OUR EXPERTS
OUR EXPERTS
Practitioners and scholars,
working in one team
Practitioners and scholars,
working in one team
Dunecrest’s Islamic Social Finance practice combines senior strategy consulting experience with deep subject matter expertise in Shariah, Islamic law, and endowment governance. Meet the team.
Dunecrest’s Islamic Social Finance practice combines senior strategy consulting experience with deep subject matter expertise in Shariah, Islamic law, and endowment governance. Meet the team.
Book Consultation
Book Consultation
OUR EXPERTS
Practitioners and scholars,
working in one team
Dunecrest’s Islamic Social Finance practice combines senior strategy consulting experience with deep subject matter expertise in Shariah, Islamic law, and endowment governance. Meet the team.
Book Consultation
Hoji Mirzakulov
HEAD OF ISLAMIC SOCIAL FINANCE
Tashkent, Uzbekistan and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia · Practice Lead and Associate Partner
Hoji leads Dunecrest's Islamic Social Finance practice. He brings fifteen years of strategy consulting experience across MENA, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia, combined with formal training in Islamic finance and applied practitioner experience across waqf, zakat, and Islamic social capital. Prior to Dunecrest, he led his business unit's commercial and delivery activities at Frost & Sullivan, held senior roles at UCSI Consulting, and founded HM Research Group. His current focus is on catalytic instrument design for national endowment institutions, tokenized waqf structures, and the emerging sustainability-instrument landscape for Islamic social finance. CREDENTIALS 1. MBA, Asia School of Business (MIT Sloan Global Program; Fellowship; Top 10% of cohort) 2. CIFP (Chartered Islamic Finance Professional), INCEIF (President's Scholarship) 3. BSc Economics, University of World Economy and Diplomacy, Tashkent Languages: Uzbek (native), English (professional), Russian (working), Arabic (basic).
Dr. Abdullahi Saliu Ishola
SENIOR ADVISOR
Kwara State University, Nigeria · Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria
Dr Ishola is a senior legal academic and Barrister of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, with more than two decades of practice at the intersection of Shariah, Islamic law, and endowments. He was the first Nigerian lawyer to earn a PhD in Waqf Law (International Islamic University Malaysia, 2018), and advises governments and Islamic finance institutions across Nigeria and West Africa, including the Sokoto State Zakat and Endowment Agency and Jaiz Charity Foundation. He has published over forty works on Islamic social finance law, with particular focus on waqf, zakat, and inheritance. Credentials: PhD in Waqf Law, IIUM · LLM Islamic Law, University of Ilorin · Called to the Nigerian Bar (2007) · AAOIFI CSAA · Fellow, Institute of Islamic Finance Professionals Nigeria (FIFP)
Dr. Alam Asadov
SENIOR ADVISOR
Associate Professor, Prince Sultan University, Riyadh
Dr Asadov is Associate Professor of Finance at Prince Sultan University in Riyadh, where his research spans Islamic banking, waqf, sukuk markets, and Islamic microfinance, with particular focus on how Islamic social finance can support development across Central Asia and the CIS region. He earned his PhD from INCEIF Malaysia as recipient of the Presidential Award for Best PhD Graduand (2018), and holds AAOIFI's Certified Shari'ah Advisor and Auditor fellowship. He has authored two books and over thirty peer-reviewed publications on Islamic finance, and consults across the region for institutions including UNDP Uzbekistan, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Credentials: PhD in Islamic Finance, INCEIF University Malaysia (Presidential Award for Best PhD Graduand, 2018) · MA in Economics, University of Alabama · BA in Economics, University of Richmond · AAOIFI Certified Shari'ah Advisor and Auditor (2023)
Dr. Ramazan Yildirim
SENIOR ADVISOR
INCEIF UNIVERSITY, MALAYSIA · CERTIFIED SHARI'AH ADVISOR & AUDITOR (AAOIFI)
Dr. Yildirim is a PhD-qualified financial economist and senior advisor with more than twenty years of international professional experience and over a decade of academic research experience. He combines advanced quantitative research with senior industry practice across governance, enterprise risk management, business transformation, and Islamic finance. His experience includes engagements with multinational corporations, government entities, and regulated industries across the GCC, Europe, and North America, complemented by policy advisory work in Central Asia. He has designed governance frameworks, operating models, risk-management systems, and decision-support capabilities that strengthen organizational resilience, accountability, and performance. His work includes enterprise transformation, institutional development, and capability building, connecting strategic priorities with practical implementation. In Islamic finance, his contributions include policy frameworks for waqf development, participation finance, and Shari’ah-compliant assessment methodologies. An award-winning researcher, he has published peer-reviewed work on Islamic finance, capital markets, sustainable finance, and financial risk. He brings together research, policy analysis, and implementation experience to support evidence-based decisions and sustainable institutional development. Credentials: PhD in Islamic Finance, INCEIF University · MBA, Pforzheim University · Certified Shari’ah Advisor & Auditor (CSAA, AAOIFI) · PMP (PMI) · ISO 31000 (Risk Management, PECB)
Hoji Mirzakulov
HEAD OF ISLAMIC SOCIAL FINANCE
Tashkent, Uzbekistan and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia · Practice Lead and Associate Partner
Hoji leads Dunecrest's Islamic Social Finance practice. He brings fifteen years of strategy consulting experience across MENA, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia, combined with formal training in Islamic finance and applied practitioner experience across waqf, zakat, and Islamic social capital. Prior to Dunecrest, he led his business unit's commercial and delivery activities at Frost & Sullivan, held senior roles at UCSI Consulting, and founded HM Research Group. His current focus is on catalytic instrument design for national endowment institutions, tokenized waqf structures, and the emerging sustainability-instrument landscape for Islamic social finance. CREDENTIALS 1. MBA, Asia School of Business (MIT Sloan Global Program; Fellowship; Top 10% of cohort) 2. CIFP (Chartered Islamic Finance Professional), INCEIF (President's Scholarship) 3. BSc Economics, University of World Economy and Diplomacy, Tashkent Languages: Uzbek (native), English (professional), Russian (working), Arabic (basic).
