Growth in Islamic finance, education

Halal finance growing

Recent years have seen growth in halal finance both in predominately Muslim countries and Western countries like the U.K. and Germany. However, the growth in Islamic finance coupled with the length of time to training Shari'ah scholars have created a shortage of qualified Shari'ah scholars thus driving the price of their services up to $200-500 per hour for the most sought after scholars like Nizam Yaquby who sits on Shari'ah boards for over 40 institutions.

INCEIF to open branches in London & Dubai

INCEIF announced plans today to open offices in London and Dubai, possibly by the end of the year. The International Center for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF) was established in Malaysia with a RM500 million ($146 million) endowment from Bank Negara Malaysia to build human capital for the Islamic financial industry, which is chronically short of enough qualified human capital. INCEIF will use it Certified Islamic Financial Planner (CIFP) certification as the core of its program.

Other News

First Gulf Bank and Aldar Properties plan on starting an Islamic finance company, Aseel Finance.

Dubai Islamic Bank received approval to open an Islamic bank in Syria.

Dr. Shariq Nisar believes that a Shari'ah-compliant index in India would induce significant investment in the country.

Miscellany

There is an article about a recent trend of increased advertising to Muslim-Americans in the United States. The Times writes describe how other advertising growth was able to change attitudes of the general public: "Ads in the 1960s [featuring] Jewish products like Levy’s rye bread, which [...] helped bring that group more into mainstream advertising".

Tamani Hotels & Resorts will offer Shari'ah-compliant hotels.