Mohammad Farrukh Raza

Founder & Group CEO
Farrukh holds an MBA in Strategic Management and brings on board exceptionally rich experience across various sectors of the Islamic finance industry. He has been playing a leading role in the development and growth of Islamic finance internationally where he led and managed ground-breaking high-profile projects at policy levels with governments, central banks and regulatory authorities, and at commercial level with institutional clients, in multi-cultural and multi-lingual business environments. He lectures on Islamic Finance in many reputed universities worldwide and speaks several languages with excellent command on English, French and Urdu.

Dr. Shaher Abbas

Co-founder of IFAAS group & Executive Director
Dr. Shaher brings more than a decade of extensive hands-on experience in different disciplines of the Islamic Finance industry. He holds a PHD in Islamic financial engineering from Durham University (UK) and a Masters degree in Islamic banking and finance. He played key roles in many of IFAAS’s pioneering Islamic finance projects in Europe, Central America, and GCC. He is an AAOIFI Certified Shariah Advisor and Auditor (CSAA), a CISI accredited trainer for IFQ (Islamic Finance Qualification). He has been involved in many pioneering projects in Islamic Finance. He speaks excellent English whilst being a native Arabic speaker.

Boubkeur Ajdir

Director, IFAAS France
Graduated at the Ecole Nationale de Commerce (Paris BESSIERES), Boubkeur has also received specialised training in Islamic theology with focus on Islamic financial law. Currently, he is spearheading IFAAS projects in a number of French-speaking countries across North and West Africa including setting up Shariah-Compliant investment funds, Sukuk issuance and conducting feasibility studies on the launch of new Islamic financial operations. He actively contributed towards the development of the French tax reforms pertaining to Islamic Finance.

Najib Al Aswad

Director
Najib is a UK-based adviser with 15 years of rich and diverse expertise in the field of Islamic finance. Throughout his career, he has led numerous pioneering consultancy projects spread across various sectors of the Islamic finance industry in 50 countries. His work involved providing strategic and technical advisory to policymakers, regulators, and multilateral organisations in more than 25 countries, laying the groundwork for the development of enabling Islamic finance infrastructure and ecosystem in Asia, Africa, and Europe. He has also played a pivotal role in facilitating and launching Islamic investment, finance, and banking operations in numerous jurisdictions including Bahrain, Oman, UAE, UK, USA, and Canada. Najib is Certified Shariah Adviser and Auditor, Accredited Islamic Arbitrator and Trainer, and Certified Islamic Professional Accountant. He also earned a Master's degree in Islamic Finance with Distinction from Durham University (UK), and a first-class PGDip in Finance and Banking.

Manar Abbas

Director
Manar is a big believer in Islamic finance and has accumulated circa 10 years of valuable hands-on experience in various segments of the Islamic finance industry. She has been instrumental in delivering multiple product development projects and designing several innovative products for various clients in Europe, Asia and GCC. She has also been actively involved in preparing and delivering many of our training courses. She is an AAOIFI Certified Shariah Adviser & Auditor (CSAA) and an Accredited Trainer by the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI – UK) for the Islamic Finance Qualification (IFQ). Arabic is her mother tongue and she speaks fluent English.

Dr Moutaz Abojeib

Director of Operations, IFAAS Group
Dr. Moutaz has over 15 years of work experience in managing and conducting research and consultancy projects in various jurisdictions. This includes performing Shariah-applied research, supporting the development of Shariah policies, and advising regulators, banking, and non-banking financial institutions on matters related to Shariah governance and Shariah-compliant product offerings. Dr. Moutaz has participated in numerous international multilateral organizations' consultancy projects and published several books and articles and contributed to world-class reports. He has also participated in several Islamic fintech projects and published many problem-solving research papers addressing Shariah and technical matters. He is a promoter of cross-country collaboration and fintech-enabling initiatives. Dr. Moutaz holds a PhD in Islamic Finance from INCIEF, a Joint Master Program in Banks and Finance Management from Montesquieu Bordeaux IV & Damascus University, France & Syria. He is an AAOIFI Certified Shariah Advisor and Auditor (CSAA) and a Senior Associate member of Chartered Institute of Islamic Finance Professionals (CIIF).

Dr. Mohamed Anouar Gadhoum

Senior Consultant, IFAAS Group
Dr. Mohamed Anouar Gadhoum, a trilingual expert (En, Ar, Fr) with a distinguished dual background in Shariah and Finance, along with a strong orientation toward technology, has made a significant global impact on the Islamic finance industry. Over his extensive 15-year career, Dr. Gadhoum has held key positions in prestigious institutions, including the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department of the Dubai Government (UAE), ISRA Consultancy (Malaysia), BNP PARIBAS (Asia Pacific), and IFAAS (UK, France), contributing his expertise to high-profile projects across multiple jurisdictions. Dr. Gadhoum holds a Ph.D. from INCEIF (Malaysia, AACSB) and both a Master’s and Bachelor’s in Islamic Jurisprudence from Sharjah University (UAE). He is a certified CSAA from AAOIFI (Bahrain) and a Senior Associate member of CIIFP (Malaysia). His leadership extends to serving as Chairman and a Member of the Shari’ah board for various multi-sector international financial institutions and Fintech/startups across different countries.