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This study aims to present a bibliometric analysis of Islamic social finance (ISF) by addressing gaps in the existing research, exploring the current trends of publications and determining possible future research directions in this field.

Relevant bibliometric data of published research during 1914–2022 was extracted from the Scopus database and 1,355 studies were considered for the analysis. Biblioshiny app from RStudio, VOSviewer and Microsoft Excel were the tools used for analysis.

The identified current research streams are management and distribution of ISF funds especially zakat through fintech; governance and accountability of ISF institutions; Islamic microfinance for poverty alleviation and financial inclusion; ISF for promoting sustainable development and achieving United Nations sustainable development goals; waqf endowments and cash waqf; and Islamic charities. The identified themes for future research directions are Islamic fintech, integration of ISF, sustainable development, economic recovery, social entrepreneurship, sustainable ISF ecosystem and supporting refugees.

It provides extensive and up-to-date literature on the current trends in ISF and future research themes which can be useful for researchers, professionals and policymakers in the field.

The findings of this research contribute to the solutions to socio-economic challenges and support sustainable development through ISF.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is one of the first attempt to provide a pervasive bibliometric review on ISF by including various aspects of ISF and extending the study period to more than 100 years.

The breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced governments all over the globe to bring radical changes to all walks of life. Strict lockdowns are not only adversely affecting the social, economic, and psychological wellbeing of individuals but also questioning the sustainability of most businesses. In wake of the current scenario, this study is aimed at exploring how the COVID-19 pandemic is influencing the sustainability of entrepreneurship particularly from a female perspective and further providing insights into the role of Islamic financial institutions in the sustainability of businesses during COVID-19.

This is a qualitative study that takes social constructivism approach to study the underlying phenomenon. Semi-structured interviews are conducted to collect primary data. Secondary data are also utilized in this study to theoretically define various concepts relating to entrepreneurial sustainability. The application of thematic analysis revealed various risks associated with sustainability. The interviews reveal the ground realities and tell us about the hardships being faced by the entrepreneurs due to ongoing crises. The participants of the study also shed light on the role of Islamic financial institutions during the pandemic.

The study results revealed that it may look impossible for women entrepreneurs to halt or avoid the adverse consequences of the pandemic; however, a few female entrepreneurs strived to guard their existing portfolios with the help of Islamic microfinance institutions. Whereas, several women, especially those running home-based businesses, lost their income streams. Despite these rapid challenges, most female entrepreneurs are working on inventive online systems to sustain their business activities during the crisis. Finally, guidelines are suggested which can help achieve sustainability of the entrepreneurial startups.

The outcomes of this study are expedient for funding agencies, government authorities and Islamic financial institutions as well as for non-government institutions to establish sustainable and broader policies for women to become successful entrepreneurs during severe disasters like COVID-19. Moreover, the study is a helpful tool for women entrepreneurs to avert the worst impact of the pandemic with the help of Islamic microfinance institutions. The themes of this study help generate realistic information to appraise the strategies to create facilitating business environments that drive the women to carry out the entrepreneurial activity during any crisis like the COVID-19.

The results of this study provide evidence that crisis can be anticipated up to some extent if entrepreneurs become able to take proactive decisions in case of expected or identifiable threats. The study may also help the women entrepreneurs to comprehend the serious consequences of the pandemic by shifting their mode of financing to Islamic finance. Although this pandemic is a cause of physical discomfort instead this research may encourage the female entrepreneurs not to lose heart, just find the potential opportunities for their home-based and small businesses and manage funding from the Islamic microfinance institutions.

The study adds to the existing literature on entrepreneurial sustainability with a particular focus on the role of Islamic microfinance institutions for women entrepreneurs' sustainability in Pakistan. Secondly, the study employs the entrepreneurial sustainability model (ESM) that, according to the best of our knowledge, has not been used by the researchers earlier to study the given research phenomenon. Thirdly, the study findings are expedient for funding agencies, government authorities and financial institutions as well as for non-government institutions to establish sustainable and broader policies for women to become successful entrepreneurs during disasters like COVID-19.

Qardhul Hasan (QH) is a type of Islamic contract that prioritises benevolent aspects between beneficiaries and the fund provider. The effective management and distribution of QH can contribute to overcoming economic problems in society. This study aims to explore the potential to enlarge the sources of QH funding and QH financing in Indonesian Islamic banks. The paper proposes a framework for QH management in Islamic banks by identifying the sources of QH funds as well as the management and potential allocations of QH funds.

