KUALA LUMPUR: Sheikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel has been awarded the Royal Award for Islamic Finance for his visionary drive, extraordinary leadership and personal commitment at the royal gala dinner and award presentation. The award was presented by Sultan of Kedah and Deputy Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah, on behalf of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin. In a joint statement, Bank Negara Malaysia and Securities Commission Malaysia said Sheikh Saleh's work over four decades has fast-tracked the global adoption of Islamic finance and continued to have sustained financial, economic and social impact in the world. “He is widely credited for pioneering the adoption of Shariah-compliant principles in banking and business,” the statement said. I added that in the absence of Islamic finance at the time, his deep personal adherence to Islamic principles led him to be one of the first individuals to devise Islamic contracts for use in his business operations in the 1960s. “In his efforts to inspire and develop future talent and innovation, Sheikh Saleh established the Islamic Economics Research Centre, King Abdulaziz University and Jeddah Centre for Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia,” it said. The 2010 Royal Award also included a special category – a posthumous recognition of the late Dr Ahmad El-Naggar, Father of Modern Islamic Banking, they said. Dr Ahmad's first modern experiment with Islamic banking took the form of a savings bank based on profit
