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The Maqāṣid (objective) hierarchy is a triple-tiered conceptualisation of individual and social needs that is grounded in the five objectives of Sharīʿah (Islamic Law). Managerialism is the ideological representation of human interaction based on managerial doctrines and practices. This paper aims to explore the tension between the Maqāṣid hierarchy and managerialism by evaluating the Sharīʿah requirements in the Islamic Financial Services Act (IFSA) 2013 of Malaysia from the Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah perspective.

This qualitative study uses an inductive approach to review the sources of Sharīʿah and classical literature of Islamic jurists to present Sharīʿah rulings on managerialism and Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah.

The Maqāṣid hierarchy promotes a vision of human life that is the opposite of managerialism. In the case of IFSA 2013, the Maqāṣid hierarchy, which is supposed to be the bedrock for Islamic finance, is replaced by a managerial hierarchy closer to Maslow’s hierarchy than it is to Imam Shatibi’s concept of human life. A process of fitting the Maqāṣid hierarchy into a narrow managerial mould occurs in IFSA 2013, meaning that many of the unique aspects of the Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah are lost.

This study will assist Sharīʿah scholars, policymakers and Islamic financial institutions to develop the financial system and to implement the Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah to improve macro policy and shaping Islamic institutions.

This is a pioneer study that develops a bridge between the Islamic Maqāṣid and conventional managerial hierarchies, which will encourage academics and practitioners to enrich the literature by conducting more in-depth studies on this topic.

The paper aims to examine the impact of Shari'ah governance quality on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance in Islamic banks.

The study's sample consists of 66 Islamic banks from 14 countries over 2015–2019. The research uses the Heckman model, which is a two-stage estimation method to obtain unbiased estimates, as ESG scores are only observable for 17 Islamic banks in Eikon Refinitiv database at the time of the analysis.

The analysis shows that Shari'ah governance has a beneficial role to achieve ESG performance. The analysis also shows that enhanced profiles of Shari'ah supervisory boards' (SSB) attributes are more efficient than the operational procedures to promote ESG performance. In addition, the analysis shows that enhanced SSBs' attributes strengthen the bank's corporate governance framework, while sound-designed procedures increase the bank's social activities by emphasizing their roles to ensure Shari'ah compliance. Finally, the analysis sheds light on the failure of Shari'ah governance to promote environmental performance.

The existing databases providing companies' ESG-related information still do not offer sufficient data to conduct an international study with a larger sample of Islamic banks (IBs) having ESG scores for a more extended period.

The research provides policy insights to Islamic banks' stakeholders to promote social and governance performance in the Islamic finance industry through improving Shari'ah governance practices. However, raising environmental awareness is imminent among all actors implicated in the Shari'ah governance processes to help overcome the anthropogenic risks.

The research complements the governance-banks' ESG performance literature by examining the role of Shari'ah governance. The research also extends the literature on Islamic banks' sustainability by pointing to the Shari'ah governance failure to enhance environmental performance and thus achieve Maqasid al-Shariah regarding the environment.

Gold investment is one of the essential long-term investments for many to diversify their investment portfolios. Muslims are continuously looking for halal products and services in any aspect of life and one of them is Shari’ah gold investments (SGI). However, evidence pertinent to Muslims’ behaviour towards Shari’ah gold is somewhat inconclusive and for that, a new empirical investigation is needed to reduce the gap, at best. Hence, the purpose of this study is to study factors determining SGI behaviour in Penang, Malaysia.

By using the Islamic theory of consumer behaviour (ITCB), this study examines the determinants of the SGI behaviour. The questionnaire survey was distributed and the data gathered was analysed using partial least square structural equation modeling.

All hypothesised hypotheses were instrumental in explaining the factors determining SGI behaviour in the context of Penang, Malaysia.

This study has at least two limitations, namely, confined generalisations of the variables used and the limited context of the research conducted.

This study sheds light on the determinants influencing SGI behaviour, at best.

This study is original in terms of its final output that enlightens the significant effects of iman, Islamic altruism, maqasid consumer index on the behaviour of investors on Shari’ah gold within the ITCB’s context along with integrated religious satisfaction.

There is a growing debate as to how Islamic financial institutions can increase the expansion of profit and loss sharing (PLS) finance instead of widely practiced markup finance. This paper aims to seek to argue that protecting lenders right is to be ensured if we expect to see the rise of PLS finance of Islamic banks.

