Our Team
Safwa’s advisory panel includes renowned Sharia scholars, Islamic finance practitioners, and Educationalists from across the globe. Through the diverse backgrounds and expertise of our panel members, we can craft solutions compliant with Sharia principles, ensuring we meet the needs of our customers. The panel is supported by three associates in Karachi, Islamabad, and Toronto.
Member – Shariah Expert
Dr. Mufti Khalil Ahmed Aazami
Dr. Mufti Khalil Ahmed Aazami is a Shari’ah Scholar with over 20 years of extensive and diverse experience in Research, Islamic Finance, Banking, Takaful, and Islamic Sciences. He completed his Aalamia, from Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi, followed by 3 years of Fatwa and research training under Mufti Taqi Usmani. He also earned a Doctorate in Islamic Jurisprudence from Karachi University.
Dr. Aazami serves on the Shari’ah boards of Bank Alfalah, National Bank of Pakistan, and Faysal Bank. He is also the Sharia Advisor for Alfalah Insurance – Window Takaful Operations and a member of the AAOIFI sub-committee, and various committees of the State Bank of Pakistan and the Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan.
Member – Shariah Expert
Mufti Muhammad Mohib Ul Haq Siddiqui
Mufti Mohib Ul Haq Siddiqui is a graduate of Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi where he obtained his Aalamia and 3 years of research & Fatwa experience under the supervision of Mufti Taqi Usmani. With over 20 years of experience in the field of Islamic banking & finance, he has served on the Shari’ah Boards of The Royal Bank of Scotland (Berhad, Malaysia), JS Investments, Takaful Pakistan, and various other organizations.
He is on the Shari’ah Boards of Faysal Bank, Bank Alfalah, and Bank AL-Habib. In addition, he is also a member of the State Bank of Pakistan’s Committee for Shari’ah review, standardization of Islamic products and processes, and formalization of AAOIFI Shari’ah standards.
Member – Shariah Expert
Mufti Najeeb Khan
Mufti Najeeb Khan, an expert in Islamic Finance, holds a Takhassus degree from Jamia Darul Uloom, Karachi. He serves on the Shariah advisory boards of Bank Al Makramah (Formerly Summit), Faysal Bank, and UBL Islamic Funds. Additionally, he has been a member of various supervisory and advisory boards of SECP, SBP, Government of Sindh, ICAP, PSQCR, and several financial institutions in Australia.
He is an educationalist and trainer affiliated with NIBAF, IDB, IBA, LUMS, UoK, and OIC’s Halal Committee and is also serving as the Principal of Hira Foundation School. He is a member of the advisory board for designing Islamic School curriculums – Ummah Relief International – U.S.A, Lecturer – U.M.M.A Centre, Victoria, Australia, Lecturer – Islamic Centre, Monash University, Australia and Senior Member of Majlis Ulama – Australia.
Member – Shariah Expert
Mufti Bilal Ahmed Qazi
Mufti Bilal Ahmed Qazi completed his Aalamia (an 8 year course equivalent to Masters in Arabic & Islamic Studies) from Jamiah-tul-Uloom Ul-Islamiyah, Banori Town.
He received research & Fatwa training in Jamia Daul Uloom Karachi for 3 years. Mufti Bilal obtained his MBA from IBA Karachi. He has been working as a research associate at Darul Ifta – Jamia Darul Uloom Karchi where he has researched and written over 2,000 fatawa on various topics which have been approved by the likes of Mufti Taqi Usmani, Mufti Mahmood Ashraf.
Mufti Bilal also served as the Resident Shari’ah Scholar for Meezan Bank – The largest Islamic bank of Pakistan from 2006 till 2015, and NAFA Islamic Mutual Funds. Currently he is on the Shari’ah Boards of Al Baraka Bank (previously Emirates Global), Soneri Bank, & Summit Bank. Mufti Bilal is also a part of the faculty at Centre for Islamic Economics, Sheikh Zayed Islamic Centre, and IBA-CEIF.
Technical Member – Finance & Course Design
Dr. Zeeshan Ahmed
Dr Zeeshan started his career as a Management Consultant at Fergusons Associates in 1995 where he worked on a number of projects like financial forecasting, proposing tariff structure, designing financial reporting and internal control systems, financial analysis and financial systems re-engineering. He has taught Finance & Accounting courses, MBA and Undergraduate Programmes at various reputed institutions like IBA, Suleman Dawood School of Business, LUMS, and Mississippi State University, USA. His research interests include Earnings Management, Privatisation, Financial Intermediation and Islamic Finance.
Currently, he serves as the VC of Al Ghazzali University Karachi. Before this he was the Dean at KSBL and Al Qadir University.
Management
Managing Partner
Usama Ehsan
Usama Ehsan – a passionate teacher and a professional Shariah & Ethical Finance Advisor. At Safwa, he is the Managing Partner as well as the Shariah Board Member at Bank Alfalah, Funding Souq (UAE) and Sharia Advisor for Oraan. With a Master’s in Arabic and Islamic studies from Darul Uloom Karachi, and an intensive fatwa training under the supervision of Justice (retd.) Mufti Taqi Usmani. Mr. Usama has further strengthened his Islamic Knowledge with an MBA and certification in Shariah Advisory and Audit from AAOIFI. Currently, he’s also sharing his expertise by teaching at educational institutions and delivering training through NIBAF and IBA-CEIF.
Head – Finance and Admin
Sheikh Mohammad Owais
Muhammad Owais completed his Hifz from Karachi and then moved on to complete his Aalamiyyah. He graduated from Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi in 2013 where he studied under the guidance of the likes of Justice Retd. Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani, Mufti Muhammad Rafi Usmani, and Mufti Mahmood Ashraf Usmani.
He has over 10 years of working in the finance department of a private company. He now serves as an Associate under the supervision of Safwa’s Advisory Panel.
Member – Shariah Expert
Mufti Junaid Ahmed Khan
Junaid Ahmed Khan completed his Dars e Nizami in 2012 and Specialization in Islamic Jurisprudence (Takhassus Fil Ifta) in 2015 with an outstanding record throughout his academic career from Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi. He is a Certified Shariah Advisor & Auditor (CSAA) from AAOIFI in 2019. He also holds a degree of MS-Islamic Banking & Finance from the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi (IBA). He is also working as an examiner at the Institute of Bankers Pakistan (IBP).
Currently, he is serving as Shariah Compliance Officer at Pak Qatar Family Takaful Limited and Head of Shariah Compliance Department at Pak Qatar Asset Management Company Limited (PQAMCL).