Shariah Scholars and Fatwa Making Process in Islamic Finance

Islamic finance industry faces unprecedented new issues that need immediate attention by Shariah scholars. The issues require the Shariah scholars to exercise their own ijtihad whether it is a collective or an independent ijtihad especially in the innovations of Islamic finance. One of the main challenges in issuing a fatwa in the Islamic finance is the scholars have to innovate Shariah compliant products that are workable and meet the modern market needs. To address this issue, it requires the scholars to have mastery skills in both the turath (classical knowledge) and contemporary knowledge in Islamic finance. The study will evaluate the efforts of the scholars in the fatwa making process and examine the challenges faced over time. Keywords: Shariah scholars, ijtihad, Islamic finance innovations