About

Ashraf Gomma Ali

أشرف جمعة علي

I serve as Group Chief Shariah & Sustainability Officer at MBSB Group in Kuala Lumpur, where I work with colleagues across MBSB Bank, MBSB Investment Bank and MIDF on Shariah governance and sustainability.

My interest is in the meeting point of the two. The maqasid al-Shariah, the purposes of Islamic law, protect life, wealth, intellect, family and faith, and much of what the world now calls sustainability sits inside that purpose. Malaysia's work on value-based intermediation and climate taxonomy has shaped a great deal of my thinking.

I have been in Islamic finance for twenty years. I began in the United States, where I later sat on the Shariah Supervisory Board of University Bank. I spent six years in Jeddah in Shariah assurance at National Commercial Bank, now SNB, and then moved to Kuala Lumpur, to CIMB Islamic and later to Ihsan Advisory, an ESG consultancy for the industry.

Along the way I have had the privilege of advising IFC (World Bank Group) on Islamic banking, contributing to the Islamic banking section of UNEP FI's principles for sustainable banking, and working with AAOIFI on standards. Having started out in America, I keep a close interest in how Islamic finance can grow in Western markets.

This site is where I keep my writing. I share it to think in public and to learn from readers who see things differently.

Ashraf Gomma Ali

Teaching, and still studying

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