08 · Shariah Governance Charter — SSB & Sharia Investment Committee

Two distinct bodies. The Shariah Supervisory Board (SSB) rules on the structure (fatwa, instruments, compliance). The Sharia Investment Committee (SIC) decides which startups get funded. Community voting is advisory to the SIC and never binding. Draft for the SSB (Mufti Ismail Desai) and Islamic-finance adviser (Vladimir Malenko).

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Part A — Shariah Supervisory Board (SSB)

A1. Mandate

The SSB is the Shariah authority of the project. It:

1. Issues the fatwa on the structure and its instruments (doc 09);
2. Approves the waqf charter/deed, the SAFE form, U21C's service agreements, the negative screen, the Grant & Qard Hasan policy, and the Success Sadaqah framework;
3. Conducts an annual Shariah audit and issues an annual compliance statement;
4. Determines any Shariah question referred to it — including under the Shariah-referral clause in arbitration (doc 00 Part A), where its written determination on the Shariah question binds the tribunal on that question.

A2. Composition

• Chair: a qualified mufti / Shariah scholar in Islamic finance — Mufti Ismail Desai.
• Minimum [3] members, majority holding recognised qualification in fiqh al-muamalat.
• At least one member with Islamic finance / capital-markets expertise.
• Appointed for [2]-year renewable terms.

A3. Authority and independence

• The SSB has a veto. No instrument may be issued, no funds accepted for the Waqf, and no grant disbursed if the SSB determines it non-compliant.
• Members are independent: not employees, not shareholders of U21C, not beneficiaries of any grant. Remuneration is a fixed fee, never linked to funds raised or performance.
• The SSB reports its findings to the founder and, in summary, publicly.

A4. Decisions

Quorum [2] including the Chair. Decisions by consensus; failing consensus, by majority with the Chair's casting vote. All determinations in writing, reasoned, dated, archived.

A5. ⛔ Gates controlled by the SSB

• Opening Flow 3 (Future Waqf Donations, doc 04b);
• Opening payment for waqf contributions;
• Establishing the Waqf and approving its charter;
• Approving Success Sadaqah (doc 12) and the Grant / Qard Hasan instruments (doc 11).

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Part B — Sharia Investment Committee (SIC)

B1. Mandate

The SIC makes the final, binding decision on which applicants receive funding, the amount, and the instrument (Type A grant or Type B Qard Hasan — doc 11). Its decision is fiduciary and cannot be crowd-sourced.

B2. Composition — mixed competence (deliberately not only scholars)

Minimum [5] members combining:

Terms of [2] years, renewable. Chair elected by members.

B3. What the SIC verifies

1. Halal — passes the negative screen (doc 10); no gambling, betting, adult/dating, alcohol/tobacco/drugs/pork, riba-based finance, weapons, or other prohibited sectors.
2. Founders — integrity, capability, commitment.
3. Execution ability — can they deliver.
4. Pitch & product — clarity, need, differentiation.
5. Traction & stage — evidence to date; stage sets the funding range (doc 11).
6. Impact — benefit to the Ummah's technology economy.
7. Instrument fit — grant vs Qard Hasan.

B4. Community voting — advisory only

Community voting (doc 13) is an input signal, presented to the SIC as ranked shortlists. It does not bind the SIC. The SIC may fund outside the community ranking, with written reasons published.

B5. Decisions & disbursement

• Quorum [3], including at least one jurisprudence member and one startup-evaluation member.
• Decisions by majority; the jurisprudence member holds a halal veto (a non-compliant applicant cannot be funded regardless of the vote).
• Any funding decision requires SSB halal sign-off where the SIC is uncertain.
• Approved funding is released by the Mutawalli against milestones (doc 11).

B6. Conflicts of interest

Members declare interests annually and per applicant. A member with any interest in an applicant recuses entirely — no discussion, no vote. Members may not vote in the community layer for applicants before their own committee. Breach → removal.

B7. Transparency

Published per round: decisions, amounts, instruments, and reasons — including where the SIC departed from the community ranking. An independent observer (a high-reputation donor, doc 13) may attend as a non-voting witness to process integrity.

B8. Records

All deliberations minuted and archived; retained ≥[7] years; available to the SSB and the annual Shariah audit.