The Royal Award for Islamic Finance recognises individuals who have excelled in advancing Islamic finance globally through their outstanding contribution and achievement. The Award is unique as it focuses on the individual's personal contribution and its impact towards the development and advancement of Islamic finance, not on commercial achievements.

This Royal Award is jointly organized by the Securities Commission Malaysia and Bank Negara Malaysia, under the Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre (MIFC) initiative. The Royal Award is given out once every two years, and the inaugural Award was presented in 2010.

The selection of the Award recipient will be made by an international jury, comprising eminent individuals, Shariah scholars, academicians and finance practitioners. The Royal Award comes with a medallion, a certificate of recognition and USD250,000 cash award.

Closing date of the nomination was 1 June 2012. The announcement of the Award recipient will be made on 19 September 2012 at The Royal Award Gala Dinner.



Honouring a man of vision


The inaugural Royal Award for Islamic Finance has been awarded to Shaikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel in 2010 for his visionary drive extraordinary leadership and personal commitment. His deep and enduring passion has driven and continues to mark the advancement and international reach of Islamic finance. through the development of a comprehensive infrastructure in Islamic banking, research, education and thought leadership initiatives, the breath and influence of his life's work continues to have sustained financial, economic and social impact in the world.

Shaikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel received a 916 gold Medallion, an inscribed Certificate of Recognition made entirely of pewter embellished in 24K gold and encased in an solid merbau wood box and a cash award of USD250,000.

The inaugural Award also included a special category - a posthumous honourable mention to the late Dr Ahmad Elnaggar, usually known as 'the father of modern Islamic banking'. Dr Elnaggar's first modern experiment with Islamic banking took the form of a savings bank based on profit-sharing. His son Dr Khaled Elnaggar accepted an inscribed pewter certificate on solid merbau wood in memory of his late father.

In order to assess the impact of the candidate's contribution and reach in Islamic finance, the selection criterion assesses both quantitative and qualitative aspects. This includes financial innovation and pioneering work, leadership, adoption of their research or body of work, acknowledgement within the industry, and inspiration and influence towards future progress and development.


To learn more about Shaikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel's contributions, click here

To learn more about Dr. Ahmad ElNaggar's contributions, click here