You Need to Ask Yourself 7 Questions Before You Choose Your Islamic Finance Certificate

1. Is the certificate recognized? Ethica's CIFE™ is accredited by leading Islamic finance scholars and bankers. In 2011 we won the award for "Best Islamic Finance Qualification" from Global Islamic Finance Awards in the UK and in 2012, 2011, 2010, and 2009, Ethica received the award nomination for "Best Islamic Finance Training Institute" from Islamic Business and Finance magazine in Dubai. In 2012 we were shortlisted as finalists for "Business Innovation of the Year," "Online Business of the Year," and "Customer Focus of the Year" categories by the Gulf Capital SMEInfo Awards in Dubai.
   
   
2. Is the certificate standardized? Ethica's CIFE™ is the only third-party certificate in the world to conform to the industry's most widely-accepted standard. Read Ethica's article, "Fiqh or Fiction," on the need for standardized, AAOIFI-compliant training below.
   
   
3. Is the certificate up-to-date? Workbooks, CDs, and distance-learning courses grow old fast. Can you really be sure that your 3-year old workbook or last year's CD is up-to-date? With Ethica's CIFE™, when Islamic finance innovates, our online content innovates right there with it. So you can be sure that you're never left behind.
   
   
4. Is the certificate prepared by professors or bankers? Ethica's CIFE™ is rigorously prepared by a team of bankers and scholars, not professors. Ethica gets you from theory to advanced practical knowledge faster than anyone else in the market.
   
   
5. What happens after certification? At other institutes you may never have spoken to the trainer 1-on-1. Or received counseling. Or shared your concerns. Ethica's 1-on-1 Career Counseling helps guide your Islamic finance career. And Ethica's Recruiter Database gets you access to hundreds of industry contacts.
   
   
6. Can we afford your certificate? Our individual, group and corporate rates are designed to rapidly and cost-effectively train and certify users in less than 4 months at rates lower than or comparable to our competitors.
   
   
7. Where is the institute based? According to Forbes Magazine, "Dubai holds the title of Islamic finance hub." Anywhere else is just a compromise. Islamic finance trainers need to be where the action is. It is one thing to read about deals sitting far away, and quite another to be working with bankers and scholars who execute transactions for a living.

Fiqh Or Fiction: Why Islamic Finance Needs Standardized Training

A Fatwa, or expert legal opinion of one or more Islamic scholars, is the highest level of accreditation granted to a transaction, product, or institution in Islamic finance. Islamic banks esteem Fatwas. And Islamic banking customers esteem Fatwas. Yet Islamic finance training programmes continue to turn to academic and professional bodies for Shari'ah accreditation. Why? [Download full article here]