Model structuring, product certification and Shariah governance for takaful operators, including the first takaful operator to launch in its market, now selling policies.
The problem
Takaful is a different arrangement rather than insurance with the objectionable parts removed: participants contribute to a fund on the basis of mutual assistance, the operator manages that fund for a fee or a share, and the two pools, participants' and shareholders', must stay separate.
Almost every serious takaful finding traces back to that separation. Expenses charged to the wrong pool. Surplus distributed on a basis the model does not support. A qard from shareholders to a deficit fund that never behaves like a qard. These are structural questions, and they are far cheaper to answer before the licence application than after the first year of operation.
Expenses
Charged to the wrong pool
Surplus distribution
On a basis the model does not support
The qard arrangement
From shareholders to a deficit fund
Does it behave like a qard?
Or quietly like something else
What we do
Wakalah, mudarabah and hybrid models, selected against the operator's economics and the regulator's expectations.
Family, general and micro-takaful products, including motor, health, property and protection lines.
The investment of takaful funds, the treatment of surplus, and the qard arrangement in deficit.
Framework, committee, policy and reporting for takaful operators, including forming and supporting the committee itself.
Digital distribution, embedded takaful, micro-takaful delivered through mobile channels, and the platforms that run them.
Annual Shariah audit of the operator and its funds.
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 fund structure and the regulatory setting before we quote.
Scope, timeline and fee agreed, agreement signed.
The deep stage: the fund separation, the surplus mechanism, the qard arrangement and the investment of takaful funds.
Findings returned and worked through with your actuarial, product and compliance teams; the model is adjusted.
Issued by a certified Mufti.
Issued under a reference any counterparty can verify independently.
For a takaful operator the cycle runs for as long as the fund is licensed: the fund separation and surplus treatment are re-tested every year, and every time a new product line 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 operators applying for a first licence and with operators already selling policies across several lines. One size does not fit all. Tell us what you are building and we will tell you what it takes.
Evidence
First takaful operator to launch (Oceania)A demanding project in a market with no takaful precedent. Launched with motor takaful and further lines to follow, certified, and already selling policies.
Licensed family and general takaful operator (South Asia)Ongoing advisory.
Members of our team have served on the Shariah board of a takaful technology company, reviewing and structuring products, issuing certification, and building the Shariah governance model.
Questions
Yes, and we have done it. The structure has to satisfy Shariah while operating within a conventional insurance rulebook, which usually means solving the fund separation problem within a legal framework that does not recognise it.
They are used interchangeably, but the substance is the arrangement rather than the label: mutual contribution, a separately managed participants' fund, and an operator remunerated by fee or profit share rather than by underwriting margin.
Yes, on this page. Digital distribution, embedded and micro-takaful are covered here rather than under Islamic fintech, though the fintech pages link across.
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.
It varies by client. Some stay with us for ongoing advisory as new product lines launch; 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 you are applying for a first licence or already selling policies. We will tell you at the first meeting whether the structure holds.