Don’t know your sukuk from your takaful? CIMA has launched a new qualification to open the door to the rapidly expanding Islamic finance industry.

Islamic finance is surging, with a growth rate of 15-20% a year, and it’s now worth between 150bn and 250bn. What’s more there’s a well documented skills shortage in the area.

The new Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) qualification will cover four areas – Islamic commercial law; Islamic banking and takaful (insurance); Islamic capital markets and instruments; and accounting for Islamic financial institutions. It takes between two and six months to complete, depending on experience.

The course was launched in London last week and there are plans to implement it worldwide, after an initial push in the GCC region.

Robert Jelly, director of education at CIMA, says: “The UK is looking to position itself as a centre for Islamic finance. Some of the international banks have over 150 people working in their Islamic finance divisions. This is an opportunity to improve their knowledge and certify their experience.”

Jelly says the course was originally aimed at its qualified accountants’ community, but they expanded it to anyone involved in the design and implementation of Islamic finance products.

CIMA says the course is a first for a professional accounting body, and Islamic finance courses are generally thin on the ground. The École Supérieure des Affaires (ESA) has its Islamic Finance Qualification (IFQ), and Inceif in Malaysia and the Bahrain Institute for Finance and Banking offer programmes.

Even these courses were only launched recently, which might explain the dearth of talent in the area. Recruiters say there are a surprising number of non-Muslim bankers in the industry, because Arabic is not a prerequisite, the packages are alluring, and it’s difficult to fill the roles being created.