Shariah compliance advisory
Review of the business model, products and contracts for riba, gharar and maysir. A written opinion citing AAOIFI standards — a document you can show to the regulator, an investor and a partner.
Request a reviewKyrgyzstan · CIS · AAOIFI compliantLegal services
Legal services
in Islamic finance
LLC «Sarakhsi Islamic Finance and Legal Advisory»
We structure transactions and products that satisfy both the Shariah board and the regulator — from murabaha contract review to setting up and auditing an Islamic fund.
In-house Shariah board
Contracts under AAOIFI standards
Russian · English · Arabic
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0years in Islamic law
0contracts structured
0jurisdictions covered
0opinions based on AAOIFI
Practice areas
Seven practice areas — from opinion to audit
We cover the whole life cycle of an Islamic financial product: compliance review, deal structure, documentation, launch and ongoing Shariah audit.
Contracts: murabaha, ijara, mudaraba
Drafting and review of murabaha, mudaraba, wadia, wakala, ijara, istisna and salam contracts under Kyrgyz civil law.
See the contractsIslamic product support
From product idea to launch: structure, documentation, liaison with the bank's Shariah board and the regulator.
Discuss a productFund setup and audit
Setting up Islamic investment funds, fund documents, investment policy and regular Shariah audit of the portfolio.
Learn moreShariah-compliant company registration
Choice of legal form, charter and internal policies, Shariah board regulations, registration in Kyrgyzstan.
Learn moreInvestment project support
Legal and Shariah review of the project, financing structure, investor agreements and deal support.
Learn moreStaff training in Shariah rules
Corporate programmes for banks and MFIs: a base course, contract walkthroughs and a workshop on typical breaches.
Training programmeWhy Islamic finance
Financing tied to a real asset
The Islamic model prohibits income from time and uncertainty, not profit itself. Hence a different deal architecture: the bank enters the asset, shares the risk and is rewarded for a real economic function.
See how it works in contractsربا
Prohibition of riba
No income for the mere use of money. Reward arises from trade, lease or partnership — that is, from a transaction with a real asset.
غرر
Prohibition of gharar
Material uncertainty about the subject, price or term voids the contract. Hence the demand for precision in the documentation.
ميسر
Prohibition of maysir
Speculation and gambling on uncertainty are excluded. Derivatives without an underlying asset do not pass Shariah review.
مشاركة
Risk and profit sharing
The capital provider bears the loss; the manager loses their effort. This changes both the contract structure and the allocation of liability.
How the contracts work
Five contracts that carry the practice
Pick a contract — we show the flow of asset and cash, the key terms and the typical mistakes that break Shariah compliance.
Murabaha
مرابحة
Sale at a disclosed mark-up. The bank buys the asset and resells it to the client in instalments at cost plus an agreed margin.
- The bank must genuinely own the asset before reselling it
- Cost and mark-up are disclosed to the buyer
- The price is fixed and is not revised on late payment
- Common mistake: selling before ownership has passed to the bank
About us
Lawyers and Shariah scholars in one team
The firm is named after Shams al-A'imma al-Sarakhsi, author of Al-Mabsut, one of the foundational works on Islamic transaction law. We combine the classical fiqh tradition with modern regulatory requirements.
01 / APPROACH
Two reviews in one opinion
Every document goes through both a legal and a Shariah review. You receive one agreed conclusion, not two conflicting opinions.
02 / STANDARDS
Grounded in AAOIFI and IFSB
Opinions are built on the AAOIFI Shariah standards with direct references to the relevant clauses — this is what partner banks and Gulf investors ask for.
03 / JURISDICTION
Command of Kyrgyz regulation
Islamic window, Islamic bank, MFI, fund — we understand how a Shariah structure maps onto NBKR requirements and Kyrgyz civil law.
04 / LANGUAGES
Russian, English, Arabic
Documents and negotiations in three languages. We deal directly with Arabic-speaking Shariah boards and investors, without intermediaries.
05 / FORMAT
Retainer support
Ongoing Shariah compliance: quarterly audit of operations, advice on new products, staff training.