Dr. Abdullahi Saliu Ishola
SENIOR ADVISOR
Kwara State University, Nigeria · Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria
Dr Ishola is a senior legal academic and Barrister of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, with more than two decades of practice at the intersection of Shariah, Islamic law, and endowments. He was the first Nigerian lawyer to earn a PhD in Waqf Law (International Islamic University Malaysia, 2018), and advises governments and Islamic finance institutions across Nigeria and West Africa, including the Sokoto State Zakat and Endowment Agency and Jaiz Charity Foundation. He has published over forty works on Islamic social finance law, with particular focus on waqf, zakat, and inheritance. Credentials: PhD in Waqf Law, IIUM · LLM Islamic Law, University of Ilorin · Called to the Nigerian Bar (2007) · AAOIFI CSAA · Fellow, Institute of Islamic Finance Professionals Nigeria (FIFP)
Dr. Alam Asadov
SENIOR ADVISOR
Associate Professor, Prince Sultan University, Riyadh
Dr Asadov is Associate Professor of Finance at Prince Sultan University in Riyadh, where his research spans Islamic banking, waqf, sukuk markets, and Islamic microfinance, with particular focus on how Islamic social finance can support development across Central Asia and the CIS region. He earned his PhD from INCEIF Malaysia as recipient of the Presidential Award for Best PhD Graduand (2018), and holds AAOIFI's Certified Shari'ah Advisor and Auditor fellowship. He has authored two books and over thirty peer-reviewed publications on Islamic finance, and consults across the region for institutions including UNDP Uzbekistan, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Credentials: PhD in Islamic Finance, INCEIF University Malaysia (Presidential Award for Best PhD Graduand, 2018) · MA in Economics, University of Alabama · BA in Economics, University of Richmond · AAOIFI Certified Shari'ah Advisor and Auditor (2023)
Dr. Ramazan Yildirim
SENIOR ADVISOR
INCEIF UNIVERSITY, MALAYSIA · CERTIFIED SHARI'AH ADVISOR & AUDITOR (AAOIFI)
Dr. Yildirim is a PhD-qualified financial economist and senior advisor with more than twenty years of international professional experience and over a decade of academic research experience. He combines advanced quantitative research with senior industry practice across governance, enterprise risk management, business transformation, and Islamic finance. His experience includes engagements with multinational corporations, government entities, and regulated industries across the GCC, Europe, and North America, complemented by policy advisory work in Central Asia. He has designed governance frameworks, operating models, risk-management systems, and decision-support capabilities that strengthen organizational resilience, accountability, and performance. His work includes enterprise transformation, institutional development, and capability building, connecting strategic priorities with practical implementation. In Islamic finance, his contributions include policy frameworks for waqf development, participation finance, and Shari’ah-compliant assessment methodologies. An award-winning researcher, he has published peer-reviewed work on Islamic finance, capital markets, sustainable finance, and financial risk. He brings together research, policy analysis, and implementation experience to support evidence-based decisions and sustainable institutional development. Credentials: PhD in Islamic Finance, INCEIF University · MBA, Pforzheim University · Certified Shari’ah Advisor & Auditor (CSAA, AAOIFI) · PMP (PMI) · ISO 31000 (Risk Management, PECB)
Working with the team
Engagements typically start with a diagnostic conversation. If you are keen to explore how our expertise can help add value to your organization, we’re happy to take the call.
Start a conversation
Working with the team
Engagements typically start with a diagnostic conversation. If you are keen to explore how our expertise can help add value to your organization, we’re happy to take the call.
Start a conversation
Working with the team
Engagements typically start with a diagnostic conversation. If you are keen to explore how our expertise can help add value to your organization, we’re happy to take the call.
Start a conversation
Ethical capital. Structured impact. Sustainable communities.
Strategic Islamic finance for inclusive and sustainable growth.
Smart policies. Strong systems. Lasting impact.
We help structure as a long-term investment in people and outcomes.
Working with the team
Engagements typically start with a diagnostic conversation. If you are keen to explore how our expertise can help add value to your organization, we’re happy to take the call.
Start a conversation
Ethical capital. Structured impact. Sustainable communities.
Strategic Islamic finance for inclusive and sustainable growth.