ADIL HUSSAIN-Partner and Global Head of Islamic Finance at Clyde & Co
Adil Hussain, Partner and Global Head of Islamic Finance at Clyde & Co, is the ISFIRE Personality of the December issue. He is an accomplished lawyer with wide-ranging experience of structuring Islamic financial transactions. Clyde & Co was the proud winner of the Best Law Firm in Islamic Finance for the Year 2019 at the recently held 9th Global Islamic Finance Awards held in Cape Town, South Africa. In this brief interview, we ask him some personal and Islamic finance-related questions.
PLEASE SHARE WITH OUR READERS HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN ISLAMIC FINANCE.
My route into Islamic finance was slightly unconventional, although in recent years I have seen many other lawyers take a similar path. I actually qualified into the real estate department of a City law firm and had no knowledge about the Islamic finance world. I first discovered Islamic finance two-years post qualification when I was required to assist with conveyancing work where the purchaser was taking out an Islamic mortgage. I was immediately fascinated by the structure, documentation and the Islamic finance sector as a whole. Discovering Islamic finance came at the perfect time for me, as I was losing interest in the real estate work that I was doing at the time. I decided to apply for junior Islamic finance roles, which all happened to be in the Middle East. At the time, I thought that it was going to be impossible for me to find a suitable role, as each position advertised required prior Islamic finance experience and my experience was limited. However, perseverance paid off and I was eventually offered an Islamic finance associate role in Bahrain at a leading international law firm.
IF YOUR 18-YEAR-OLD SELF FINDS YOU DOING WHAT YOU ARE DOING NOW PROFESSIONALLY, WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN HIS REACTION?
Wow, this is a difficult question. I am not quite sure if I can remember what I was like at 18. It was so long ago! However, I was not in a good place. My mother, who was only in her early forties, had just suffered a severe stroke, and I had decided not to take my A levels that year. I wanted to spend as much time as possible with her and to assist in her recovery. With this context in mind, I hope the 18-year-old Adil, would also be as grateful as I am today, for all that I have been blessed with. Back then, I wasn’t even sure whether I would be able to sit my A levels the following year, let alone go on to pursue a career in law.
YOU ARE A SUCCESSFUL PROFESSIONAL. WHAT FACTORS (PERSONAL, FAMILY, EDUCATION, MENTORS, ETC.) HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO YOUR SUCCESS?
First of all, Alhumdulilah (all praise is to God). I firmly believe that, as individuals, all we can do is try our best and put in as much effort as possible. Whether we succeed or not (success being relative to our own circumstances), this is from God. This belief and strength in faith has enabled me to enjoy the professional success that I have been gifted with and also deal with setbacks.
There have been many other factors that have contributed to my professional success. Not sure I would be where I am today without the prayers of my parents and the understanding of my wife and children. In order to achieve success, you have to sacrifice and your family sacrifices just as much, if not more. I have an incredibly supportive family who understand how passionate I am about my work and allows me to focus one hundred and ten per cent on it.
IF YOU ARE GIVEN ONE WEEK TO FIX PROBLEMS WITH ISLAMIC FINANCE, WHAT WOULD BE ON YOUR TO-DO LIST?
- Implement all regulatory, tax and legal changes required across the globe to create a level playing field for Islamic finance to flourish;
- Increase awareness of Islamic finance (at grassroots level) across the Muslim world in particular as a viable alternative to conventional finance;
Create a global Islamic leadership committee comprising of elected representatives of Shari’a scholars, bankers, lawyers, economists, academics and government officials to drive the global Islamic finance agenda.
WHO SHOULD LEAD THE GLOBAL ISLAMIC FINANCE AGENDA?
As alluded to above, it has to be a combination of Shari’a scholars, banking and legal practitioners, academicians, economists and governments. All stakeholders must be represented and should work together in order to develop substance-based Islamic finance products and create an equal playing field globally for Islamic finance to flourish even further.
QUALIFICATION OR EXPERIENCE, WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT FOR A SUCCESSFUL CAREER IN ISLAMIC FINANCE?
Both are important but as a lawyer, I would say experience. There are some things that you just cannot learn from books.
WHERE WOULD ADIL HUSSAIN BE AT AGE 65?
God willing, I hope that I will be passing down some of my experiences and knowledge through teaching or coaching students, junior lawyers, or other Islamic finance practitioners. Also, I hope to travel across the globe doing charity work.
WHO IS MORE IMPORTANT FOR SUCCESS: FAMILY, FRIENDS OR PROFESSIONAL COLLEAGUES?
I cannot underplay the importance of the contribution that professional colleagues play towards the success of an individual. I have been blessed to have worked with some truly outstanding professionals and team players. In a funny sort of way, your professional colleagues become your family too. So “family” in this broader sense has to be more important.
ISLAMIC FINANCE IS A SHAM. WHAT DO YOU SAY TO THESE CRITICS?
Islamic finance is not perfect, but calling it a sham is disrespectful to all those scholars, market participants including end-users who genuinely believe that Islamic finance is a better alternative to conventional finance.
