The Islamic MBA

‘Aqoul link to an article in the Financial Times about a new Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree being offered in Islamic finance in Dubai. The article reads:

Is the world about to witness the first fully fledged MBA programme that combines religious tenets with mainstream business management?

No, it’s not. The University College of Bahrain in Manama already offer such a course, as do the International Islamic University Malaysia.

The need for MBA graduates armed with a knowledge of Islamic norms has become increasingly pressing. Bankers working to put together deals involving Islamic finance point towards a fundamental skill gap in finding professionals who combine the knowledge of Islamic shariah (jurisprudence) principles with knowledge of the marketplace.

Of course, I’m yet to hear anyone say they have a pressing need for MBAs let alone MBA graduates with an understanding of Islamic finance (as a side note, Guy Kawasaki counts an MBA as a negative in his Venture Capital Aptitude Test).

For Muslims, more shariah knowledge is a good thing regardless of the profession or context, but I’m not sure what value an Islamic MBA really offers given that most institutions will still rely on Shariah Advisory Boards (because of the credibility they provide more than anything else). For a start, the MBA will naturally focus on one aspect of fiqh, the fiqh ul-buyu’ or the rulings related to business transactions whilst glossing over or ignoring the prerequisite branches of Islamic knowledge required to offer a credible ruling on a particular product.

That said, the fact that some universities are creating these sorts of degrees does say something about the extent to which so-called Islamic finance industry is developing.