AAOIFI 24th Annual Shari'ah Boards Conference 2026

The Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) holds its 24th Annual Shari'ah Boards Conference in Manama with the support of the Central Bank of Bahrain. Running for more than two decades, the conference is a main forum for harmonising Shari'ah opinions and strengthening Shari'ah governance across the Islamic financial services industry. The 2026 theme is "Islamic Finance in the Era of Artificial Intelligence: Present Potentials and Future Prospects", and the edition coincides with AAOIFI's 35th anniversary.

Conference sessions

Five technical sessions over two days, each with a chair, speakers and commentators drawn largely from the AAOIFI Shari'ah Board.

• Harmonising the AAOIFI Shari'ah Standards with legal systems
• Estimating the actual direct cost of lending (Iqrad)
• Dual-tranche syndicated financings with Islamic and conventional tranches
• The impact of newly arising circumstances on contracts and financial obligations
• The exchange of value against a binding commitment: ruling and applications

Who attends

Shari'ah scholars and board members, central bank and regulatory officials, Islamic bank executives, lawyers and Islamic finance practitioners from around the world.

Format

Sessions have simultaneous Arabic-English interpretation and are livestreamed on AAOIFI's Zoom, YouTube and LinkedIn channels. Day one also includes an exhibition opening, MoU signings, the launch of the AAOIFI Sukuk self-assessment programme and the AAOIFI General Assembly meeting. Separate AAOIFI conference workshops are offered.