What is Syariah and how to comply to the laws of Syariah?

A concise guide by Dr Zarif Menon to the fundamentals of Syariah, covering its key objectives, compliance principles, ethical standards, and role in Islamic finance and personal conduct.

Dr Zarif Menon

11/22/20222 min read

What are five rules of Syariah?

The five major goals of the Syariah are the protection of sound religious practice, life, sanity, the family, and personal and communal wealth. The acknowledgement of sound local customs throughout the world is one of the five basic maxims of the Syariah according to all Islamic schools of law.

What is prohibited under Syariah law?

The giving and receiving of interest (riba), extremely risky investments, gambling, prostitution, and alcohol consumption are prohibited. The belief that trade is to be conducted in a faithful and beneficial manner and the principle of risk-sharing from the basis of Islamic business.

What is the criteria of Syariah compliance?

Syariah-compliant funds have many requirements that must be adhered to. Some of the requirements for a Syariah-compliant fund include the exclusion of investments which derive a majority of their income from the sale of alcohol, pork products, phonography, gambling, military equipment or weapons.

Why is Syariah compliance important?

Q: How important is Syariah compliance for an Islamic financial institution?

A: One of the major risks an Islamic financial institution carries is Reputational Risk. The customers place their trust in the institution expecting returns are being generated in a Syariah-compliant manner.

What are the five objectives of Syariah?

There are five Maqasid (objectives) of Syariah: Protection of life, protection of property, protection of health, protection of religion, and protection of dignity. These objectives are generally classified into three categories, general Maqasid, specific Maqasid, and partial Maqasid.

Summary:

  • Syariah law is a religious law that lays down governing principles for spiritual, mental, and physical behavior that must be followed by Muslims.

  • It categorizes all man's act into five distinct categories: obligatory, recommended, permitted, discouraged, and forbidden.

What is the main purpose of Syariah compliance?

Enforcing compliance helps your company prevent and detect violations of rules, which your organization from fines and lawsuits. The compliance process should be ongoing. Many organization's establish a program to consistently and accurately govern their compliance policies over time.

What are three examples of behavior that Syariah regulates?

Muslims may not eat pork, drink alcohol, or gamble.

What are the five pillars of faith in Islam?

The five pillars—the declaration of faith (shahada), prayer (salah), aims-giving (zakat), fasting (sawm), pilgrimage (haji)—constitute the basic norms of Islamic practice. They are accepted by Muslims globally irrespective of ethnic, regional or sectarian differences.

Muslims have six main beliefs.

  1. Belief in Allah as the one and only God.

  2. Belief in angels (Malaikat).

  3. Belief in the holy books (The holy Q'uran).

  4. Belief in the Prophets, e.g. Adam, Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses), Dawud (David), Isa (Jesus) etc.

  5. Belief in the Day of Judgement (Hari Kiamat).

  6. Belief in Predestination (Qadha & Qadar)

Note: The above information is purely for your basic understanding of the principles of Syariah and it's related compliance issue. For further clarification and better understanding of the information shared above, feel free to contact the author directly at 016-666 7898 or via email ymzarifmenon@gmail.com

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Dr. Zarif Menon

Founder, President & CEO

Pacific Alliance Group (PAG)

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