06 / REGION
Kyrgyzstan and the wider CIS
The practice covers Central Asia, Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan — regions where the Islamic finance market is actively taking shape.
Team and Shariah board
The people who sign the opinions
The firm's Shariah board approves every opinion. Its composition and qualifications are public — a basic trust requirement in Islamic finance.
AS
Abdulla Sarakhsi
Managing partner
Corporate law, structuring of Islamic financial products, transaction support.
MN
Dr Muhammad Nur
Chairman of the Shariah board
Fiqh al-muamalat, AAOIFI standards, Shariah audit of banks and funds.
AK
Aigul Kasymova
Senior lawyer
Kyrgyz banking regulation, licensing, liaison with the NBKR.
IR
Islam Rakhimov
Shariah auditor
Review of operations, compliance procedures, corporate training.
Case studies
Problem — structure — outcome
Clients and amounts are covered by confidentiality. We show the problem and the solution.
Bank · Islamic window
Launching a murabaha line for SMEs
The bank planned to open an Islamic window, but the draft contract allowed the asset to be resold before ownership had passed to the bank. We reworked the structure: an agency contract for the purchase, an acceptance certificate, cost disclosure and a late-payment procedure that generates no penalty income.
6weeks to Shariah board approval
Investment fund
Fund setup and Shariah screening
We drafted the fund documents, an investment declaration with quantitative filters on leverage and prohibited activities, the Shariah board regulations and a procedure for purification of income.
4asset classes in the declaration
Development
Financing construction through istisna
A conventional lending arrangement was replaced with an istisna plus a parallel contract and a payment schedule tied to the construction stages. We worked through the allocation of delay risk and the acceptance of each stage separately.
3stages with separate acceptance
Client feedback
We came with a finished product and asked for a stamp. Instead we got a twenty-page review and a reworked deal structure. Unpleasant — but that is exactly why the partner bank's Shariah board approved it first time.
HI
Head of the Islamic windowCommercial bank, Bishkek
Insights
All insights Analysis, regulation, regional practice
Murabaha: five conditions the deal cannot survive without
Ownership of the asset, cost disclosure, transfer of risk, late payment and the ban on repricing — walked through a standard contract.
ReadIslamic finance in Kyrgyzstan: before you open a window
Shariah board requirements, internal policies, reporting and the regulator's typical comments when approving products.
ReadSukuk versus bond: where the line runs
A purchase undertaking at par is the most common reason an issue stops being sukuk. What the AAOIFI standards say.
ReadFAQ
What clients usually ask before we start
How does a Shariah opinion differ from an ordinary legal one?
A legal opinion answers whether the transaction is lawful under the law of the Kyrgyz Republic. A Shariah opinion answers whether it complies with fiqh al-muamalat and the AAOIFI Shariah standards. We prepare both and bring them into a single document, so that you are not left with two mutually exclusive conclusions.
How long does a contract review take?
An express assessment of a single contract takes 3–5 business days. A full review of a product line with reworked documentation takes from three weeks, depending on the number of contracts and on whether approval by the bank's Shariah board is required.
Do you work only with banks?
No. Our clients include MFIs, investment funds, developers, trading and leasing companies, as well as private investors who need the deal structure checked before entering a project.
Can the opinion be issued in Arabic?
Yes. Documents are prepared in Russian, English and Arabic. The Arabic version is used when dealing with Shariah boards and Gulf investors; the texts are checked by a native speaker with relevant training.
What does retainer support include?
A quarterly Shariah audit of operations, advice on new products with no limit on the number of enquiries, updates to internal policies when standards change, and two training modules a year for staff.
Contact
Describe your case — we reply within a day
The first consultation on the substance of your case is free. If it is not our area, we will say so and point you elsewhere.
Phone+996 (700) 00-00-00
E-mailinfo@sarakhsi.kg
OfficeBishkek, Primernaya st. 1
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Not sure your product is Shariah compliant?
Send us the contract — within three business days you get a short opinion listing the risks and the ways to fix them.