Curriculum
Ethica's award-winning CIFE™ is a streamlined training and certification program designed to take complete newcomers to an advanced level of understanding in Islamic finance. Once you understand the 22 core modules listed below that comprise the testable material, you are ready to take the online CIFE™ examination. You can take the exam as soon as you are ready. The recommended study schedule below shows you how to comfortably finish the program with an investment of as little as 1 hour per week. Conveniently self-paced, you complete it in 3 weeks or 4 months. We give you 10 months of easy access.
What makes Islamic finance different from conventional finance? And what makes it better? We look at 3 real- world examples and find out. We also introduce you to the 4 principles that guide Islamic finance transactions.
Have you ever wanted to change the world? Have you ever wanted to figure out the one thing that could change the world more than anything else? Start by reading this manifesto.
You've heard of joint-stock companies. Now learn about the Islamic variation. We look at Musharakah, the Islamic business partnership where partners pool together capital, expertise or goodwill to conduct business or trade. We look at the basic features of a Musharakah and its types, their mode of operation, duration and the various forms of capital contribution.
We discuss the management of the Musharakah business and take you through some practical applications of how Islamic banks use Musharakah. We also look at profit and loss sharing ahead of the subsequent module's profit calculation exercises.
We complete our discussion on general aspects of Musharakah, including how banks handle negligence, termination, and constructive liquidation. We round our discussion with some practical examples of Musharakah calculation, a quick review of financial statements and how exactly profit gets calculated.
This article will not only allow you to confidently handle that awkward question clients and colleagues love to ask: “Isn’t Islamic finance just dressed up conventional finance?” but also sharpen your ability to sniff out non Shariah-compliant products.
Where Islamic banks meet conventional private equity type investing. Here you learn Mudarabahs, the Islamic business partnership where one partner supplies capital for the business and the other provides management expertise. We explain the Mudarabah structure and contrast it with Musharakah and Wakalah, explaining how they differ in banking practice.
How is an investment partnership different from an agency contract? We discuss the relative merits of the Mudarabah and the Wakalah structure in different situations. We also describe the Mudarib's role, the duration of Mudarabahs and the forms of capital contribution by the investor and in some cases even the Mudarib.
We discuss the Mudarabah's management and the rules for sharing profit and loss. We also look at some practical examples showing how Islamic banks use Mudarabahs.
A handy reference to the most common questions.
What's an Islamic lease? This module helps you find out. We introduce Ijarah, the Islamic lease, and look at pre-requisites for their execution, legal title, possession, maintenance, earnest money, default, and insurance. We begin answering the question "How does an Ijarah work?" with step-by-step practical explanations.
You learn the rights and obligations of the lessor and the lessee and focus on defective assets, sub-leases, extensions and renewals, transfer of ownership, and termination.
We speak to bankers, both Islamic and conventional, and laymen, both sincere and cynical, and compile twenty-one of the most commonly asked questions about riba and mortgages.
Learn about the most widely used Islamic finance product: buy an asset for the customer; sell the asset at a premium in installments to the customer. That's a Murabaha. In these modules we introduce Murabahas and walk you through the first 5 of the 7 important steps necessary for a Murabaha's valid execution.
Wrap up the 7 steps to executing a Murabaha: we cover steps 6 and 7 and go on to discuss common mistakes bankers make when executing Murabahas and how to avoid them. We also look at risk management, default, early repayment, and profit calculation in Murabahas.
So how does it work in the real world? We look at 6 practical examples of Murabahas based on installment repayments, bullet repayments, advance payments, and credit and import Murabaha.
What makes a forward contract Islamic? Learn here. In this module on Salam, the Islamic forward sale, and Istisna, the Islamic manufacturing contract, we begin with Salam. We look at the goods for which a Salam may be executed, the pre-requisites, and the use of a Parallel Salam.
Ethica sits down with Shariah department experts to identify industry best practices for Shariah compliance at the bank.
We discuss security, replacement, and default before explaining how its pricing is calculated. We then look at Istisna and discuss the major differences between it and the Salam.
In this final module we discuss delivery, default, and the termination of Istisna. We conclude the 3 module series with a practical product structuring exercise where you get to choose the appropriate financing tools in a given scenario.
You learn the difference between Islamic and conventional insurance and the essentials that make Islamic insurance unique. You walk through a numerical example before taking the Self-Assessment Quiz.
The primacy of a fatwa when accrediting an Islamic finance training program, and why Islamic finance scholars, not academic and professional bodies, should certify training programs for authenticity.
You've read about them. Now learn about them. Sukuks are Islamic shares and we show you the main features walking you through the 8 step structuring process concluding with a study of Ijarah Sukuk.
We continue our discussion on Sukuk with a look at Musharakah and Mudarabah, Sukuk and the limitations of issuing using Murabaha, Salam and Istisna. We close with a case study of the IDB Sukuk.
What do Islamic banks do with excess capital in the short-term? How do they access capital for the long-term? You learn the answers to these and other questions in this module. We discuss how Islamic banks manage liquidity and begin by explaining an inter-bank Mudarabah, walking you through how a weightage table works; useful information for other Islamic banking products. We close the module with a look at the application of Sukuk in liquidity management.
You look at filters for stocks, shares, Musharakah investment pools, and the use of agency contracts to manage liquidity. We also look at local and the foreign currency Commodity Murabahas and walk you through the steps for executing each.
Some have said "Banking is risk management." If you don't know anything about risk management this is the module for you. You learn the basics about risk management in Islamic finance and discuss the most common risks facing Islamic banks and the mitigation techniques used to address them.
Now you learn about how risk relates to each specific Islamic finance product. We go through each major Islamic banking product, namely Murabaha, Salam, Istisna, Ijarah, Musharakah and Mudarabah, and explain the specific risks associated with each.
Each question is reviewed by an Islamic finance expert and approved by a scholar.
Browse one of the world's largest database of Islamic finance Q&As available online.
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