This study uses a descriptive analysis method with a framework-based review to discuss the strategy of optimising the sources, financing and management of QH in Islamic banks. The implementation of QH in the Islamic banking industry is described based on the previous literature and current phenomena.

To positively impact economic development, Islamic banks can collaborate with parties that are more focused on charitable activities and have greater resources to channel and use QH funds. This study also formulates a framework of QH funds management that prioritises efforts to multiply benefits for both the fund provider and the beneficiaries.

The descriptive method used in this paper comprises preliminary research to analyse the current phenomena and potential strategies that can be implemented. Future studies may use empirical data to strengthen the analysis.

The recommendations of this paper can be used by relevant social fund management institutions in collaboration with Islamic banking.

QH reflects not only the social aspects of Islamic banks and extends beyond their corporate social responsibility activities, its effective management will make a greater contribution to reducing the level of unemployment, poverty alleviation and supporting the country’s economic development.

This paper provides a framework that integrates financial institutions in maximising QH fund management to encourage greater benefits for the community. Although previous studies have mentioned the important role of QH, relatively few have considered how Islamic banks maximise its management.

Given the overlapping themes and periods in specific subjects within Islamic economics and finance bibliometric research, which may yield similar findings in bibliometric studies, it is essential to document the growth of Islamic economic and financial research using bibliometric methodologies. This study aims to understand better the critical bibliometric review trends and scientific advancements in Islamic economics and finance.

This study uses bibliometric analysis, collecting 46 Islamic economics bibliometric papers from the Web of Science Core Collection from 1975 to 2022. The authors generated top scientific scholars, keyword analysis, citation analysis, content analysis and conclusions for journal development using R Biblioshiny, VOSviewer, ATLAS.ti and Excel.

This study has established a comprehensive bibliometric framework for Islamic economics and finance bibliometric papers, encompassing all critical areas within the discipline and identifying any remaining research gaps. The major significant areas revealed were Islamic social finance and microfinance concerns, which are closely pertinent to the issues of ethics, corporate social responsibility and sustainability, respectively. The authors also identified opportunities for future bibliometric analyses in Islamic economics and finance, which include using more comprehensive databases, refining or broadening search strategies, using advanced techniques and units of analysis and suggesting themes for further exploration.

The study relies merely on the Web of Science Core Collection database, which provides the most in-depth citations by source for the world’s scientific and scholarly research. Future research may consider expanding its scope to include other databases for a broader range of sources. Furthermore, due to the rise of bibliometric studies in Islamic economics and finance, this study also comments on the saturation of bibliometric studies conducted in several similar areas. While researchers bring their unique analytical perspectives to bibliometrics, this study provides a comprehensive view of existing research in Islamic economics and finance, highlighting well-explored topics and those that remain less studied. Thus, this could assist researchers in determining their future research priorities.

Policymakers in Islamic financial and economic institutions, including banking institutions, social, financial institutions and halal institutions, should be impacted by this research when making policies or conducting research. The viability of the current Islamic economic and financial ecosystem will be indirectly maintained and managed by these implications.

This comprehensive meta-analysis in Islamic economics and finance is expected to impact the development and sustainability of the Islamic economic and financial ecosystem, promoting societal welfare through applying Islamic economics and finance.

This pioneering bibliometric analysis of Islamic economics and finance papers aims to offer insights and projections for future research in the field. This research contributes to the literature by examining various aspects, including evaluating literature on trending topics, analyzing papers related to research areas and conducting content analysis of existing bibliometric studies in Islamic economics and finance. It specifically groups these studies around fundamental topics, summarizes findings from contemporary research and identifies emerging research gaps.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between financial inclusion and sustainable economic development in Indonesia by exploring the potential impact of Takaful. Specifically, the study seeks to examine the feasibility of leveraging Takaful as a means to foster financial inclusion and drive economic growth in Indonesia.

This study uses a qualitative analysis methodology, specifically using content analysis techniques, to investigate the relationship between financial inclusion and sustainable economic growth in Indonesia, focussing on the role of Takaful. The content analysis enables a systematic study of the data to identify trends and topics pertinent to Takaful and its potential to advance financial inclusion.

