Our Leadership

Mufti Ismail Desai is an internationally renowned Shariah scholar and Shariah investment-
banker. He serves as a Shariah advisor to a number of Islamic financial institutions,
investment entities, educational institutions and central-banks across multiple jurisdictions.
His professional work focuses on Shariah governance, compliance, auditing, and risk
management within Islamic financial institutions. He has contributed to the development and
review of Shariah frameworks, policies, and operational standards, and has issued a
substantial body of expert shariah jurisprudential opinions (fatāwā), particularly in matters
relating to contemporary Islamic financial transactions and economic activity, grounded in
classical Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh al-Mu’amalaat) and applied within modern regulatory
contexts.

Mufti Ismail has participated in international academic and industry forums, contributing to
research, dialogue, and policy discussions on Islamic finance and related disciplines. Mufti
Ismail has conducted Shariah transaction deal advisory on a range of transactions including
complex mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate restructures, bond issuance's,
corporate capital raising, cash management, structured finance and IPO/LBO/MBO
transactions.

Mufti Ismail has also contributed to the Islamic finance industry through selected academic
and media engagements, with an emphasis on scholastic jurisprudential integrity, socio-
economic development and digital transformation.

His academic background includes Alimiyyah qualification (Islamic Theologian), (MA)
Islamic Juristic Verdicts (Iftaa), (MA) Islamic banking and Finance, in addition to
international training in conventional finance with the London School of Economics, among
other honorary academic qualifications. He has pursued both traditional Islamic
Jurisprudence and contemporary banking and finance study, reflecting a balanced and
principled approach to contemporary Islamic finance and economics.