IIFA resolution 262 (7/26) on sharia governance in Islamic financial institutions

A collective resolution of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy defining sharia governance in Islamic financial institutions and setting rules for it. ¹

The Academy's council considered the research papers and deliberations on sharia governance in contemporary Islamic financial institutions. ¹

The Academy reaffirmed its resolution 177 (3/19) on the role of sharia supervision in Islamic banks and the rules it laid down for ijtihad and fatwa in sharia boards. ¹ It defined sharia governance as a system of regulations, rules, policies and procedures that secures sharia compliance while balancing economic aims, compliance and institutional reputation, and called for a unified sharia reference for the Islamic finance industry. ¹ It resolved that institutions' management may hold no power that affects the independence of sharia board members; that boards, rating and audit bodies must follow the Academy's resolutions and avoid products it has barred; and that supervisory authorities must govern sukuk issues so that holders truly own the underlying assets and bear their consequences. ¹

The International Islamic Fiqh Academy, an organ of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, adopted this as resolution 262 at its 26th session in Doha (6–10 Dhu al-Qa'da 1446, 4–8 May 2025), and published it on iifa-aifi.org. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.