The study’s results reveal a direct causal link between economic growth and achieving financial inclusion through the use of Takaful. The findings also indicate a positive correlation between the increased presence of Takaful markets and accelerated economic growth.

The study examines only the use of Takaful in achieving financial inclusion and sustainable economic growth in Indonesia. Nonetheless, the practical implications of this research are substantial, as they highlight the potential of Takaful to foster financial inclusion and stimulate economic growth in Indonesia.

This study contributes to the limited body of research on the relationship between financial inclusion and economic growth in Indonesia, specifically in the context of Takaful.

This study’s value lies in its exploration of an under-researched area, providing crucial insights into the potential of Takaful to promote financial inclusion and drive economic growth in Indonesia. The social implications of this study are also noteworthy, as increased financial inclusion and economic growth can positively affect poverty reduction, job creation and overall societal well-being in Indonesia.

This study aims to examine the dynamics of the market development of Islamic banking in Pakistan. This study investigates how shocks to the economy in the form of changes in benchmark rate and exchange rate and internal factors such as efficiency, profitability and asset quality affect the development of Islamic banking. The study also evaluates the impact of Islamic banking on the real economy in the macro perspective and society at large in terms of inclusiveness, competitiveness and fairness.

Autoregressive distributed lagged model method is used for analysing the short-run and long-run determinants of market development of Islamic banking and the economic impact of Islamic banking on the real economy.

Profitability and exchange rate have a positive effect on market development of Islamic banking while higher inefficiency and interbank rate have a negative effect. On the other hand, financing intensity and profitability in Islamic banking positively affect the large-scale manufacturing sector.

Stable profits, high asset quality, efficiency and rising import demand with low policy rate environment complement Islamic banking growth. Moreover, the economic assessment shows that Islamic banks have been able to achieve the financial inclusion of those who want to avoid Riba, but they need concerted efforts to improve competitiveness and distinction with regard to distributional impact.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study in Pakistan to evaluate determinants of market development of Islamic banking taking 16-year quarterly data and assessing the economic effects of Islamic banking on inclusiveness, competitiveness and fairness.

The purpose of this study is to conduct a systematic content review and bibliometric analysis of the current research trends, core concepts and knowledge mapping on the topic Islamic Banking and Finance (IBF) during Covid-19. Apart from highlighting the contributions of prolific authors, prominent institutions and countries, a comprehensive review of a significant number of documents using co-citation and co-word analysis is carried out for the science mapping.

A data set of 125 papers was collected published in Scopus database during the period December, 2019 and January 5th, 2023. Yearly publications, most-cited papers and authors, active sources, affiliations and countries are highlighted with descriptive analysis. Knowledge structure of the topic was mapped with investigating the social, intellectual and conceptual structures of IBF research. Content analysis is carried out to uncover the underlying research clusters that shape the scientific knowledge structure of studies.

A diverse group of authors and institutions contribute to the growing body of knowledge on the topic. IBF is adopting new paradigms and frameworks to integrate FinTech, crowd funding and Islamic social finance to provide sustainable solutions in both crisis and normal periods. The research on IBF is classified in to three themes: “financial markets in Covid-19,” “modeling risk and market regimes” and “FinTech and Islamic social finance.”

This study collects data only from Scopus database. Future studies must include research articles from other databases such as, Web of Sciences.

This study highlights research gaps in the existing literature and provides directions for future research.

This study aims to investigate the role of Islamic finance in supporting sustainable economic growth, innovation and digital transformation in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Amid global challenges like the Russia–Ukraine conflict and COVID-19, the focus extends beyond the GCC’s oil dependency to explore how Islamic finance can enable technological advancements and foster a digitally innovative economy. The research aims to reveal the potential of Islamic finance in driving economic diversification, technological progress and sustainable development in the GCC.

Using a content analysis approach, this study critically examines the economic repercussions of recent global crises, shedding light on how Islamic finance contributes to socio-economic justice and the provision of social goods in the GCC. The research synthesises findings from various secondary sources, including academic literature, reports and industry standards, to analyse Islamic finance’s role from an ethical and strategic perspective within the GCC’s evolving economic landscape.

The findings reveal Islamic finance’s potential to significantly contribute to the GCC’s economic diversification and resilience against global economic downturns. The study highlights how Islamic finance aligns with the sustainable development goals and its effectiveness in promoting ethical financial practices and socio-economic justice.

