Structure
Platform matching investors with UK small businesses for Shariah-structured finance; not FCA regulated
Full wordingRegulated as
In its own words: 'Qardus is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and investors do not have rights under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme or the Financial Ombudsman Service'.
Full wordingShariah oversight
'Our platform operates under independent Sharia oversight from a dedicated board led by Mufti Faraz Adam of Amanah Advisors'. Note that Amanah Advisors also certifies other UK providers on this site (StrideUp, Offa).
Full wordingStructureInvestor capital funds small-business finance structured under Shariah contracts; the specific contract (murabaha, commodity murabaha, or other) and the pricing basis were not found on the home page.
A platform for investors to finance UK small businesses under Shariah-structured deals, with 'independent Sharia oversight from a dedicated board led by Mufti Faraz Adam of Amanah Advisors'. Listed as a caution rather than a recommendation: Qardus's own site says it 'is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and investors do not have rights under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme or the Financial Ombudsman Service'. The financing contract itself was not read.
Provider’s website ↗Provider white papers, FAQs or fatāwā were read, but the executed contract itself is not public. This rates our certainty, not the provider’s compliance.
Established & regulatory standing
The verifiable facts
Established
Founding date not stated on the pages read.
Regulatory standing
In its own words: 'Qardus is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and investors do not have rights under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme or the Financial Ombudsman Service'.
Shariah board
Who certifies it
'Our platform operates under independent Sharia oversight from a dedicated board led by Mufti Faraz Adam of Amanah Advisors'. Note that Amanah Advisors also certifies other UK providers on this site (StrideUp, Offa).
A named, credentialled board is a real signal — but a provider’s own board certifying its own product is not the same as arm’s-length review. Weigh it alongside the independent commentary below.
Independent scholarly review
What independent scholars have said
No ruling by a body outside the platform's own board was located.
Independent commentary is weighed, not treated as a final personal ruling. A body that rules one way is one respected voice, not a universal consensus — and rulings can lag changes to a live contract.
How the structure works
The mechanics, in principle
Investor capital funds small-business finance structured under Shariah contracts; the specific contract (murabaha, commodity murabaha, or other) and the pricing basis were not found on the home page.
This describes the structure in principle — it is not a verdict on the executed contract. Note too that FCA/PRA regulation guarantees consumer protection and solvency oversight, not Shariah-compliance; the checklist below is what tests the fiqh.
From the public documents
How the contract actually works
Read from Qardus — SME finance platform (investor side)’s own public materials — white papers, product pages, FAQs and fatāwā — not its executed contract, which is generally not published. Where a point is undisclosed, it is said plainly rather than guessed. Sources are listed below.
For an investor the two questions are the contract (is the return a share of a real sale or partnership, or a fixed sum?) and the protection (none under FCA rules, by the platform's own statement). Neither contract text nor pricing was read, so no view is offered beyond the regulatory caution. Honest limit: no deal documents read.
The Six-Pillar test
The questions that decide it
This is the universal lens this site applies to every home-finance contract, anywhere. Read each pillar as a question to put to Qardus — SME finance platform (investor side)’s executed contract — not its brochure.
- 1
Real ownership
Does the financier genuinely take ownership of the asset — even briefly — and bear a real owner's risk, rather than only ever holding a debt secured against it?
- 2
Risk-sharing
If the asset is destroyed or its value collapses, does the financier share that loss in proportion to its stake, or is the customer left bearing it alone?
- 3
Rent vs interest
In a lease/co-ownership, is the rent benchmarked to a genuine market rent for the property — or is it calibrated to an interest rate (a base-rate + margin) in disguise?
- 4
Default mechanism
On default, does the contract behave like the end of a real lease/partnership — or does it accelerate like a loan, demanding the full outstanding 'principal' plus charges?
- 5
No guaranteed pre-fixed return
Is the financier's return tied to real ownership and risk, or is it a pre-fixed, guaranteed sum that arrives regardless of what happens to the asset?
- 6
Substance over form
Strip away the Arabic labels: does the cashflow, risk, and outcome differ from a conventional loan — or is it the same economics wearing a compliant name (ḥiyal)?
Before you sign
What to ask Qardus — SME finance platform (investor side), in writing
Put these to the provider in writing and keep the answers. The reply — not the marketing — is what tells you whether the structure holds.
Which contract structures the deal I am funding, and how is my return calculated?
What happens if the business fails: do I share the loss, and is there any security?
What recourse do I have given there is no FSCS or ombudsman cover?
The honest gap
What we have not verified
- The financing contracts and pricing.
- Default history and recovery process.
The reasoning
Why this verdict, and not another
A verdict is only as honest as the reasoning behind it. Here is why Qardus — SME finance platform (investor side) sits where it does — what keeps it off a clean pass, and what keeps it off an outright avoid.
Not a clean pass because
Unregulated by its own statement; contract and pricing not public on the pages read.
Not an outright avoid because
A named Shariah adviser and a model that, if the deals are real sales or partnerships, is permissible in principle.
Sources
What this read is built on
The verifiable references behind this page — provider documents and independent scholarly resolutions. Read them yourself; do not take our summary on trust.