Fintech and Islamic Finance: Applying Hiyal & Makharij and other Islamic Principles - LSE-HBKU Workshop Report

The emphasis of the workshop was not meant to review contemporary Fintech technology, products and processes, but rather focus on the Shariah related challenges Islamic finance must address to ensure their compliance. Therefore, the main purpose of this workshop was to explore whether to use and apply the Ahkam Fiqhiyya, and/or, Hiyal, Makharij or other exception based Islamic principles, to achieve a specific Masalah or Masalih, within this chosen contemporary area of Islamic finance, i.e., Fintech. More specifically, the objective of the workshop was to examine the proposed theme from the following angles:

• To understand and to review Fintech as currently practised and applied to Islamic finance, the relevance of achieving Shariah compliance.
• Shariah Compliance - What are some of the current Shariah issues in Fintech and what needs to be looked into to ensure continued or even improved Shariah compliance and the evolution of Islamic finance.
• Fiqh & Ijtihad – How to apply the best use of Islamic Fiqhi tools (Hiyal & Makharij and Dhara‘i) to Fintech driven products, services and contracts. The question is should we wait for issues to emerge and mature or should we be proactive and be prepared with a suitable and timely response.
• Maslahah Determination – How can we continue to apply Maqaṣid al-Shariah and agree on the ideal Maslahah for new technologies, especially those that challenge existing structures and methods? How to determine and deal with disagreements on Maslahah?