Future research should focus on global comparative studies to understand Islamic finance’s impact on sustainable development beyond the GCC. Longitudinal studies are also essential to assess the long-term effects of Islamic financial instruments on economic stability.

The research advocates for incorporating Islamic finance principles into the GCC’s economic strategies, emphasising its role in providing resilient and ethical financial alternatives conducive to sustainable development. It underscores the need for policy initiatives integrating Islamic finance to bolster socio-economic welfare and environmental sustainability.

Offering a novel perspective, this paper enriches the discourse on the contribution of Islamic finance to sustainable economic development. It presents critical insights into how Islamic finance can underpin long-term economic resilience and growth in the GCC. It provides valuable implications for academia and policymaking, particularly in emerging economies’ science and technology policy management.

The primary objective of this study aims to intensively explore the environment of Indonesian regulations and laws related to the Islamic banking system and micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSME) and unveil the restrictive laws and regulatory flaws that potentially hinder the Islamic banking institution and MSME industry in achieving financial inclusion and promoting sustainable growth.

This paper implements a qualitative method by implementing a multi-case study research strategy, both from the Islamic banking institutions and the MSME industries. The data were gathered primarily through an interview approach by adopting purposive uncontrolled quota sampling.

The findings of this paper reveal two essential issues: First, the regulatory imbalances and restrictions could demotivate and hinder the efforts of Islamic banks in providing access to finance for the MSME segment, hence, encumbering the achievement of the financial inclusion agenda from the Islamic banking industry. Second, the flaws in MSME registration and taxation might discourage the formal MSMEs from extending their business license and prevent the informal MSME units from registering their business. This issue would potentially lower their chance of accessing external financing from the formal financial institutions and participating in supportive government programmes due to the absence of proper legality.

Since this paper only observed six Islamic banks and 22 MSME units in urban and rural locations in Indonesia using a case study approach, the empirical findings and case discussions were limited to those respective Islamic banks and MSME participants.

By referring to the recommendations as presented in this paper, two critical policy implications could be expected from adopting the proposed recommendations, among others: By addressing the issues of the regulatory imbalance associated with the Islamic banking industry and introduce the deregulatory policies on profit and loss sharing (PLS) scheme implementation, this approach will motivate the Islamic banking industry in serving the MSME sector better and provide greater access to financial services, particularly in using the PLS financing schemes. By resolving the problems on MSME registration and taxation, this strategy will enhance the sustainability of the formal MSMEs’ operation and encourage the informal ones to register, hence, improving their inclusion into the formal financing services and government assistance programmes.

The present study attempts to address the literature shortcomings and helps to fill the gaps – both theoretical and empirical – by incorporating the multi-case study among Indonesian Islamic banks and MSMEs to extensively explore the Indonesia regulatory environment pertaining to the Islamic banking system (supply-side) and MSMEs (demand-side), and thoroughly investigates and reveals the restrictive laws and regulatory flaws that could potentially hinder the Islamic banking institutions and MSME industries in attaining financial inclusion and contributing to sustainable development.

Micro-enterprises, like any other business entity, face financing challenges. However, micro-enterprises often cannot access financial institutions as they cannot fulfill the conditions to obtain financing facilities from a formal financial institution. As such, they have to rely on family or friends for financing needs. The most critical challenge faced in this regard to Muslim micro-enterprises is finding out a way in which family and friends could give a financial helping hand without the involvement of riba (interest). At the same time, the person giving the financing can enjoy a profit. This paper aims to propose the Tawarruq Fardi Financing (TFF) model that Islamic micro-enterprises could use to fulfill their financial needs. It becomes a solution when obtaining financing from friends and family or any other third party who could be a private investor who does not want to engage in an equity relationship.

This study adopts a qualitative research methodology, combining descriptive and content analysis using the inductive reasoning approach.

The paper's outcome shows that the proposed TFF could assist Islamic micro-enterprises in obtaining Shariah-compliant financing without engaging in an equity partnership. It allows them to fulfill their financing needs bearing in mind the interest of both parties involved in the transaction.

This research will assist Islamic micro-enterprises to find out a Shariah-compliant financing facility from family, friends and any other private investors without entering into an equity relationship. The proposed model would be a Shariah-compliant alternative to interest-free loans and engaging in an equity relationship for the sake of getting benefits for both parties involved in the transaction.