VIABILITY OF EXTERNAL SHARIAH AUDIT PRACTICE:

SMALL AND MEDIUM AUDIT PRACTITIONERS’ VIEWPOINTS

Abstract

The current trend in Shariah governance and assurance has now gone beyond internal Shariah audit to external Shariah audit (ESA). At the international level, the move towards enhancing Shariah governance in Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) were made by mandating ESA function by the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) in its auditing standards in year 2019. Then, in year 2023 Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) jointly collaborate with AAOIFI on issuing an exposure draft on Shariah governance framework which suggested as best practice for ESA to be conducted not just for IFIs but also for Islamic capital market. As there is increasing number of institutions offering Shariah compliant products and services, there is also the need for ESA to provide assurance in sectors beyond IFIs. Besides big audit firms, the supply of ESA can be offered by small and medium audit practitioners (SMPs) as well. A focus group discussion was held to study this issue with 17 SMPs on the viability to venture into the Shariah audit industry. The findings indicate challenges to SMPs as there is no regulatory requirement for the conduct of ESA in Malaysia; there is debate on the audit scope and a need for human capital development to develop required skillset for external Shariah auditors that includes knowledge in Shariah principles, Shariah compliant contracts, Shariah risk management and Islamic capital market related products and services.