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The purpose of this study is to explore the necessity for developing Islamic sustainable and responsible investment (i-SRI) criteria based on environmental, social and governance issues.

To address the above objective, this study adopted a qualitative method via content document analysis and interviews with experts.

Based on the analysis, this study discovered five primary aspects that lead to the necessity for developing i-SRI criteria. First, Malaysia has yet to develop i-SRI criteria. Second, the absence of i-SRI criteria will eventually lead to Shariah issues. Third, any Islamic financial instrument is bound to encounter numerous issues and challenges, thereby making it difficult to be marketed globally if it does not have a proper and standardized framework. Fourth, the establishment of i-SRI criteria can serve as a key reference point for the players in the industry, including investors, policymakers and other parties. Finally, the development of i-SRI criteria can play a vital role in enhancing the current Islamic capital market products offering in Malaysia.

There are several implications identified in this study. First, continuous research on the i-SRI criteria can offer numerous benefits to the regulatory bodies and policymakers who can use the findings in their decision-making process. Second, in terms of investors, the results can help them to make better investment choices by referring to the i-SRI criteria. Third, this study will be valuable to the academicians in terms of opportunity to explore a new research area, i.e. the i-SRI criteria, besides adding to the extant literature on this topic which is still scant currently.

This study discovered five primary aspects that lead to the necessity for developing i-SRI criteria.

This paper aims to examine the level and the relationship between the perception of the performance of takaful operators and the customers’ intention in using medical takaful card among public sectors in Kedah, Malaysia.

A quantitative research methodology was advocated to answer the objectives progressively. Data were collected from questionnaires and analyzed using SPSS v22. In total, 313 respondents were selected from three public sectors in Kedah, Malaysia.

The review found that the level of customers’ perception of performance towards the customers’ intention in using medical takaful card was high. Besides, the findings concluded that a positive moderate relationship was observed between the perception of the performance of takaful operators and the customers’ intention in using medical takaful card among public officers in Kedah, Malaysia.

There were three major limitations of this paper. These limitations are further explained in the conclusion.

This study has provided some major implications. First, on behalf of the public sector institutions, the results of this study clearly showed that the intention of the public sector officers in using medical takaful card should be increased. Second, on behalf of the industry, this study could acknowledge them to improve their performance to increase efficiency, creativity and innovation to create a good impression among consumers. Third, the previous theory and literature related to the perception of performance is suitable to use even in the event that the takaful industry has been proven.

The paper is useful to takaful operators to provide a good perception of their performance in the process of influencing the customers, especially among the public sector officers, to enrol in the medical takaful coverage.

The practices of sustainable and responsible investment (SRI) among Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) nowadays still rely on the existing environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. However, based on observation, some of the existing criteria listed by the reports of certain authorities and organizations do not seem to be aligned with Shariah principles. Therefore, this study aims to investigate those criteria to help develop Islamic-SRI (i-SRI) criteria based on the ESG concept.

This study adopted the qualitative method via content analysis of documents and interviews with experts.

Based on the analysis, a set of i-SRI criteria is developed based on the ESG concept, of which 33 elements are environmental, 50 elements are social and 26 elements are governance issues. Overall, this study finds that there is no obvious contradiction with the Islamic philosophy in the existing ESG criteria, with the exception of four criteria, i.e. promoting human rights, freedom of expression, freedom of censorship and freedom of association under social criteria. These four existing criteria are not aligned with Islamic teaching and not appropriate with Islamic ESG criteria.

The creation of Islamic ESG criteria can assist relevant authorities to improve the current ESG criteria and to embed an Islamic perspective within it.

This study developed a set of i-SRI criteria, which may be suitable as a source of reference to relevant parties.