Experiencing the membership of a Shari’a board of a financial institution is nerve-wracking at least for the first time. It eases out with the passage of time though. Furthermore, it is not an easy task to serve as secretary of the Shari’a board in the presence of the heavyweights like Dr. Hussein Hamid Hassan, Dr. Abdul Sattar Abu Ghuddah, Dr. Mohamed Elgari, Dr. Ali Alquradaghi, and Dr. Daud Bakar. With the passage of time, you become just a little bit familiar with the proceedings, and perhaps become a bit more certain to the reactions of your fellow Shari’a scholars to new products and ideas. You also start enjoying the lighter side of the scholars’ personalities. Here are some of the examples of the light moments of Shari’a scholars. Sheikh Ali Mohyuddin Alquradaghi normally attempts to fast on Mondays and Thursdays throughout the year. I am not sure whether it was a Monday or Thursday when we held a Shari’a board meeting at Doha, in I believe in 2006. Before lunch, Sheikh Alquaradaghi told us tha he would have something to do at his department at the University of Qatar, and that he would rejoin us after lunch. Someon told me that Sheikh was fasting and this was why he presented an excuse to go away during lunch. We wanted him to lunch with us though (despite his fasting), so we requested Sheikh Hussain to ask Sheikh Alquradaghi to do so. “Ali, you must eat with your guests today and delay your engagement at the University, “ said Sheikh Hussein. “Jazak Allah ya Sheikh, smiled Sheikh Alquradaghi agreeing to have lunch with us. It is interesting to refer to the flexibility Islam provides to its followers in matters related with non-compulsory rituals (‘ibadaat). Anyone fasting voluntarily outside Ramada is allowed to eat if insisted by a friend or compelled by circumstances without getting penalised or getting less reward. “Jazak Allah ya Sheikh” by Sheikh Alquradaghi was enjoyed by everyone. I also observed that Sheikh Alquradaghi would not miss any opportunity to offer general advice (naseeha) to the HNWIs and UHNWIs. Once we were invited by Bakar Bin Ladin to spend almost whole day with him in Riyadh. Sheikh Alquradaghi continued to offer him naseeha in his own gentle and subtle way. I could see how quickly Bakar Bin Ladin became a fan of Sheikh Alquradaghi. Sheikh Alquradaghi would always say that these rich people could benefit Islamic finance significantly if they decided to do their businesses in compliance with Shari’a. I would agree! The trip to Riyadh on invitation of Bakar Bin Laden was interesting on many counts. He was supposed to host us in Jeddah but had to change the plan, owing to the hospitalization of King Fahad in Riyadh. We were therefore requested if we could visit Bakar Bin Ladin in Riyadh. We were transported in a private jet from Jeddah to Riyadh. After spending the whole day with him, he offered to drop us in his private jet. Sheikh Hussain was bound to fly to Dubai, Sheikh Abdul Sattar to Bahrain, Sheikh Alquradaghi was going back to Doha. As I was flying back to London and my flights were already booked, I left other scholars behind, who must have enjoyed a “shared taxi type” flight to multiple distinctions. Another best memory of mine is having dinner with Tun Mahathir Mohamad and his wife, along with late Moin Qureshi (who also served briefly as a caretaker prime minister of Pakistan). It was a private dinner organised by Rayo Withanage, my chairman at the BMB Group, in a villa at Ritz Carlton Bahrain. After the dinner while we sat in a relaxed mood, Moin Qureshi asked Tun Mahathir how the latter tackled the political threat by the Islamists in Malaysia. I remembered Tun replied without a delay of a second, “We just decided to become a bit more religious.”
This is a powerful message that must be taken seriously by the governments and political bodies in the Muslim world. In order to increase their political appeal amongst masses, governments and political bodies must use Islamic banking and finance as a strategic marketing tool. Showing commitment to Islam in a modern way, which Islamic banking is all about, must help politically.
