Certified External Shari'ah Auditor

It is for external auditors, audit firm staff who work on Islamic financial institutions, internal Shari'ah auditors and regulators who review assurance work. It focuses on the AAOIFI Auditing Standard for Islamic Financial Institutions No. 6 (ASIFI 6) on external Shari'ah audit: direct and attestation engagements, the hierarchy of criteria, qualitative materiality, sampling, written representations, using the work of others, and the short and long form reports. It also covers testing for Shari'ah compliance by the external auditor (ASIFI 4), the related principles, reports, engagement terms and fraud responsibilities (ASIFI 1, 2, 3 and 5), and internal Shari'ah audit (Governance Standard No. 11) as context for deciding when its work can be relied on.

How it works: study the linked courses Auditing Standards and Professional Ethics for Islamic Finance and Shari'ah Compliance, Internal Shari'ah Audit and Ratings, then sit a 40-question certification exam in 75 minutes. The pass mark is 70%, and the certificate is valid for three years.

This is an independent ifSPACE certification. It is free, it is not an AAOIFI qualification, and it is not accredited or endorsed by AAOIFI or any regulator.