Areas: Islamic Law Finance
Maged has a broad and busy portfolio. Having spent many years as a judge in Egypt (and collected three PhDs along the way), he is now an international arbitrator. His legal advisory opinions as an expert witness have been sought in global arbitration centres across four continents. In the UK, now the world’s eighth largest market for Islamic finance products, Maged reviews major contracts for Islamic financial banks and other institutions “because Islamic finance is not only banks”.
In addition to speaking and lecturing, at GSC Maged combines his legal role with marketing and training, exploring and creating new global joint ventures. He is supporting Dubai in its ambition to open a branch of the Islamic Arbitration Centre in London to facilitate arbitration within Islamic institutions. “We are also in the process of launching a training course for Pakistani judges regarding Islamic finance.”
Building bridges
Maged is an enthusiastic advocate for Islamic mortgages. “Islamic finance is moral finance—finance with ethics, nothing more. The principles it operates by are universal. Anybody can adopt it. Some UK high street banks already have. Yet there remains a general wariness and misunderstanding about these products.
“I was born in Germany. My family is Turkish. I built my career in Egypt. I now work internationally but am based in the UK. I am multicultural and my passion is to build bridges between cultures, to build communication, because often we are so good at misunderstanding one another.”
Knowledge with academic depth
Why do Maged’s clients choose to work with him? “I believe it is because of the trust and the knowledge. They know I will be very clear, very honest. At the outset of any case, I can say to them ‘I can tell you how this will work’. I care about my clients. They really can (and do) call me any time and they know I am always there to represent their interests. Also, I combine the practical with the academic. My knowledge has depth. My clients value that.”
Why GSC?
I love the community here. The people I deal with are very helpful. I always search for the right atmosphere in a place of work. GSC feels like family.”
Qualifications & Experience
It was Maged’s father that set him on the path to a career in law. “He noted that I spent a lot of my time arguing. ‘The best thing for you is to go to school of law’ he said.”
Maged studied English common and civil law at Cairo University. Having finished his first PhD (in Public law) he was part of the student assembly that in 2012 drafted the new Egyptian constitution. His work as a legal consultant to the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Investment in Egypt gave him his first practical experience in Islamic products. He joined the Egyptian judiciary in 2000.
Wishing to expand his knowledge, Maged studied international commercial arbitration at UCL, and gained two further PhDs in Islamic law.
“I love what I do,” he says. “I feel I have so much more to achieve, and I love to grow and progress.”
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