IFN Award for Amanah as ‘Best Real Estate Financier’

Australia’s own Amanah Islamic Finance (“Amanah”) was awarded Best Real Estate Financier in a global poll that has been running for the last five years and conducted by Islamic Finance News (IFN), a well-respected global provider of specialised Islamic financial media services.

The “Best Real Estate Financier” category essentially recognises excellence in Islamic finance providers in western jurisdictions because this is typically a core offering in those countries.

So, it was particularly significant for Melbourne-based Amanah to receive this award over established institutions in larger markets including the UK and USA that have institutions like Guidance Residential which has provided USD$5 billion in home finance.

Amanah had previously been awarded Australia’s top Islamic Finance Institution for 3 consecutive years by IFN, but this is the first global award it has won in the real estate finance category.

Amanah marked its 10 year anniversary this year since commencing its operations in Melbourne, but now it boasts a national footprint with $500million+ of home finance provided to customers across Australia.

Its products were developed in conjunction  with world-renowned Shariah advisors at Amanie who sit on the boards of major Islamic banks around the world and it has rigorous internal Shariah compliance system where every customer contract is reviewed by Australian-based imams and reported back to the external board at Amanie.

Amanah’s award winning real estate financing team marking their 10th year anniversary earlier this year in Melbourne.

Amanah’s offerings have now also expanded into the following services:

• a full suite of Shariah compliant residential home finance products;
• a bespoke financial planning service to cater for Islamic finance superannuation and investment advice;
• Shariah compliant SMSF property finance; and
• Vehicle and equipment finance using a rental-based system

Amanah’s approach to Islamic finance has always been solutions-based and its Islamic finance advisory business has provided commercial and development finance solutions to facilitate the acquisition and development of significant Shariah compliant commercial finance transactions that range from $10million to $50 million.

Caption: Head of Amanah’s Internal Shariah Compliance, Imam Uzair Akbar.

Its co-founders have been involved in this industry for the past 30 years and have been at the forefront of the most significant Islamic finance developments including:

• Being on the expert panel advising government on legislative reform to facilitate Islamic finance by being involved in the Board of Taxation’s review
• Advising on significant Australian legislative reform to facilitate Islamic finance including Victoria’s historic stamp duty amendments to remove double duty on Islamic finance in 1995.
• Working with clients to a obtain tax rulings from the Australian Taxation Office to give Islamic investors certainty on a range of complex transaction.

The award was a recognition of Amanah’s efforts over the years, but ultimately it would not be where it is without the support of its loyal customers across Australia.

Amanah has also been very active in community partnerships with Amanah being a major sponsor of the  Multicultural Eid Festival and Fair (MEFF) for the next three years which is celebrating its 40^th MEFF on Sunday 6 April 2025. This partnership aligns with Amanah’s commitment to fostering community engagement and promoting cultural harmony which are key objectives of the MEFF.

Amanah was a gold sponsor of the 10th anniversary celebration of the Australasian Muslim Times AMUST held in Sydney on Sunday 15 September 2024 with the theme “AMUST10: Ink & Impact,” marking a decade of AMUST’s contribution to independent multicultural journalism in Australia and celebration of the legacy of its late co-founder, Dr Qazi Ashfaq Ahmad OAM, whose life’s work was dedicated to nurturing the Muslim community.