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The purpose of this paper is to shed some lights on the process of mission drifting or abandoning poverty objective by Islamic microfinance institutions (IMFs). The paper investigates whether the extensive use of banking logic changes IMFs, from focusing on both development and financial objectives to only considering sustainability as their primary mission.

This paper adopts mixed methods by analyzing 7,200 microfinance data from Microfinance Exchange Market and reviewing annual reports and websites of 25 IMFs to examine their vision and mission statements and other related information.

The finding shows Islamic microfinance has not changed, despite increasing adoption of financial or banking performance measures. However, size and age of the institutions may affect the outcome in the future. The authors find that smaller microfinance institutions maintain genuine objective to serve the poor, as the grow larger they would be more inclined toward sustainability objectives.

The research is limited on the sample size as data on Islamic microfinance globally is limited. However, the paper looked at the global data rather than local data to compensate for this limitation. Future study would be further taking the study through qualitative methods to support the study.

This paper aims to shed some lights on the process of mission drifting or abandoning poverty objective by IMFIs. The paper investigates how has the extensive use of financing logic has changed IMFIs from focusing on both development and financial objectives to only considering sustainability as their primary mission. Arun and Hulme (2009) argued that the interaction of multiple logic within microfinance institutions, i.e. financial vs social, could pose some serious management dilemmas within microfinance institutions. Further, commercialization puts pressure on the field staffs to achieve financial targets and often neglect their poverty outreach mission to the poor. The well-known crisis in Andhra Pradesh, India where clients of microfinance institutions committed suicide after being shamed by field officers who tried to collect payments of loans (Mader, 2013; Taylor, 2011), provides a powerful case of the impact of financialization to microfinance clients.

This paper aims to explore different forms and models of integration between Islamic commercial finance and social finance including the problem that arise as well as the solution of each of the models to promote inclusive economic growth. At the end of the paper, the authors have identified the strategy to execute and validate by the decision-makers.

This approach uses two methods which are Delphi and analytical network process (ANP). The authors conduct literature review and four rounds Delphi to construct the integration model, the problem and solution of each model, as well as the questionnaire of ANP. Moreover, using an ANP method, the authors conducted interviews with decision-makers in the areas of Islamic commercial finance as well as social finance, and analyzed the results to identify key models that would create inclusivity and quality of economic growth. To ensure credibility of the results, the authors selected the respondents based on their experience in the fields, as well as their unique perspectives that will complement the group as a whole.

After conducting the four rounds Delphi, the authors found five types of Islamic social and commercial integration which are the ownership, institutional, operational, bottom line and mandatory integration. Based on the analysis of the ANP result, the authors argue that all integration can help the country in attaining with the support of government in terms of making the integration as a vision as well as to push the education of social finance more to the stakeholders.

This study is among the emerging studies that explore operational aspects of integration of social and commercial finance within the context of inclusive growth strategy.