KUALA LUMPUR: Dr Zulkifli Hasan, who has been entrusted to hold the Religious Affairs Deputy Minister portfolio, has vast experience in Syariah and Islamic finance.

Born in Tanjung Malim, Perak on June 3, 1977, the senior lecturer at the Faculty of Syariah and Law, Islamic Science University of Malaysia (USIM) holds various academic positions such as legislation editor for the Malaysian Journal of Syariah and Law; Syariah panel for the Institute of Fatwa Management and Research, USIM and journal reviewer for the International Journal of Business and Finance Research and International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management.

He obtained his law and Syariah degree from the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM), before completing his Master of Comparative Laws (MCL) at the same university, before pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Durham, United Kingdom.

He is also a member of the Advisory Editorial Board of the Syariah Law Reports and the Global Islamic Finance Magazine, as well as an academic advisor for Diploma in Takaful for Dar al Hikmah College, Selangor.

Despite his many academic commitments, Zulkifli is also active in community work, sitting as the Deputy Chairman of the International Affairs Bureau of the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (ABIM).

In 2013, he represented Malaysia in the prestigious Young Muslim Intellectuals in Southeast Asia Programme in Japan organised by Japan Foundation and in 2014, he was selected as a recipient of a grant to conduct scholarly research at Fordham University, New York, United States of America by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, through the Fulbright US-ASEAN Visiting Scholars Initiative.

In terms of industrial experiences, he has worked extensively in the Islamic finance industry as an advocate and solicitor, in-house counsel for Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad, member of the Rules and Regulations Working Committee for the Association of Islamic Banking Institutions Malaysia and member of the corporate governance working committee for Awqaf South Africa.

Zulkifli is also actively involved in the area of future studies and research and as a member of several professional associations, such as the Malaysian Syarie Lawyers Society, the Association of Syariah Advisors and the Malaysian Bar Council (Non-Practicing).

As a Syariah Committee Member of Affin Islamic Bank and EXIM Bank, as well as a committee member for the Association of Syariah Advisors, Zulkifli has vast experience in applied banking and finance including takaful.

As an academic, he has published numerous articles in various academic journals such as Malayan Law Journal, Syariah Law Reports, International Review of Business Research, Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation, International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management and Kyoto Bulletin of Islamic Area Studies, and presented many papers in various conferences both local and abroad.

His book entitled 'Shari'ah Governance in Islamic Bank' published by the Edinburgh University Press won the MAPIM Best Publication in the category of social science in 2013, with his research interests including corporate and Syariah governance and regulation in Islamic finance.

-- BERNAMA