Manama, Bahrain – 20 December 2023 – The Waqf Fund organized a presentation by Dr. Hamad Farooq Al Shaikh, Head of Shari’ah Coordination and Implementation, Bahrain Islamic Bank on Ijarah application within Islamic banks in Bahrain – between Shari’ah standards, statutory laws and judicial rulings. The three-hour program included a detailed Q&A session and 36 people from the senior management of Waqf Fund member institutions including Shari’ah officers, legal experts and bankers attended.

Mr. Khalid Hamad AlHamad, Executive Director of Banking Supervision at CBB and Chairman of the Waqf Fund, welcomed the participants and introduced the presenter. Dr. Al Shaikh whose doctoral thesis was on Ijarah which then presented the key findings of his study, comparing the AAOIFI Shari’ah standard on Ijarah with the relevant laws in Bahrain. He stated that while there are 54% similarities between the two, there are 13% contradictions. He was of the view that most of the differences can be reconciled without fundamental changes.

His study also showed that after the mandatory adoption of AAOIFI Shari’ah standards as part of the law in Bahrain, the judicial rulings increasingly referred to AAOIFI Shari’ah standards in settling disputes involving Islamic banks and Shari’ah compliant banking. The attendees actively participated in the discussion during and after the presentation and it was agreed that there was a need to have similar studies on other contracts such as Murabaha, Istisna’a and Mudaraba, etc. Also, there was a consensus on the importance of explanatory notes/guidelines for implementation to be issued by AAOIFI for major and most widely used standards. Accordingly, it was then agreed that the Shari’ah officers committee of the Bahrain Association of Banks should discuss and agree the way forward for such suggestion. Most participants were of the view that the role of the Central Shari’ah Board should be strengthened in interpreting Shari’ah standards and as a reference body for the judiciary in case they need Shari’ah-related clarification.

At the end of the session the Chairman Mr. AlHamad thanked the participants and the presenter for their contributions to a successful event.