A legacy of authentic Shariah scholarship

With the grace and divine help of the Almighty Allah (S.W.T.), efforts towards Shariah-compliant business — especially in Islamic banking and finance — have continuously been made by many great Shariah scholars and jurists over a long and sustained period. Here, a special mention must be made of the valuable contributions of the present Usmani family, their forefathers and noble teachers, who have rendered invaluable active service for this cause for more than a century through academic rigour and thought leadership which has proven to be the bedrock of the modern-day success of the industry globally.

In his well-known treatise of Islamic legal edicts, Imdad al Fatawa, the great scholar Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi set out in detail many rulings regarding issues with banking interest, joint stock companies, and other prevalent non-Shariah-compliant businesses and their solutions.

The same thread was followed by his well-known pupil, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, who penned many books on the subjects of Islamic economy, the problem of commercial interest and its solutions, as well as providing viable alternatives to transactions based on speculation and excessive uncertainty — including the contract of insurance.

The noble scholarly endeavours were continued by the late Grand Mufti Shafi's son, the world-renowned Justice (Retired) Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani, who devoted his life to academic writing and practical, ground-breaking contributions across almost every walk of life. He prepared a historic report on Islamic finance for the Islamic Ideological Council, served as a Justice of the Shariah Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, was a member of the Islamization Commission of the Economy of Pakistan, and was appointed Vice Chairman of the Jeddah-based Islamic Fiqh Academy (an organ of the OIC, founded 1969).

During his tenure as Justice of the Supreme Court, he delivered a historic and comprehensive judgment — a landmark verdict against prevalent commercial interest. He was later elected the first and only Chairman of the newly established global standard-setting body, the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), a role he has held since its inception in 1990. He has also chaired the Shariah Boards of the Islamic Development Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, and Meezan Bank.

Following in his honourable father's footsteps, Dr. Muhammad Imran Usmani completed his specialisation in Islamic Fiqh (Takhassus fil Fiqh wal Ifta) in 1994 — a three-year program following the Alimiyyah degree (equivalent to an M.A. in Islamic Studies and Arabic) from Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi. During this specialisation, he wrote a detailed thesis on Fatwa relating to business transactions, followed by a Ph.D. thesis on Islamic banking based on Musharaka and Mudharaba principles.

He was a founding member of Al Meezan Investment Bank — later chartered as a commercial bank — where he served as Head of Shariah and Product Development. Almost all of Meezan Bank's Islamic banking products were produced under his guidance before approval by the bank's Shariah Board. Meezan Bank is the first and largest Islamic commercial bank in Pakistan, and owns the country's largest Shariah-compliant asset and fund management company, Al Meezan Investment Management Limited.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) later appointed him Vice Chairman of its Shariah Board — the first Shariah Board ever established by the SBP — where he helped develop prudential regulation, Shariah and accounting standards, and Pakistan's first Shariah governance framework. He served for eight years, after which his father, Mufti Taqi Usmani, was also made Chairman of the SBP Shariah Board.

Beyond Pakistan, Dr. Imran Usmani's Shariah scholarship has been sought by financial institutions across the globe for close to three decades. Since 1997, he has served as Shariah advisor or board member to institutions including UBS, Credit Suisse and the Royal Bank of Scotland in Europe; Bank J. Safra Sarasin in Zurich; Lloyds Bank Private Banking and HSBC in London; and the Bank of London and The Middle East.

In the Gulf, he has served on the Executive Committee of AAOIFI and the Shariah board of the International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) in Bahrain, alongside BMI Bank and AIG's Takaful operations in the region. His work extends across Asia through the Shariah board of ACR ReTakaful in Malaysia, the Academic Board of INCEIF University, the Shariah Supervisory Board of the Astana International Financial Centre in Kazakhstan, and as Chairman of the Shariah Board of Amana Bank in Sri Lanka — as well as advisory roles with Guidance Residential and the Acumen Fund in the United States, AIFA Amana Islamic Finance in Australia, and the Shariah Supervisory Board of Al Baraka Bank in South Africa.

Within Pakistan, he has served the Pakistan Mercantile Exchange as Chairman of its Shariah Board, the State Bank of Pakistan's Implementation Committee for the promotion of Islamic banking, the Ministry of Finance's steering committee on the same cause, the IBA Centre for Excellence in Islamic Finance, and Shariah boards including NBP Funds (NAFA), Premier Takaful, Salaam Takaful, and the House Building Finance Company — alongside his continued teaching role at Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi and his leadership of the Hira Foundation School and the Centre for Islamic Economics.

Justice (Retired) Mufti Taqi Usmani and his son Dr. Muhammad Imran Usmani worked jointly and separately with many local and international Shariah boards of leading global financial institutions. All this work was rendered in an individual capacity, until the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan's Shariah Advisors Regulations 2017 required Shariah advisory services to be offered through registered corporate entities, in line with best prudent and regulatory practice.

Usmani and Company (Private) Limited was therefore incorporated to provide services to individuals, corporates and Islamic financial institutions professionally and efficiently — with a highly skilled, dedicated team drawn from Meezan Bank's Product Development and Shariah Compliance Department, comprising around 70 staff members holding degrees as Muftis, accountants, lawyers and business managers.

Since our incorporation, Usmani & Co. has continued to facilitate the industry in an easier and more professional way — helping clients fulfil their diverse requirements, develop products, and solve business problems in line with established Shariah rulings.