Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani's Contribution to Islamic Finance
Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani's contribution to Islamic finance cannot be overstated. In a field where theory and practice are often disconnected, he has been uniquely positioned to shape both: as a jurist who set the standards for what Islamic finance must be, and as a practitioner who has reviewed and approved (or rejected) the actual products offered by Islamic banks worldwide.
His 2008 critique of Sukuk — delivered as Chairman of the AAOIFI Shariah Board — declared that 85% of the Sukuk being issued at the time were not genuinely Shariah-compliant because they guaranteed the return of principal, making them functionally indistinguishable from conventional bonds. The declaration caused an immediate contraction in the Sukuk market and forced a comprehensive restructuring of how Islamic bonds are issued. It remains the clearest demonstration of his influence on the industry.
For students of the Fair Meridian Islamic Finance Course, Mufti Usmani's scholarship is the primary source throughout. His analytical framework — rooted in classical Hanafi jurisprudence but applied with rigorous attention to modern economic realities — is the intellectual foundation of The Third Way.