Who decides whether this is actually halal?

The Trust has appointed the Islamic Finance Advisory Board as its Shariah Advisory Board. That appointment is recorded in the Offering Memorandum, which is the point worth making first: it is a term of the offering rather than a marketing arrangement.

The Board reviewed the structure and issued a written Fatwa dated 6 November 2025, signed by three scholars, confirming there is no qard and no riba component in the Tawakkul Fund. The full text is published — no form, no email address, no gate. A ruling nobody is allowed to examine is not worth having.

What the Board does that a certificate on a wall does not. It meets at least quarterly and records its opinions in writing. It conducts a Shariah audit at least annually and issues a written certificate of compliance to unitholders. Where it finds something wrong it may require rectification, and its rulings are binding on the Trust in matters of Shariah. It is not asked whether the investment is a good one; it is asked whether the structure is permissible, and those are different questions.

Its members act independently of the Trustee, the Asset Manager and every affiliated party. That independence is the whole basis on which the certification means anything, which is why the Board's members are named and their qualifications published rather than summarised as "our scholars". They are here.

One limit, stated plainly because you should not have to find it yourself: the certification covers the Tawakkul Fund — the fund that uses no debt. The Ethical Income Fund, which finances larger community projects, is being certified separately. The difference between the two.