The paper draws upon the theorical contribution of Toshihiko Izutsu, who shows the derivation of the modern term Islam from its pre-Islamic root of hilm. Izutsu argues that a halim (Muslim or mu’min) possesses power and becomes altruist for fellow Muslim. This research takes this view to illustrate that Islamic lenders should be bestowed with economic and financial power for the expansion of PLS finance.

The authors show that Islamic financial system does not furnish required institutions conducive for expansion of PLS finance. The authors further argue that the practice of PLS should be based on an effective power retained by the lender to discipline the borrower, which is currently lacking in a typical PLS contract.

The retention of the power by the lender does not necessarily breach maqasid al-shari’ah, so far as the power is managed upon the concept of hilm. This philosophical speculation, in the authors’ view, would contribute to bridge a gap between Islamic pragmatists and perfectionists’ view toward expansion of PLS finance.

Although Izutsu’s explanation provides an important tool to argue that the altruistic behaver of halim can encourage the supply of participatory finance, this provision has not been adequately argued in the literature.

This paper aims to investigate the subject matter of Islamic economics that will be the object of a study as a discipline by classifying and unifying different approaches proposed by Islamic economists.

The paper is a conceptual paper using discursive analysis analysing the perspective and approaches proposed by Islamic economists in defining economic problems from an Islamic perspective. The perspective and approaches proposed are classified and analysed for their implications in constructing the subject matter of discipline.

Islamic economics, as a new body of knowledge, needs to clarify the economic problems that will be its subject matter. The paper brings an insight into the subject matter of Islamic economics as conceived by scholars in two approaches, namely, economic problems “as they are” and economic problems “as they should be”. The paper also proposes a unified perspective in defining the subject matter of Islamic economics for further development of the discipline.

This paper only provides philosophical guidance for researchers in mapping the problems and the goals of the policy being studied, although it does not offer any practical use for policymaking as each policy is faced with different and specific cases. This paper may be used to assist future researchers in shaping other unexplored fields in Islamic economics as a body of knowledge.

Islamic economics as a discipline will be strengthened if it has a clear subject matter that will be the object of study. However, the conception of economic problems proposed by Islamic economists is based on life-reality, i.e. of what human beings face in their life (practical-type economic problems as they are) and based on life guidance from the Qur’an on how human beings should live as well as life-objectives, i.e. of what goals he should strive for (ideal-type economic problems as they ought to be) brings implication that there are differences in determining the object of study of Islamic economics.

This paper promotes the unification of two conceptions of economic problems proposed by scholars by defining Islamic economics as “a study of resource appropriation to realize human well-being (maslahah)”. This suggests that economic problems as manifested in life reality will be studied within the grand objective of life in Islam (maqasid al-Shariah), and economic problems as perceived in life goals will be studied in the context of life reality. Islamic economic theory will be formulated not only to solve the apparent problem of “what is” but also formulated in a way that refers to goals (ideals) of “what ought to be” that will provide solutions to current economic problems according to certain vision and to take steps to move in that visionary direction.

This study aims to establish whether the corporate social responsibilities (CSR) practices of Islamic banks are compatible with the sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.

A documentary research method was applied by examining the annual reports of selected Islamic banks from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, the UAE and Malaysia for 2020, which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The results indicate that Islamic banks discharged various CSR activities and contributed huge funds toward achieving the SDGs of the United Nations. Specifically, the banks prioritized the following CSR sectors: education, health, environmental protection and disaster relief and management. Besides, they provided support to micro and small businesses toward poverty alleviation.

This study examined only CSR reports of the selected Islamic banks for 2020.

The findings have practical implications that may enable Islamic banks across the globe to improve their CSR initiatives, activities and reporting toward realizing the SDGs. They are also helpful to policymakers and regulators for the provisions of policies and regulations to motivate or mandate Islamic banks to effectively improve their CSR practices.

CSR practices of Islamic banks can significantly support the SDGs toward mitigating many economic and social problems.

This study applied a relevant but rarely used method to explore the role of CSR practices of Islamic banks in achieving the SDGs.

This study aims to propose priority solutions for mitigating the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic through the Social Safety Net (SSN) based on the Islamic objectives.

The analytic network process method is used in this study. Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with relevant stakeholders were used to collect data and supplemented by a literature review to explore comprehensive information.

The findings indicate different opinions among experts, including regulators, practitioners, associations and academics regarding the most important priority solutions to the impact of Covid-19. However, experts agree that the highest priority solution is the SSN program in the lineage sector, specifically the distribution of the Family Hope Program. A program in the field of protecting the mind is the second priority solution. The program in the field of soul and wealth is the third priority solution.

