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This paper aims to explain the nature of the economic agent in Islamic economics. He is commonly referred to as Homo Islamicus.

This is done by deriving the concept from the Qurʾān as the primary epistemological source in Islamic economics. The paper, thus, attempts to explore the message of the Qurʾān and internalize its concepts and values in their totality into the conception of the economic agent from an Islamic perspective.

The paper brings an insight regarding the nature of the economic agent in Islamic perspective. The concept of the economic agent that is developed from the Qurʾānic teachings will be useful in developing assumptions and theories in Islamic economics.

This paper explores the normative behavioral framework of man from the Qurʾānic perspective (i.e. what is expected of man) in order to serve as the basis on which assumptions, concepts and theories could be produced and applied in real life. Further studies could extend the discussion by examining the application of the concepts in practice.

This paper promotes a normative behavioral framework that could be the basis in developing the body of knowledge of Islamic economics.

This paper promotes a concept of the economic agent in Islamic perspective, termed as Homo Islamicus, who is going to portray Islamic ethical teachings in economic actions. The paper brought insights from the Qurʾānic teachings and principles in developing the concept of Homo Islamicus who will be the representative agent in theorizing Islamic economics.

This paper aims to systematically review the concept of homo Islamicus discussed in the existing literature. The second objective is to offer a set of criticisms of the descriptions of homo Islamicus.

In this paper prespecified eligibility criteria are applied to select articles that are indexed in Scopus and ProQuest, or published by two major publishers, ScienceDirect and Emerald, or appear on ResearchGate. A set of books related to homo Islamicus was also used as secondary sources to support the selected articles. As a result, this paper systematically reviews 53 articles and four books to synthesize the homo Islamicus.

There are four notions of homo Islamicus: Firstly, homo Islamicus as the kind of economic agent that is required to achieve Islamic economic objectives. Secondly, homo Islamicus as a defining factor that makes the difference between Islamic and conventional economics. Thirdly, homo Islamicus as an economic agent whose characteristics are something Islamic economics aims to realize. Lastly, homo Islamicus as an economic agent representing the fundamental assumption in Islamic economics.

Mapping homo Islamicus can be helpful for future researchers to conduct analyses related to homo Islamicus, especially in the context of empirical studies of the existence of homo Islamicus in economic reality. This literature review can help other researchers to understand the development of literature related to homo Islamicus.

This paper seems to be the first to systematically identify, select and synthesize the description of homo Islamicus in the literature.

This study explores the benefits of business financial inclusion from the Islamic perspective in Nigeria by selecting Kano state as a case study.

Primary data were generated through semi-structured interviews with experts who comprised professional accountants/consultants and experienced traders. Thematic analysis was applied to examine the data collected. In addition, observations were made in some selected stores and shops to complement the interview results.

The study finds that the benefits of business financial inclusion include recordkeeping improvement, reduction of the risks of bad debts, reduction of the risks associated with cash, enhancing business zakāh for poverty alleviation, sales improvement and business growth, getting supports from government and other development organizations and the provision of employment opportunities.

This study is purely qualitative, and, as such, it has some limitations in terms of generalization.

The practical implication of this study is that the use of electronic payment methods, especially point of sales, enhances the business financial inclusion, which consequently maximizes their wealth and contributes to the reduction of poverty to the barest minimum in the society.

The social implication of the findings is that businesses that are financially included are in a better position to discharge religious, philanthropic and other benevolent activities, such as zakāh, qard hasan, waqf and sadaqah, for the welfare of the ummah.

The study points out the benefits of financial inclusion not only to businesses but also to other members of the society at large.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a gender-sensitive analysis of economic agency in Islamic economic philosophy.

A critical review of classical ethics literature and the concept of khilafah is undertaken and discussed in conjunction with the current understanding of homo Islamicus.

Building on the principles of khilafah, the concept of homo Islamicus is a pious stand-in for the flawed homo economicus. Among its flaws is the complete absence of a discussion of women as economic agents. To remedy this the discipline must acknowledge explicitly the denial of women and gender from the discussion of moral agency and include gender as a category of analysis for economic agency. This is only possible by: (1) introducing a non-patriarchal reading of khilafah as the model of agency and (2) by operationalising taqwa as the cardinal virtue of the economic agent instead of neoliberal rationality.

