He completed Alimiyyah in Islamic Sciences from the Institute of Islamic Education in Dewsbury and Jamia Darul Uloom Deoband, India, in 1997, and completed the Takmil Ifta/Mufti qualification in Shariah Law & Jurisprudence in 1999 from the latter. Currently, Sheikh Ismail Syed is a Shariah compliance advisor working as an independent compliance professional under his consultancy name “Independent Shariah Compliance”, providing services to corporate, government and private institutions, including SMEs.
He undertakes contracting work as both a compliance professional and an independent Shariah compliance advisor, for financial institutions, asset management firms and various governmental institutions/governments either directly or through contracted consultancies and law firms across Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
He is also a lecturer and/or adjunct professor at a number of academic institutions and teaches or has previously taught Shariah Law and Hadith studies at higher education institutions in the UK, including Safar Academy, Darul Uloom Ford Square in association with Middlesex University, Ebrahim College, and the University of Kent. He writes articles and maintains blogs on Shariah Affairs, and also contributes op-eds and columns on current affairs for newspapers and business journals. He frequently attends Islamic Finance and current affairs events as a speaker, delegate, or contributor when invited.