We review the algorithm. Screening universe, portfolio construction, rebalancing logic and purification, assessed as it executes, not as it is described.
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 model, the universe and the asset mix before we quote.
Scope, timeline and fee agreed, agreement signed.
The deep stage: the portfolio construction logic, the rebalancing rules, the screening refresh cycle and the purification calculation.
Findings returned and worked through with your product, quant and compliance teams; the logic is adjusted.
Issued by a certified Mufti.
Issued under a reference any counterparty can verify independently.
For a digital wealth platform the cycle runs for as long as the algorithm allocates: the logic is re-tested every year, and every time the model, universe or asset mix changes.
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 platforms at model design stage and with live advisers managing client portfolios automatically. One size does not fit all. Tell us what you are building and we will tell you what it takes.
The problem
A human adviser making a non-compliant allocation makes one mistake. An algorithm making the same mistake makes it across every portfolio it touches, every rebalancing cycle, silently, until somebody reads the code.
The Shariah questions in digital wealth sit inside the logic: how the compliant universe is defined and refreshed, what happens between screening cycles when a holding falls out, whether rebalancing can transact in something that has become non-compliant, how purification is calculated and whether the client is told.
Fee characterisation
For a service rendered, not for time or money
Exchange and settlement
Sarf timing where value moves faster than counter-value
Float treatment
Whether customer balances earn anything
Settlement credit
A facility, or a loan carrying benefit
What we do
Reading the portfolio construction and rebalancing logic against the Shariah parameters it is meant to enforce.
Defining the compliant universe and the refresh cycle, against AAOIFI standards and the applicable regulator's methodology.
What the system does when a holding falls out of compliance, and how purification is calculated, disclosed and applied.
In-app disclosures, onboarding flows and reporting, what the client is told and when.
Issued under a reference clients and partners can verify independently.
Review as the model changes, new asset classes are added and new markets are entered.
Evidence
Two Shariah-compliant wealth advisory platformsIn each case we reviewed the algorithm and the full product, the screening approach, the automated investment into equities and Shariah-compliant instruments, and the surrounding documentation and disclosure.
Questions
The product it produces can be, and that requires reading the logic rather than the description of the logic. We assess how the system defines its universe, what it does when a holding falls out, and how purification is handled, because those are the points at which an automated adviser fails quietly.
Frequently enough that the gap between reporting cycles does not leave clients holding something that has ceased to comply. The right interval depends on the asset class and the data source, and it should be a documented parameter rather than an operational habit.
Before engineering commits to a build. A Shariah issue found at design stage costs a change of structure. The same issue found after launch can cost a rebuild, a re-papering of customer contracts, and the purification of income already earned.
A pronouncement is the scholarly ruling, the reasoned opinion that a product, 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.
Either. Some platforms ask us to build and maintain the compliant universe; others run their own and ask us to review the methodology and the outputs. See our Shariah Screening practice for the standalone service.
It varies by client. Some stay with us for ongoing advisory as the model changes; others come back for audit 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 the model is still on paper or already allocating client money. We will tell you at the first meeting whether the logic supports the claim.