If Islamic economic philosophy is to contend as an alternative mode of economics, it must consider gender and class dimensions in its micro-foundation discussion, economic agency is one of them.

This study reveals the patriarchal readings that are part of the foundation of the concept of the economic agent in Islamic economics, problematising it and providing a gender-sensitive concept of economic agency.

The purpose of this article is to consider cultural ethos of philanthropy that has proved effective in minimising the plight of the vulnerable in general and particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. By discussing the divergent philanthropic approaches that have been adopted to counter the challenge of the pandemic, this article fulfils one of comparative laws' crucial tenets to improve the local environment by learning from other jurisdictions.

An exploratory and qualitative method through categorical and theoretical analysis of recent and historical scholarship on the Islamic culture is undertaken. An extensive use of journalistic and editorial reports on the South Af rican context is explored to demonstrate the plight of the vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed how economically and structurally fragmented South African society is. More specifically, it has reinforced the existence of an “invisible” group of people – the poor and vulnerable – who have been hit harder by the government's responses aimed at containing the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The depiction of an unequal and uncaring society has spurred extensive rhetoric and reflection centred on the need to regain society's conscience as regards the plight of the poor. This article finds that much as there has an awakening towards societal inequality and vulnerability, there are, however, no concrete suggestions upon which change of attitude can be founded. Further, it can be argued that the plight of the vulnerable could have been softened had society cherished a culture of charity. Taking a cue from Islamic culture, this article avers that there is a need to embed philanthropy within society's cultural norms so as to forge effective bonds and maintain social cohesion.

The practical implications of this article relate to the need for the revaluation of the moral campus of South African communities. It supports calls for the alignment of community attitudes with humanity so as to improve the lives of the less privileged members of the society. Additionally, this discussion adds value to the scholarship, which aims to engender community-based welfare schemes for the benefit of the vulnerable.

By highlighting socio-economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the vulnerable and highlighting the Islamic approaches to ameliorating the condition of the poor, it is hoped that this article will stimulate debate that can bring change for marginalised groups. The analysis provides some crucial discussions for potential societal interventions, which could assist in revisiting how society takes care of the poor and vulnerable.

The purpose of this paper is to draw a map of the general features of epistemological and critical concerns in contemporary Islamic philosophy. This study will not be confined to the domain of academic philosophy or to those who are professionals in the field of philosophy.

The paper adopted the critical rational approach in dealing with contemporary Islamic philosophy in the Arab world. The scope will include scholars from different fields of epistemology who tried to present a “vision” of the attitude that should be adopted in facing the challenges of the age and the problems of the nation on the epistemological level or the political, economic and social levels.

There is a need for a philosophy of action and progress rather than a philosophy that is based on abstract ideas and theories and of words/rhetoric. The ethics required to accomplish this ought to identify the attributes of the citizen who can reach self-actualization through legitimate means based on a progress agenda with theoretical and philosophical foundations.

Because a critical rational approach can be dealt with from different perspectives, this paper will adopt the classification of the principal intellectual trends: the reformist, secular and liberal.

This paper covers a long time span to determine whether the philosophical projects have been effective.

This paper, which criticizes the philosophic projects that are theoretically unsound and that do not address real social problems (like poverty), argues the need for a philosophy of progress and action. This will lead to devising an agenda that addresses the challenges the society is facing and to finding alternative and creative solutions resulting in development.

This paper aims to examine the Islamic accounting research. In particular, the paper extensively investigates the literature on Islamic accounting to understand the issues, contexts, methods and theoretical paradigms thereof.

The study has adopted a literature review approach. It has examined the key journal publications for 30 years in accounting discipline and systematically identified the Islamic accounting papers during 1990–2020. In total, 95 papers were identified until June 2020, and they were thoroughly reviewed to identify the relevant issues, contexts, methods and theoretical paradigms.

