The Muslimah Accountant

While one half of my degree was accounting, the other half was finance. I didn’t really know Islamic Finance (IF) was a thing, before my degree, but the more I went into the field, it soon became clear how special this was.

A family friend from Bahrain is a lecturer of IF in a different university in UK, but I still didn’t really know much about it until I had a few chats with him and did some research which opened my eyes to this amazing industry that was so new, so current yet heaving with opportunities. The thing that appealed to me the most was that I had always known, while being unsure of what exactly I wanted to go into, I knew that whatever I ended up doing in my life, I needed to be able to understand why. It needed to be something that would obtain Allah’s pleasure. An intention cannot be vocalised entirely, it is a very personal relationship between you and Allah, and despite not knowing how or what the link would be between my degree and something that could grant me reward, I knew I needed to find away. What use is knowledge if it only benefits the world, if the impact is restricted to the dunya. Knowledge, education, achievements, success ~ these blessings of this world should not be a means of distancing ourselves from the love of Allah, but rather we should use these privileges that others crave for, to help people and benefit in whatever way we can. How often did I sit and think during my degree ‘I really can’t understand how I am benefitting anyone in any way through this field?’

Islamic Finance works to implement the rulings and principles permissible in Islam, and forbid the prohibitions, in order to create a comprehensive and productive economy, and in turn, society. The Quran and the Sunnah guide us with flawless instructions that, if followed, ensure that this area of our life is governed in line with Allah’s expectations. Islam came as a complete way of life, it is not there for us to nit pick the parts we prefer. Rather we are expected to enter into Islam completely (Surah Baqarah, verse 208). That requires every aspect of our life to be in accordance with the Shari’ah. Scholars have worked tirelessly with immense struggle to present the rulings to us in a way that is extremely easy to follow. May Allah allow us to act upon the guidance completely according to His will, Aameen.

The more I went into Islamic Finance, I started to understand the modern structures and techniques used in the industry. I read articles, even basic Wikipedia pages, watched videos, read academia, listened to podcasts – all of this helped to start developing my interest in this buzzing sector. IF allowed me to have a niche, have a new edge to the profession that I wasn’t seeing everywhere, in particular a lack of female presence, but there was definitely a spark inside of me that remains today, for me to just grow and progress and learn more. Fast forward to second year, one of my governance and audit lecturers had a background in teaching IF, so prior to the module starting, I emailed her expressing an interest in some guidance from her as to how to step foot into learning more about it. She was extremely kind and supportive, and gifted me a book called ‘Heaven’s Bankers’ by Harris Irfan.

Heaven’s Bankers was a very good read, an incredibly informative introduction to the field, for a 19 year-old aspiring student and accountant. I am extremely grateful to my lecturer for setting me off on such a good note. The book mixed the history of the industry with the modern techniques and practices, as well as the principles from the Quran and the Ahadith. Being Pakistani myself, I learnt so much about the industry in Pakistan, the start up of Meezan Bank, the era of Zia-ul-Haq and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto which is knowledge I just didn’t have before! As well as this, the insight into Egypt and Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the sector was also so interesting. Irfan’s background in banking gives a really in depth account of the models of sukuk and musharakah etc, which just opened a horizon of knowledge for me. Irfan also spoke about the regulatory bodies such as the AAOIFI, which introduced me to Mufti Taqi Usmani.

Through reading about Mufti Sahab’s unrivalled involvement in not only the industry, but law, governance, politics, and religious guidance, it was so clear as to how much information is out there! Each opportunity or piece of reading etc led from one thing to the next. A few years on, I am still learning. Still reading. Still self-educating. Still finding out more. Still gaining knowledge. Still trying to get closer to Allah through my worldly education. I’ve taken on courses (which I will be doing blog posts on soon!), followed people on LinkedIn such as Mufti Faraz and Mufti Muhammad ibn Adam, fuelled my interest via Instagram, just to learn some more,

Learning never ends, but the more you know, the more you’ll realise you don’t know.

I always used to think that friends who were teachers or medical professionals or lawyers had a really clear easy way of achieving reward through their field. But in fact, getting closer to Allah is possible in every field, just with the right intention.

This industry is so vast, I’m not even a drop in the ocean in it. But I want to be in the company and under the guidance of those who are also striving to achieve Allah’s pleasure.

If you have any suggestions or recommendations of things to read/watch, please do share in the comments below!

May Allah grant us barakah in everything we do, and allow our worldly education to benefit us in the hereafter also, Aameen ♥