Background

Premised on the main objective of having a global entity to ensure professionalism among Shariah advisors and experts in Islamic finance, the Association of Shariah Advisors in Islamic Finance (ASAS) was established and officially registered on 12 April 2011. The importance of ASAS was recognised as part of the national agenda in the Malaysian Financial Sector Blueprint 2011-2020 under Agenda 3.2: “Internationalisation of Islamic finance.” Recommendation 3.2.10 proposes to:- “Develop Malaysia as a reference centre for Islamic financial transactions.” To execute the recommendation, Malaysia needs to build on the development of human capital in Islamic finance while establishing the Shariah, legal, regulatory and supervisory frameworks. This includes:

“….. iv. Gaining international recognition for the Association of Shariah Advisors (ASAS) as the body responsible for enhancing qualification and professionalism of Shariah advisors, locally and internationally.”

Given the importance of talent to the Islamic finance ecosystem as well as the above expectation, ASAS, with the support of Bank Negara Malaysia, has developed a Professional Development Program (PDP) that aims at enhancing the knowledge and competency of its members in Islamic finance specifically in providing impactful Shariah advisory services to its counterparty as well as ensuring that innovative and creative talents are being nurtured. The PDP comprises ASAS flagship certification programmes for Shariah Advisors namely Certified Shariah Advisor and Certified Shariah Practitioner as well as the continuous learning and experience-based program namely the Continuing Professional Development.