The study has found that Islamic accounting papers covered issues of both Islamic organizations (e.g. Islamic financial institutions) and of Muslim countries. The key issues include the regulation and regulatory compliance, annual report disclosures, corporate and Islamic governance, accounting profession, gender, accountability matters, management accounting and control, waqf accounting and zakat management. The study has also observed various normative guidelines from the academics on how the teaching of Islam is enacted in accounting, accountability and governance matters to attain the maqasid al-shari'a, i.e. human welfare, social justice and equity.

The study is not empirical. Hence, the limitations of literature review papers are applicable in this case. Moreover, it is possible that this study could not identify some of the important literature on Islamic accounting (such as the papers published in Arabic by the academicians and professionals of Arab world).

The study enables both Islamic accounting academics and practitioners to identify the main Islamic accounting issues and realize the importance of Islamic accounting.

When the author considers Islamic accounting as a social construction and tries to understand the phenomenon through social theories, the author acknowledges the relevance of Islamic accounting in the society in which it operates. It can be noticed from the discussion that Islamic accounting emphasizes on social welfare, balance, equity and providing relevant information to follow the commandments of God.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is the first to provide a synoptic view on the issues, context, methods and theoretical paradigms of Islamic accounting, while covering major accounting journals in 30 years.

This paper aims at explaining variances in the contribution of Islamic crowdfunding platforms (ICFPs) to sustainable development (SD), by adopting an institutional logic perspective (ILP). ICFPs represent a dual institutional overlap between two logics (the Western-mainstream and the Islamic logic) which have an impact on corporate social responsibility (CSR) interpretations, practices, and decisions and whose conflicts are mitigated by choosing different resolution strategies. The authors aim at showing that this choice affects SD differently.

The authors develop a conceptual typology through the following steps: (1) choice of variables and identification of corresponding variable domains, through literature review. Variables chosen are the elemental CSR dimensions related to various social and environmental corporate responsibilities to whom diverse meaning and emphasis are given under the Western-mainstream and Islamic logics. (2) Identification of three distinct ideal types of ICFPs, building on different resolution strategies to mitigate conflicts between logics; (3) development, for each ideal type, of a set of implications related to SD; (4) implementation of a first test aiming at assigning real cases to each ideal type.

The authors identify Western-mimicking (platforms adopting as resolution strategy decoupling or compartmentalizing strategies), Islamic-driven (platforms focusing on one prevailing logic) and Syncretism-inspired (platforms adopting hybridizing practices) ideal-types.

It is the first paper suggesting ILP to explain variances in crowdfunding platforms' role in addressing SD. It focuses on a specific type of CF platforms till now neglected.

This study investigates both internal and external stakeholders' views on the objectives and measures of performance of Indonesian Islamic microfinance banks (IMFBs).

This study uses a qualitative approach. In-depth interviews were conducted with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders of IMFBs in Indonesia. The primary stakeholders interviewed comprised the board of directors of IMFBs located in several provinces in Indonesia, including rural and urban areas. The external stakeholders were the regulators/supervisors, represented by the Indonesian Financial Services Authority and Sharīʿah advisors of the National Sharīʿah Board as well as Muslim scholars. The data were analysed using CAQDAS, a computer-assisted tool for qualitative analysis.

The objectives of the IMFBs are seen to represent more than profits or economic well-being. Their objectives also comprise spirituality and daʿwah (Islamic propagation). Daʿwah is conducted through the provision of funding and services that are aligned with Sharīʿah (Islamic law), the dissemination of information about Islamic financing, which is based on Islamic values and principles, and the payment of zakat (Islamic alms) and charitable contributions. The measures of performance are considered to be more holistic than those of conventional banks. Profit and growth are deemed important as the means to achieve social well-being objectives.

Better insights into the objectives and measures of IMFBs could be achieved from interviews with other stakeholder categories, such as customers and the community. This could be the focus of future research.

This study added a new discussion to the limited empirical literature on IMFBs by investigating the views of stakeholders on the objectives and performance of IMFBs in Indonesia.