The Role of Islamic Law Scholars (Sharī‘Ah Advisors) in the Development of Islamic Commercial Institutions in Pakistan (Perspective of Islamic Commercial Law)

Abstract

Shari’ah (Islamic law) acts as the backbone of the Islamic Financial system. To comply with the basic Sharīʿah principles, Islamic commercial Institutions have formed the Sharīʿah Supervisory Board (SSB). The SSB, therefore, has the duty to regulate and monitor the ongoing business activities of Islamic Financial Institutions in accordance with the principles of Islamic law. This study discusses the positive and negative role of such Sharīʿah Advisory Board in the development of Islamic Financial Institutions. Qualitative inductive approach, specifically, the Interpretivist research paradigm has been used. Semi structured interview have been conducted from seven prominent Sharīʿah advisors. The rich thick dataset, so obtained through in-depth interviews, has been analyzed thematically with the help of NVIVO 11.  The findings reveal that there exist both positive and negative rule of Sharīʿah Advisory Board in the development of Islamic Financial Institutions. However, the negative role has been found to be the predominant in this regard.  The authors believe that the negative aspects of SSB can be overcome through targeted training sessions, reviewing/revising criteria for hiring, setting and following universal standards regarding their performance, and designing specific curriculum for qualifying Sharīʿah scholars etc.