The scholars at the heart of the market

Shaikh Nizam Yaquby is a shari`a scholar, a holy man and one of the most important people in the fledgling industry of Islamic banking. Why? Because he is one of a handful of people who can judge the shari`a compliance of financial instruments. Yaquby has been on advisory committees of banks since 1989, and has high hopes for what the sector can turn into. He wants to see more cooperation between Islamic banks around the region; mergers among Islamic financial institutions; the further development of short-term liquidity instruments; and the completion of shari`a standards. Once that is done, anything is possible.