Ibrahim El-Zayat has studied Law and Economics with special emphasis on the Economic problems of the third world and the field of Islamic Economics at the German universities of Darmstadt, Marburg and Cologne. He is Co-founder of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists in Germany in 1995 and a founding and board member of IIFTIHAR, the International Forum on Science Technology and Human Resources Development under chairmanship of Prof. Dr. Dr. B J Habibie in 1996. During his studies he has been active in student activities with Circle of Christian Democratic students in Germany RCDS and was heading the Muslim Students Union in Germany for some years. He was convenor and first president of FEMYSO, the Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organisations till 2003.He was and still is holding positions in different Muslim organisations in Germany and Europe and is regularly lecturing on issues of integration and Muslim identity in the European countries as well as on issues related to Islamic finance and economics.