This study contributes to the development of government policy to deal with the socioeconomic impact of Covid-19 based on the Islamic objectives by mapping the SSN through the five elements of protection, namely, faith, soul, mind, lineage and wealth protection based on priority solution.

This study aims to develop the maqasid index (MI) for Islamic corporate social responsibility (CSR), namely, Dana Abadi Umat (DAU) (Ummah’s Endowment Fund) or MI-DAU in Indonesia.

Modeling and weighting are based on Delphi and analytic network process (ANP) methods, called Delphi–ANP additive weighting. The Delphi method was applied to design and validate the factors of the MI-DAU model, and the ANP method was applied to generate and validate weights for these factors. Finally, the MI-DAU is calculated, based on the planned budget and actual allocation of DAU returns, called the maslahah fund, using additive weighting.

Delphi and ANP show significant and robust results. The priority order and weights of maqasid Shariah are safeguard the faith (0.32), safeguard the intellect (0.219), safeguard the life (0.204), safeguard the wealth (0.171) and safeguard the lineage (0.104). Meanwhile, the priority order and weights of the main activities are education (0.190), Ummah’s economy (0.167), Hajj service (0.155), Da’wah (0.124), health care (0.118), social-religious (0.097), worship facilities (0.085) and disaster emergency response (0.065). Finally, the results of MI-DAU show a high index in 2019 and 2020 of 71.89 and 69.51, respectively, generated from allocation ratio of 90.63% and 85.98%, respectively.

Maqasid Shariah used in this study follows Al-Ghazali, where it could also follow maqasid Shariah of Abu Zahrah or Al-Najjar. Moreover, the MI-DAU score uses additive calculations, where it can also use Pentagon calculation.

The improved framework and method used to design MI-DAU in this study could be applied to design more scientific MI for other Islamic financial institutions.

The novelty of this study is in the improved method used to design the MI model, including its factors, using Delphi, and to assign weights of all factors using ANP, where both provide validation for more robust MI model.

This study aims to explore commonalities and differences between Islamic social finance (ISF) and sustainable development goals (SDGs).

The study has adopted a qualitative library-based research method, and the secondary data is collected through the available literature on the topic.

This study concludes that the majority of SDGs are compatible with ISF. Moreover, it finds that the global ISF possesses adequate financial resources to assist Muslim majority nations in achieving some of the most critical and urgent SDGs on time.

The scope of this study is confined to examining the possible role of ISF in achieving many of the most pressing development goals aligned with the SDGs. To maintain coherence within the study’s focus, this paper makes no comparisons between the ISF and other types of endowments/charities.

This paper outlines an agenda for the ISF-led development strategy and makes some crucial recommendations on how the global ISF might potentially lead the charge of Islamic charities in achieving the SDGs in Muslim majority nations.

This paper adds original value to the available literature on the potential of ISF and SDGs in the arena of development. The paper analyses the role of ISF in achieving the SDGs.

This study aims to propose a temporary waqf model for family waqf by establishing its application parameters, which may facilitate the management of family waqf in Malaysia and encourage new donors to establish waqf.

A qualitative methodology was employed to analyse the data through deductive and field research methods. For field research, this study conducted semi-structured interviews with the Waqf Corporations and Mufti's Department in the selected states within Malaysia.

Results drawn from the interview's findings are that creating family waqf in Malaysia is hindered by several obstacles, including family waqfs not serving the public interest but rather their descendants, and family waqfs have been practised in perpetuity. Besides, inefficient management of family waqf and a lack of an effective mechanism and parameter exists. Therefore, this study presented a conceptual framework for a temporary cash waqf model for family waqf along with the parameters that can be used to implement it. The temporary waqf is a strategy to develop waqf property and the interests of creators, beneficiaries and trustees. Temporary waqf merged into the family waqf yields benefits to the family waqf.

Because of Malaysia's Waqf Regulation and Administration, this study was confined to selected states. This study has broadened the scope of temporary family waqf, including moveable, immovable property and cash waqf.

This study presented a temporary waqf model for family waqf as a realistic mechanism and criterion for its practical implementation in Malaysia.

This study could encourage new donors to establish waqf.

This study’s novelty lies in its attempt to highlight the importance of the temporary waqf model as a practical mechanism with holistic principles for its implementation in Malaysia to benefit the donors, their families and trustees. In addition to family waqf, numerous temporary waqfs may be established, in which the income or usufruct is shared proportionally, such as charitable waqf (waqf khairi), private waqf (waqf khas) and joint waqf (waqf mushtarak).