Interview with Mr. Ibad Ali, a finance professional
PAGE: Tell me something about yourself:
Ibad Ali: I am a finance professional based in the UAE with over ten years of experience in financial control and cost accounting. I currently work as a Senior Financial Analyst at Agthia Group PJSC, a leading PJSC-listed food and beverage company in the UAE, where I oversee cost accounting, budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting. I am a Fellow Member of ICMAP (FCMA) and hold a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Karachi.
Alongside my professional work, I have developed FinMentra — a finance and accounting education app that makes learning IFRS, IAS, and auditing standards interactive and engaging for students and professionals pursuing qualifications such as ACCA, CPA, CMA, and ICMAP. It reflects my belief that strong financial literacy is the foundation of a sound financial system.
PAGE: What is your perspective on the constitutional mandate to eliminate Riba by January 2028?
Ibad Ali: The 2028 deadline gives Pakistan a firm, time-bound target, and that clarity is valuable. It removes the ambiguity that lingered for decades and pushes institutions to commit to concrete transition plans rather than treating Islamic finance as an optional parallel track.
That said, the timeline is ambitious. Converting an entire banking and sovereign-debt system — including government securities, which remain largely interest-based — within this window is a significant undertaking. Success will depend on the availability of genuine Shariah-compliant instruments for government financing, adequate talent, and public understanding. A well-executed transition could position Pakistan as a global reference point for Islamic finance; a rushed one risks instruments that are compliant in form but not in substance. The goal should be authenticity, not simply meeting a date.
PAGE: What is your standpoint on Islamic banking exceeding 25% of industry deposits?
Ibad Ali: Crossing the 25% threshold is a genuine milestone and reflects real demand rather than regulatory push alone. It shows that a meaningful segment of Pakistanis actively prefers faith-aligned banking when it is accessible and competitively priced.The next challenge is depth, not just share. Growth in deposits must be matched by growth on the asset side — quality Shariah-compliant financing, investment products, and liquidity-management tools. Where the industry still relies heavily on instruments that mirror conventional structures, the credibility gap needs closing. Sustained double-digit share is encouraging, but the more important measure is whether the products serve genuine economic activity and risk-sharing rather than replicating interest under a different name.
PAGE: How would you comment on Shariah-compliant solutions from personal financing to corporate Sukuk?
Ibad Ali: Islamic finance offers a full spectrum. On the retail side, personal and asset financing typically uses structures such as Murabaha (cost-plus sale), Ijarah (leasing), and Diminishing Musharakah for home financing, where the bank and customer co-own an asset and the customer gradually buys out the bank’s share. These replace interest with real asset ownership and defined trade or rental returns.
At the corporate and sovereign level, Sukuk are the flagship instrument. Rather than lending money at interest, Sukuk represent ownership in tangible assets or projects, with returns generated from those underlying assets. Pakistan’s domestic and international Sukuk issuances demonstrate that this works at scale — funding infrastructure and government needs while remaining asset-backed. The strength of the model is that returns are tied to real economic activity, which naturally links finance to the productive economy. The frontier now is broadening the toolkit — sovereign Sukuk, green Sukuk, and SME-focused products — so compliant options exist at every level.
PAGE: What is your take on the framework for integrating Islamic economic principles into Pakistan’s economy?
Ibad Ali: A durable framework rests on more than converting bank products; it requires the surrounding ecosystem to move together. I would highlight a few pillars: a robust regulatory and Shariah-governance structure so standards are consistent and credibly enforced; the development of Shariah-compliant government financing so the state itself is not dependent on interest-based debt; a strong pipeline of trained professionals who understand both the Shariah and the technical finance; and public education so ordinary savers and businesses understand and trust these instruments.
Technology and education are, in my view, underappreciated pillars, and that is precisely the gap I am working on with FinMentra. You cannot build an interest-free economy without a generation of finance professionals who genuinely understand these principles — not just as theory, but as working practice. Real integration happens when Islamic economic principles are embedded in how people think about money from the ground up, not bolted on at the institutional level alone.