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This paper aims to examine the extent of the Shari’a corporate governance disclosure in the annual report of Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) in Malaysia to determine the significant differences in this disclosure between the local and foreign-owned IFIs, small and large size IFIs and IFIs belong to Islamic and conventional holding companies.

All 16 IFIs in Malaysia were selected to analyse the extent of disclosure in their annual reports on issues related to Shari’a corporate governance. For this purpose, an index of Shari’a corporate governance disclosure for IFIs was created based on adapting Sulaiman et al. (2015). The index consists of 127 items classified into 14 dimensions. The scoring of the disclosed items is binary, where a score of “1” if disclosed and “0” if it was not disclosed in the annual report.

The result shows no significant differences in the Shari’a corporate governance disclosure between the local and foreign-owned IFIs, small and large size IFIs and IFIs belonging to Islamic and conventional holding companies. However, further examination shows that there was a significant difference in the disclosure of the risk management committee dimension between the large and small IFIs and investment account holders dimension between the conventional and Islamic holding companies.

The results provide new emerging evidence that deviates from many prior empirical research studies, which document the domination of Islamic-based IFIs in the corporate governance practices, as compared with their conventional financial institutions that venture into Islamic finance. This study, however, was conducted on only 16 IFIs in a one-year period, i.e. 2013. Future research should consider data from a larger number of IFIs that involve a number of countries with more than one year of data to have a better understanding of the extent of Shari’a corporate governance disclosure.

This study provides an indicator to the stakeholders of Islamic finance that the Islamic-based IFIs and conventional IFIs are equal and cannot be differentiated based on the Shari’a corporate governance disclosure. For Islamic-based IFIs, as a pioneer in Islamic banking and finance industry, they need to take more efforts in adopting the Shari’a governance framework issued by the Central Bank of Malaysia (BNM), namely, the Shari’a review, audit and risk management.

This study is original, as it includes the latest requirements by the Shari’a governance framework issued by the BNM, namely, the Shari’a review, audit, risk management and research functions in its research instrument. In addition, this research also scrutinised the disclosure in detail of all the dimensions constructed in the governance index.

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 study aims to examine the influence of Islam on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) in Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) with a focus on an analysis of narrative reporting.

Using content analysis, this study analyzes the narrative disclosures of corporate social responsibility of 21 IFIs operating in the Gulf region.

This study provides evidence of Islamic influence on the CSRD of IFIs. It finds that the largest part of CSRD produced by the IFIs is the disclosure of reports of the Shari'a Supervisory Board. IFIs also disclose other Islamic information (e.g. “Zakah” and charity donation, and free interest loan) and report on their compliance with Islam along with information of philanthropy, employees and community.

This study provides a valuable contribution to researchers and practitioners, as it extends the understanding of how the narrative disclosures on CSR were produced by IFIs and the influence of religion on CSRD.

The purpose of this study is to identify the relation between the conflicts of interest in the Shari'a Supervisory Board (SSB) in the Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) and six independent variables: the SSB executive position, the SSB remuneration, the relation between the SSB members and the Board of Directors (BoD), and the multiple memberships in Islamic funds, issuers of Islamic bonds (Sukuk), and companies trading in capital markets.

The variables are articulated in six hypotheses and tested by ordinary least square regression. The data were collected via a questionnaire which was sent to the shareholders, the BoD, and the SSB members of all of the IFIs in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

The results indicate that the SSB executive position, the relation between the SSB members and the BoDs, and the membership in Islamic funds and issuers of Islamic bonds are significantly related to the conflicts of interest, whereas remuneration and membership in companies trading in capital markets have insignificant relation.

The paper does not address the impact of SSB ownership in the IFIs, or the relation between the SSB and the shareholders, or the impact of the corporate governance codes on the relationship between the IFI and the SSB.

The study recommends testing the hypotheses in other geographies to generalize the results, and measuring the impact of the SSB ownership on the conflicts of interest as well as its relation with shareholders, regulators, and clients.

The paper provides practical implications to the SSB members and the BoD in the IFIs and calls for setting a maximum number of SSBs for each SSB member.

This study contributes to the literature gap of the SSB role in the governance of IFIs. It is believed to be one of first studies that provide empirical evidence about the SSB conflicts of interest in the IFIs of the GCC region.

The purpose of this study is to examine the level of Shariah governance disclosure among Islamic banks in Malaysia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (i.e. Kuwait, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia). On top of that, the effect of Shariah governance disclosure on Islamic banks financial performance is investigated.

Data underwent quantitative content analysis and a mean comparison of the Shariah governance disclosure mechanisms as well as multiple regression analysis. Shariah governance information is obtained from the Islamic banks' official websites and the Bursa Malaysia Exchange.

The results of the content analysis revealed that the level of Shariah governance disclosure among Malaysian Islamic banks has been more pronounced than in the GCC countries. Additionally, the multiple regression analysis results specified that of the five Shariah governance disclosure mechanisms, the Shariah committee emerged as the strongest determinant in the financial performance of the Islamic banks, followed by transparency and disclosure.

Islamic banks should emphasise publishing Shariah governance information in annual reports to reflect superior accounting practices as assessed by certified Shariah auditors with an effective monitoring system.

The empirical findings are vital for serving as a guideline for Islamic banks in Malaysia and the GCC countries to disclose their practice of Shariah governance and gain empirical insights into its effect on firms’ financial performance. Following that, Islamic banks would improve their accounting practices while adhering to Shariah principles, strengthen internal controls and boost their brand reputation.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between Islamic governance and the social performance of Islamic banks, pioneering a new aspect in terms of the impact of the National Shariah Board (NSB) on the social performance of Islamic banks. The essential body in the Islamic banks in charge of Islamic governance is the Shariah Supervisory Board (SSB). Therefore, in this study, the authors explore how the characteristics of the Shariah board and Islamic governance mechanisms influence the social performance of Islamic banks.

