Thursday, June 2, 2011

Exposure Draft Shari'ah Audit Framework

Alhamdulillah, after extensive works, research and meetings for 8 months i.e. from September 2010 to May 2011, the exposure draft of the Shari'ah Audit Framework finally completed. This 9th. June, we will have the fourth feedback sessions from the industry players and working group members. We hope in July ISRA will organise a Thematic Workshop to get wider feedbacks from industry and stakeholders. I pray hard that the final output later to be presented to BNM will be a success. A small contribution towards a integrity of IFIs in Malaysia, inshaallah.

What will be the impacts of IFRS adoption on Islamic financial institutions?

To the 2 followers of my almost `dormant blog', thank you very much. My apology as I could not update my blog as I wish to.

The above question is well anticipated in the wake of globalised international accounting standards. What are the impacts of IFRS on Islamic financial institutions? Will the adoption lead to Shari'ah non-compliant on accounting issues? To what extent our IFIs can accomodate IFRS? To what extent IFRS can accomodate IFIs accounting needs? I don't have the answers to all these questions. However, these questions needs to be asked by all of us who are concern with the development of IFIs.

For the next few months, I will be involved in a colloborative research project of MASB and ISRA on the issues IFRS and accounting from Shari'ah perspective. Definitely some of the above questions and issues will be addressed. There are a number of specific Shari'ah issues that need to be addressed such as:

1. Substance over form or form over substance
2. Time value of money
3. Fair value accounting measurement
etc.

The list is long and we need to prioritise. Crucial issue is we need Shari'ah scholars who can understand accounting and that is my challenge for this project. I will update as we go along. Hopefully, we will issue some research findings and recommendations by October 2011. Please make dua'.