Zakat, waqf, charity crowdfunding and microfinance, for corporates, institutions, platforms and development organisations.
The problem
In commercial Islamic finance a structural error costs money and reputation. In social finance it can mean that an obligation was not discharged at all. That zakat calculated on the wrong base was paid to the wrong recipients, or that a waqf was constituted in a way that cannot survive the founder.
The people affected are rarely in a position to check, which puts the whole weight of the thing on whoever did the structuring.
The zakat base
Calculated correctly, or not
Disbursement
To the recipients it was owed to
The waqf instrument
Built to outlive its founder, or not
Who checks?
Rarely the people it affects
What we do
Calculation, base determination and disbursement advisory for companies, institutions and individuals.
Cash and property waqf, campaign structures and long-term governance.
Platform models, campaign structures and the treatment of donor funds.
Product structuring, institutional compliance review and governance for microfinance institutions.
Frameworks, policies and reporting for institutions handling zakat, waqf and sadaqah.
Why ADL
Our team pairs certified Muftis holding AAOIFI qualifications with people who understand code, systems and product architecture. We hold Malaysia Digital Status from the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation, a technology credential, held by a Shariah advisory firm. Where there is an app, we go into it. Where there is a core banking system, we review the configuration.
Registered Shariah Adviser with the Securities Commission Malaysia and with Labuan Financial Services Authority.
We work primarily against AAOIFI standards and reconcile with the applicable local regime. An opinion grounded in AAOIFI travels across borders.
Beyond applying Islamic finance standards, our team has been commissioned by a standard-setting body: research towards a governance standard, participation in the drafting of a preliminary standard, and a series of training assignments.
Auditing against another adviser's pronouncement is ordinary work for us, as is being audited by another firm. Independence is the point of the exercise.
We work in jurisdictions with mature Islamic finance regulation and in markets with none at all, where the structure has to satisfy Shariah while operating entirely within a conventional rulebook.
Best Shariah Advisory in Islamic Asset Management, presented in Jeddah in February 2026.
Members of our team hold Shariah board and committee seats across the institutions we serve, so our advisory work is informed by governance experience, not only by external review.
How we hold ourselves
Our measure of a good year is not only revenue. It is whether we helped one more business get to halal. That is why we will take a call from a founder at ideation stage, and why our pricing bends to what a client can actually carry. We would rather a small platform get its structure right at the start than be priced out and get it wrong at scale.
A business built on an Islamic label still has to be a good business. Sound fundamentals, capable people, honest disclosure, and a high standard of compliance with local regulation, because that is what protects the customer and the investor. Shariah compliance sits on top of that foundation. It is not a substitute for it, and we will say so if we see it being treated as one.
The Lifecycle
Compliance is a state you maintain rather than a certificate you obtain, and the audit cycle is how you maintain it.
We understand the obligation and the institution before we quote.
Scope, timeline and fee agreed, agreement signed.
The deep stage: the zakat base, the waqf instrument, the disbursement mechanism and the governing documents.
Findings returned and worked through with your finance and governance teams; the structure is adjusted.
Issued by a certified Mufti.
Issued under a reference any counterparty can verify independently.
For an institution handling zakat or waqf the cycle runs for as long as the obligation exists: the base, the disbursement and the governance are re-tested every cycle, and every time a new campaign or fund launches.
We commit to two to four weeks for a first pronouncement. In practice it often runs longer, and in our experience the reason is the round trip rather than the review. We raise amendments, and your product and engineering teams need time to work through them. We would rather set that expectation now than surprise you in week three.
Engagements are scoped and priced individually. We have worked with institutions calculating zakat for the first time and with platforms running live charity and microfinance products. One size does not fit all. Tell us what you are building and we will tell you what it takes.
Evidence
Corporate and institutional zakat (South Asia and other regions)Calculation, base determination and disbursement advisory across companies, institutions and individuals.
Charity crowdfunding platformWaqf and zakat campaign structuring.
Several Islamic microfinance engagements in South Asia, including with a national Islamic institution.
Questions
The obligation may not have been properly discharged, regardless of how the amount was arrived at internally. We review the base determination against the applicable methodology before disbursement, not after.
Only if it was constituted to. A waqf that depends on the founder's continued involvement, rather than on a governance structure that outlives them, is not doing what a waqf is meant to do. We structure for that from the outset.
Yes. Platform models, campaign structures and the treatment of donor or borrower funds raise the same structural questions as institutional zakat and waqf, and we advise both.
A pronouncement is the scholarly ruling, the reasoned opinion that a structure, as described, complies. A certification is the instrument that evidences it, carrying a reference your counterparties can check. The pronouncement is the judgment; the certificate is the proof.
It varies by client. Some stay with us for ongoing advisory as new campaigns or funds launch; others come back for review at specific points. Both are normal, and we would rather set the arrangement to what you actually need than sell a retainer you do not.
Our certification confirms Shariah compliance. It is not an assessment of whether a business is viable, whether its financials are sound, or whether the people running it can execute. Look at both questions, and do your own due diligence on the second. Every ADL certificate carries a reference you can check independently.
Book a consultation, whether you are calculating zakat for the first time or structuring a waqf meant to last generations.