Panel data methods are applied to the annual data of 43 banks from 14 countries over the period 2012–2018 to explore the impact of Islamic governance on Islamic banks’ social performance. The authors have used all available bank annual reports in the given period. Social performance is measured by Maqasid al-Shariah (in terms of the goals of the Islamic moral economy) index using a comprehensive evaluation framework. Islamic governance is represented by the improved Islamic Governance Score (IG-Score) index, which measures the quality of Islamic governance in Islamic banks. In the research, the authors also introduce the frequency of SSB meetings in IG-Score.

The findings suggest a strong link between Islamic governance and the social performance of Islamic banks, illustrating the importance of the Shariah board in achieving maqasid. On the other hand, the research discovered that NSBs are inefficient and the existence of NSB can jeopardize the social performance of Islamic banks. The results of this research imply valuable recommendations for Islamic banks that are keen to improve their social performance.

Besides investigating the impact of SSB governance on the social performance of Islamic banks by using an improved IG score index, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the impact of NSBs on the social performance of Islamic banks.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of Islam on corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) in Islamic financial institutions (IFIs).

Using the content analysis approach, the paper examines the influences of Islam on CSRD by looking into the annual reports of 21 conventional financial institutions (CFIs) and 21 IFIs operating in the Gulf region.

The results show significant differences in the level and the extent of the disclosure between IFIs and CFIs, largely due to the disclosure made by IFIs of religions related themes and information, including Shari'a supervisory board reports, the “Zakah” and charity donation, and free interest loan.

This paper's contribution to the literature is twofold: the paper reveals the actual difference of CSRD between IFIs and non‐IFIs, by comparing the disclosures made by IFIs and non‐IFIs; and the paper identifies the extent of influence of Islam upon the CSRD of IFIs.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the existing body of work in the area of Islamic banking by investigating the regulatory accommodation process of Islamic banking in Italy.

The method used is essentially based upon an analysis of laws, regulations and jurisprudence/legal doctrine.

In Italy, where Muslim represent, from a religious point of view, the second largest immigrant community, no Shari’a-compliant institution has been authorised yet, but no legal obstacle is laid down.

The paper examines the accommodation process of Shari’a-compliant banking within the Italian system of banking and business law. Therefore, the paper is mainly based on the Italian jurisprudence/legal doctrine. Moreover, no comprehensive analysis of Islamic banking principles is provided.

The paper, investigating the accommodation process of Islamic banking in the Italian banking system, shows any legal and regulatory obstacles refraining Muslims living in Italy from living according to Islam and complying with the general regulation of undertakings.

Examination of the topic is originally undertaken because the investigation of Islamic banking in the Italian legal framework matches the business-based approach with the cultural-based approach as complementary analyses.

The main aim of this research is to ascertain the expected duties and performed roles and functions of the Shariah supervisory boards (SSBs) of Islamic banks in Bangladesh.

A semistructured face-to-face interview was applied to accomplish the research objectives. In total, data was collected from 17 respondents with a combination of regulators, SSBs, Shariah department executives and experts from the central bank and Islamic banks in Bangladesh.

This study finds that the expectations of Islamic banks toward SSB members are to provide opinions on Shariah issues, guidelines and decisions regarding the modern banking, practices and delivering of fatwas on the contemporary issues offered by the management to fulfill the demand of the numerous stakeholders. In addition, they can develop Shariah governance (SG) policies and implement those guidelines, approve and develop new products, observe and monitor banking functions, identify problems and outline solutions as well as they should ensure Shariah principles and compliance. The SSBs members perform roles and functions in monitoring and reviewing overall banking activities and functions; reviewing products, services and contracts; preparing SG guidelines; ensuring Shariah principles and compliance; providing opinions on existing SG practices and finally, delivering Shariah resolutions on the overall functions.

This study significantly contributed to the national regulatory bodies by providing suggestions that the existing SG system should be improved to enhance the overall monitoring of SSB and ensure more Shariah compliance in the overall operations of the Islamic banks in Bangladesh.

This is the first research to the best of authors’ knowledge that explores the expected duties and performed roles and functions of the Islamic banks concerning Bangladesh. This study also contributes to the agency, legitimacy and stakeholder theories by outlining the expected and performed roles of SSBs to the Islamic banks and stakeholders.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the compliance level of Islamic banks with disclosure accounting standards in some Middle East and North African countries, and most importantly to analyse the factors associated with compliance.

This study uses a self-constructed checklist of 203 items to measure the compliance of 38 Islamic banks with disclosure accounting standards during the 2011-2013 period. A multivariate regression analysis is used to determine significant factors influencing the extent of this compliance.

The results show a wide variation in compliance levels among the disclosure accounting standards and reveal that compliance is positively related to the listing status, the existence of an audit committee, the bank’s age and the country of domicile.

This study analyses the compliance level with only disclosure accounting standards. It remains to future research to examine compliance with all Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions’ Financial Accounting Standards (AAOIFI FAS). Moreover, the explanatory power of the model remains modest. This connotes the existence of omitted variables that could be explored in future research.

The research contributes to the international financial accounting literature about the banking industry. The results are relevant for researchers, accounting professionals, stakeholders, standard-setters and regulatory bodies that are concerned with Islamic banks’ disclosures.

Although AAOIFI was established since 1991, very few empirical studies about compliance with the FAS have been undertaken. To the authors’ knowledge, there are no studies that investigated the determinants of compliance level with AAOIFI FAS. Then, this study concentrates on disclosure accounting standards (FAS 1 and FAS 5) with a high risk of non-compliance.