Wasiyyah, faraid, hibah and the platforms that deliver them, structured, reviewed and certified for trustee companies, estate planning providers and digital platforms.
The problem
An estate instrument is tested exactly once, at the worst possible moment, by people who cannot ask the person who signed it what they meant. A wasiyyah that exceeds the permitted third, a hibah that was never validly delivered, a nomination that conflicts with the faraid entitlement it was meant to serve. None of these announce themselves during the client's lifetime.
For a provider, the exposure compounds. A single defective instrument affects one family. A defective product design affects every client who bought it, for as long as the product was sold, and the defect surfaces years after the sale.
The wasiyyah
Does it exceed the permitted third?
The hibah
Was it validly delivered?
The nomination
Does it conflict with faraid entitlement?
When it surfaces
Years after the sale, at the worst moment
What we do
Reviewing and certifying wasiyyah products for trustee companies, estate planning providers and platforms.
Distribution methodology, calculation logic and the treatment of complex estates and family structures.
Structuring hibah so it is validly constituted and delivered, and does not defeat the faraid entitlement it sits alongside.
For digital wasiyyah and inheritance platforms: the product, the calculation logic, the user journey and the documentation.
Cross-linked to our waqf practice, for founders using endowment as part of a succession plan.
Working with providers on new instruments before they reach the market.
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 product, the platform and the families it serves before we quote.
Scope, timeline and fee agreed, agreement signed.
The deep stage: the wasiyyah structure, the faraid calculation logic, the hibah mechanics and the user journey.
Findings returned and worked through with your product and legal teams; the structure or the calculation logic is adjusted.
Issued by a certified Mufti.
Issued under a reference any counterparty can verify independently.
For an estate planning provider the cycle runs for as long as the product is sold: the calculation logic and documentation are re-tested every year, and every time the product 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 major wasiyyah providers and with digital wasiyyah and inheritance platforms. One size does not fit all. Tell us what you are building and we will tell you what it takes.
Evidence
A major wasiyyah providerWe conducted research for the company and certified one of its products.
A wasiyyah and inheritance platformProduct and platform certified.
Questions
By having the calculation logic reviewed, not the marketing description of it. An inheritance calculator is code, and the code is where the distribution is either right or wrong, which is the same reason we read algorithms in robo-advisory and smart contracts on-chain.
Both, though the work differs. For providers it is product design and certification; for families it is the instrument itself.
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 instruments 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 a provider designing a product or a platform reviewing your calculation logic.