed articles to leading Pakistani newspapers on a range of issues. He has authored more than 60 books in Arabic, English and Urdu.

Justice (Retd.) Muhammad Taqi Usmani graduated from Punjab University, Pakistan in 1970 and also holds an LL.B. from Karachi University, Pakistan. Prior to these, he completed the Takhassus course, which is the specialization course of Islamic Fiqh and Fatwa (Islamic Jurisprudence) from Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi, Pakistan. In March 2004, His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum (Dubai Crown Prince and UAE Minister of Defense) presented a special award to Justice (Retd.) Muhammad Taqi Usmani in recognition of his lifetime service and achievement in Islamic finance at the occasion of International Islamic Finance Forum, Dubai, which is one of the biggest events in the Islamic finance industry.

Justice (Retd.) Muhammad Taqi Usmani is the Chairman of Meezan Bank’s Shariah Board since inception of Meezan Bank.

Current Board Memberships:

Awards Received:

Dr. Mufti Muhammad Imran Ashraf Usmani, son of Justice (Retd.) Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani, graduated with specialisation in Islamic Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) from Jamia Darul Uloom, Karachi, where he has been teaching Fiqh since 1990. He also holds an LL.B. and Ph.D. in Islamic finance. He is a member of the administration board of Jamia Darul Uloom, Karachi.

Presently, Dr. Imran Usmani is the Vice Chairman of the Shariah Board at Meezan Bank and oversees research and product development of Islamic banking products, advisory for Shariah-compliant banking and supervision of Shariah Audit & Compliance. He is also the President and CEO of Usmani & Co. Pvt. Ltd. that provides full suite of Islamic finance consultancy, Shariah advisory and related ancillary services to local and international clients across all legal jurisdictions and financial and non-financial sectors. He is serving in ICFAL-Australia, The Zeal-Canada and USA, Astana International Financial Centre-Kazakhstan, Sarasin Bank Switzerland, Amanah Bank-SriLanka, Guidance Financial Group USA, Nafa Mutual Fund, Al Meezan Investment and other mutual and property funds, Takaful companies and international Sukuk, etc.

Dr. Imran Usmani has been engaged with the Government of Pakistan in various initiatives and is also a member of the Steering Committee and implementation committee for promotion of Islamic banking since 2013. He has served as an advisor/member of Shariah Boards of several renowned institutions in various jurisdictions since 1997 including the State Bank of Pakistan, Takaful Pakistan Ltd., Pakistan Mercantile Association, HSBC-Amanah Finance, UBS-Switzerland, Lloyds TSB Bank-UK, Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JABIC), Credit Suisse Switzerland, Royal Bank of Scotland Global, Old Mutual Albarakah Equity & Balanced Funds South Africa, AIG Takaful, ACR ReTakaful Malaysia, Premier Takaful Pakistan, Capitas Group USA, Bank of London and Middle East Kuwait, BMI Bank Bahrain, Al Khaliji Bank Qatar, AIFA Amana Islamic Finance Australia, DCD Group Dubai, Acumen Fund, Swip Sicave Fund, Old Mutual AlBarakah fund and other mutual and property funds, Takaful companies and international Sukuk, etc.

He also is serving as an Executive Committee Member of AAOIFI (Dubai), Shariah Supervisory Board of International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) Bahrain and Academic Board at Institute of Business Administration (IBA)-Centre for Excellence in Islamic Finance (CEIF), Karachi and Director at Centre for Islamic Economics (CIE), Hira Foundation School and Hira Institute of Emerging Sciences, Karachi. Dr. Usmani is the author of numerous publications related to Islamic Finance and other Shariah related subjects. He has presented papers in numerous national and international seminars and has delivered lectures at academic institutions including Harvard, LSE, LUMS and IBA.

Board Memberships:

Sheikh Esam Mohamed Ishaq graduated from McGill University, Montreal, Canada. He was born in Bahrain and studied Shariah with a number of Sheikhs in the traditional manner.

He is a member of the High Council of Islamic Affairs of the Government of Bahrain and holds various Shariah positions in many social, commercial and educational institutions. Currently, he also teaches Fiqh, Aqeeda and Tafseer courses in various Centers of Islamic studies, supervised by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs in Bahrain.

Sheikh Esam Mohamed Ishaq has served as member Shariah Board since inception of Meezan Bank.

Current Board Memberships:

In addition to membership of the Shariah Supervisory Boards of a number of local, regional and international Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs), he is the Chairman of Shariah Supervisory Boards of the following IFIs:

Mufti Zubair Ahmed completed his Dars-e-Nizami from Jamia Daruloom Karachi. He has also completed three years Takhasus fil Ifta course from Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi. He is a gold medalist from Institute of Business Management which he secured during Masters in Business Administration in Banking and Finance. He is also a Certified Shariah Advisor and Auditor from AAOIFI (Bahrain).

Mufti Zubair is a Certified Professional Trainer from International Association for People and Performance Development (Global). Mufti Zubair is also registered with Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) as a Shariah Advisor and has advised various corporates for issuance of numerous Short Term Sukuk. In addition to the above Mufti Zubair is currently also associated with Kiran Foundation and Muawin Foundation as Shariah Advisor for Zakat related matters.

Mufti Muhammad Naveed Alam holds a Masters in Islamic Banking and Finance from University of Karachi and Shahadat ul Alamiyah and Takhassus (specialization in Islamic Jurisprudence and Fatwa) from Jamia Darul Uloom, Karachi. He is also a Certified Shariah Advisor & Auditor (CSAA) from Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI). Mufti Muhammad Naveed Alam joined Meezan Bank in 2013 as a member of the Shariah Compliance Department of the Bank. His main responsibilities include Islamic banking training, Shariah Compliance review and Shariah Audit of different departments and branches.

He is an active teacher / trainer at Centre for Excellence in Islamic Finance (CEIF) of Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Karachi, Center of Islamic Economics (CIE) of Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi, as well as several other renowned universities.

He is also a member of the Shariah Board of NBP Funds. Prior to joining as RSBM, Mufti Muhammad Naveed Alam served as Shariah Advisor of Premier Window Takaful Operations and also as Shariah Coordinator at the Indus Hospital & Health Network.

Mufti Muhammad Naveed Alam is serving as the Resident Member of Meezan Bank’s Shariah Board since October 1, 2018.