IIFA Resolution 156: the mixed-asset question was deferred

No. Resolution 156 (5/17), from 2006, postponed a decision on the composition of mixed assets behind musharakah sukuk and recommended further study through a specialised seminar. It supplies no numerical threshold that you can use to approve trading. Its practical value is to show why you must identify what the certificates represent instead of relying on the word “sukuk”.

Sources: IIFA 156, English text IIFA 156, Arabic original

This is a record of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA), not a new Malaysian ruling or an approval of a current offer. The explanation and diagrams below are newly written for readers; the original resolution belongs to IIFA.

Sources: IIFA 156, English text

Issuer: the Council of IIFA under the then Organization of the Islamic Conference. Session: the 17th, in Amman, Jordan, 24–28 June 2006, corresponding to 28 Jumada al-Ula–2 Jumada al-Akhirah 1427H. The page displays 28 June 2006; that does not establish when the webpage was uploaded. English identifies 156 (5/17); Arabic displays 156 (17/5). These are the same resolution, with the bracket numbers presented in reverse order.

Sources: IIFA 156, English text IIFA 156, Arabic original

The resolution identifies physical assets, usufructs, money and debts as the mixed-asset problem. For everyday reading, distinguish a building from a right to use it, cash held before investment, and money owed by another party. “Usufruct” means the right to use or benefit from an asset; it is not necessarily ownership of the asset itself. These plain-language examples explain the categories, not an actual sukuk portfolio.

Sources: IIFA 156, English text IIFA 156, Arabic original

Resolution 30 (5/4), from 1988, already distinguished cash, debt and mixed-asset stages for muqaradah investment certificates. For mixtures, its wording permits an agreed trading price when goods and benefits form the major part; it promises explanatory rules for the case dominated by cash and debts. This is qualitative wording, not a percentage supplied by Resolution 156. Muqaradah here concerns mudarabah investment certificates; do not treat all partnership structures as identical.

Sources: IIFA 30, earlier certificate principles

Resolution 60 (11/6), from 1990, addresses defined interest-bearing bond structures, including zero-coupon and prize bonds. The brief reference to debt securities in 156 should not be stretched into a claim that every debt claim is prohibited. Resolution 137 (3/15), from 2004, separately addresses ijarah sukuk. The fact that 156 recalls these texts does not replace their conditions or convert its postponement into a new trading rule.

Sources: IIFA 60, bonds IIFA 137, English text IIFA 156, English text

Suppose you are comparing two sukuk investment descriptions in Malaysia. One mentions a leased building; another describes a partnership that also holds cash and receivables. Those labels do not establish the same ownership or trading rights. Ask for the actual asset schedule, the rights represented by your certificate, the valuation basis and the applicable Shariah assessment. This fictional comparison has no assumed asset percentages and gives no verdict on either investment.

Sources: IIFA 156, English text IIFA 30, earlier certificate principles

Resolution 156 does not specify a rental stream, a profit distribution schedule, management fees, investment minimums, redemption charges or a maturity payment. Do not fill these gaps with terms from a different sukuk. Request the named offer’s charges, how expenses affect distributable income, who has payment obligations, and what happens at exit or default. None of those amounts can be calculated from 156 alone.

Sources: IIFA 156, English text

These resolutions do not set a Malaysian retail application process or a religion-based eligibility test. Muslim readers can use the text to understand the Shariah questions and ask how a named issue addresses them. Non-Muslim readers can use the same ownership, cost and risk questions. Neither reader should infer personal eligibility or a product endorsement from this historical record. Consult the applicable offering documents and the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) framework for the actual issue.

Sources: SC bonds and sukuk register

For a present Malaysian investment, record the issue name, issuer, contract version and dates. Check what you own, who owes payments, what rights you can enforce, the charges, transfer restrictions and loss provisions. If investing through a fund, ask what your fund units represent; do not assume you personally receive the underlying sukuk’s rights. A resolution’s historical conclusion does not verify a particular transaction.

Sources: SC bonds and sukuk register

The IIFA English and Arabic resolution texts are publicly available and linked here. This is a supported explanation of that resolution, not a verbatim recovery of the former ISRA webpage. The related archival link could not be reopened in this check; the former page’s exact wording and layout are not certified. The WordPress citation trail is not the issuing authority or evidence of endorsement.

Sources: IIFA 156, English text IIFA 156, Arabic original

This record establishes what 156 decided in 2006. It does not claim that no later IIFA decision exists or that this text alone determines today’s Malaysian requirements. Original links are external; no PDF is hosted here.

Sources: IIFA 156, English text