Open Discussions
In association with the
Gulf Cultural Club
Invites you to a discussion:
Alternative finance: The Muslim experience
Speakers
Ajmal Bhatty
(Senior actuary & global insurance executive)
Shabbir Razvi
(Director International Finance Solutions Associates)
Time: 6.30 pm, Date: 22nd September 2026
Venue: Abrar House, 45 Crawford Place, W1H 4LP
Islamic banking serves as a distinct alternative financial system because it replaces conventional, Interest-based lending with a framework rooted in sharia (Islamic law). It shifts the focus from purely financial speculation to productive, asset-backed economic activity. By embedding ethical boundaries and mutual risk into its architecture, it appeals not only to Muslim consumers but also to socially conscious investors seeking a stable, socially responsible alternative to conventional finance. We will discuss the key concepts in Islamic banking and other alternative financial systems and explore their use in the 21st century.
Please register
email: karendabrowski606@yahoo.co.uk or text 07581495228
*Ajmal Bhatty is an insurance and actuarial professional who has spent his career fixing the gaps that make people’s financial lives fragile. He works to make insurance fair, simple, and genuinely protective — not just profitable. He has led major insurance companies in the UK, the Gulf, and Southeast Asia, shaping how risk is priced, how solvency is protected, and how customers stay secure. His focus has always been the same: turning what is fragile into what is resilient.
Shabbir Razvi is a writer, broadcaster, political activist, community worker, economic commentator and a poet. He has specialist expertise in Islamic Finance and International Relations with reference to the Middle East, Iran, South Asia, USA, Europe and UK and the Washington Consensus. He is the Director of the International Dialogue Foundation and a Principal of International Finance Solutions Associates based in London. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Shabbir Razvi describes himself as a financial matchmaker, the cupid of money, and the guardian of great advice.
