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An Islamic social finance ecosystem has its specific instruments in terms of funding and investment that are in line with Shariah (Islamic law) principles. These include waqf (Islamic endowment), zakat (compulsory alms), ṣadaqah (donation), qarḍ ḥasan (benevolent loan) and others. In this context, the Islamic financial institutions can be considered as Islamic social finance institutions since it has the elements of Islamic social finance concepts. The uniqueness of these two types of institutions is that they operate with the absence of riba, maysir, gharar and thus the requirement of Shariah governance comes into existence. The practice of Shariah governance in Islamic financial institutions needs to be extensively examined by using a comprehensive measurement. Therefore, this chapter attempts to discuss on the needs of Shariah Governance Practices Index (SGPi) as a comprehensive measurement to measure the Shariah governance practices. In conclusion, it is proposed to have a comprehensive index to measure the Shariah governance practices which consider few components of Shariah governance such as the board of directors, the management, Shariah Committee and Shariah compliance functions.

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.

This study aims at investigating the impact of the disclosure and the Shariah governance on the financial performance in MENASA (Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia) Islamic banks.

We use the Generalized Least Squares (GLS) regression models to check the interdependence relationship between the disclosure, the Shariah governance and the financial performance of 47 Islamic banks (IBs) from ten countries operating in MENASA region. The sample period is from 2012 to 2019. In these regressions models, Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE) are the dependent variables. The disclosure and the Shariah governance indicators are the independent factors. To measure the Shariah governance, we use the three sub-indices, which are the Board of Directors (BOD), the Audit Committee (AC) and the Shariah Supervisory Board (SSB). Size, Leverage and Age of the bank are used as control variables. We also used The Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) and the three-stage least squares (3SLS) estimations for robustness check.

Result shows a negative relationship between the disclosure and the two performance measures in IBs. Furthermore, as far as the governance indicators are concerned, we found that the BOD and AC, as well as the BOD and SSB, have a positive and significant impact on the ROA and ROE, respectively. This reveals that good governance had a significant association with higher performance in MENASA IBs.

The paper considers both IBs that adopt mandatory as well as voluntary AAOIFI standards and the GLS method to investigate the impact of the AAOIFI disclosure and the Shariah governance on ROA and ROE. Also, it uses the GMM and the 3SLS estimations for robustness check. It is relevant for researchers, policymakers and stakeholders concerned with IBs' performance.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the empirical linkage between the composition of Shariah Committee and the extent of Shariah governance disclosure in 16 licensed Islamic banks in Malaysia.

This paper adopted a multiple regression analysis to test the association between the composition of Shariah Committee and the extent of Shariah governance disclosure. A disclosure index was developed to measure the extent of Shariah governance disclosure made by the Islamic banks. Whereas to measure the extent of Shariah governance disclosure, this study used content analysis as a method of coding qualitative information in the annual reports.

Using 2009 data, the study found a significant association between different compositions of the Shariah Committee in the Malaysian Islamic banks and their Shariah governance disclosure level before the introduction of the Shariah Governance Framework (SGF). However, because of less variation in the composition of Shariah Committee after the introduction of SGF 2010, a weak linkage was found between the composition of Shariah Committee and the extent of Shariah disclosure of Malaysian Islamic banks in 2013.

Findings of this study offer several implications for further improvements of the Malaysian Islamic banking sector in particular, and other Islamic banks globally. As better composition of Shariah Committee in terms of its size, academic background and other relevant expertise would result in effective monitoring system leading to better practices of Shariah disclosure, this finding highlights the relevance and important role of the Shariah Committee in improving voluntary Shariah disclosure level of the Islamic banks. This finding suggests that ample focus has to be channelled in strengthening the composition of Shariah Committee in crafting future development of SGF in Malaysia. It is also suggested that Islamic banks need to give priority in providing more education and training in various areas of expertise to their Shariah Committee members that would result in greater confidence of investors, stakeholders and the society on the information disclosed by the banks.

The novelty of this paper lies in highlighting the importance of different composition of Shariah Committee in determining the extent of voluntary disclosure made on Shariah matters by the Islamic banks.

This study aims to assess the extent of the mandatory and voluntary Shariah compliance disclosure in the Shariah Committee Report of Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) in Malaysia. The study highlights the accountability and transparency of the Shariah Committee members to provide full disclosure of relevant Shariah compliance information to the stakeholders.

The study adopts content analysis to quantify and code the number of sentences in the Shariah Committee Report disclosed in the 2016 annual report of 47 IFIs in Malaysia. The extent of Shariah compliance disclosure in the Shariah Committee Report is measured based on the Standard (S) and Guidance (G) items outlined in the Shariah Governance Framework (SGF) as well as the Financial Reporting for Islamic Banking Institutions and takaful operators guidelines issued by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) as the reference.

The findings indicate that majority of IFIs complied with the minimum mandatory disclosure requirement based on the Standard (S) items in the Shariah Committee Report as required by the SGF. Highest information on the purpose of Shariah Committee engagement and scope of work performed is disclosed to the stakeholders in almost all IFIs. Only two prominent full-fledged Islamic bank and Islamic banking business in development financial institutions have shown highest accountability to go beyond the minimum disclosure requirement. This includes disclosing higher voluntary information on Shariah governance processes in the Shariah Committee Report of these two IFIs.

This study adopts the SGF (Bank Negara Malaysia, 2010), Financial Reporting for Islamic Banking Institutions (Bank Negara Malaysia, 2016) and Financial Reporting for Takaful Operators (Bank Negara Malaysia, 2015) as the reference to develop the measurement of Shariah compliance disclosure in the Shariah Committee Report. These guidelines issued by BNM are still effective during the period of study, i.e. the year 2016.

The findings contribute towards the relevance for BNM as the regulator to enhance the current disclosure requirement in the Shariah Committee Report as stated in the SGF especially in Islamic windows and takaful operators. The main argument of this paper is that the more information being disclosed in the Shariah Committee Report will lead to better Shariah assurances. The issuance of Shariah Governance Policy Document in 2019 is expected to enhance the credibility, accountability and transparency of the Shariah Committee members concerning their oversight responsibility towards Shariah matters in IFIs’ business operations.

After five years since the issuance of the SGF in 2010, further study on the extent of mandatory and voluntary Shariah compliance disclosure is important to highlight the accountability and transparency on the implementation of the Shariah governance across various types of IFIs in Malaysia.

Shariah board (SB) is a unique corporate governancemechanism in Islamic financial institutions. Over the last decade, an increasing number of studies discusses the relationship between SB and Islamic banks' (IB) performance. These researches report conflicting findings due to the heterogeneity of their samples. Therefore,the purpose of this paper is to meta-analyze the results of the previous empirical studies to assess if the differences in findings were attributable to moderating effects related either to the system of SB or the used SB variables or the variables used to identify performance.

To examine the direct and moderating effects of SB attributes, this study uses a meta-analysis technique on a sample of 46 empirical studies, using Hunter and Schmidt’s approach followed by three exploratory moderator analyses: ROE, ROA and Tobin’ Q. Significant results are discussed.

Overall, the meta-analysis findings show that there is a positive significant association between SB meetings and qualifications and IBs’ performance. In testing the moderating effects of financial performance measurement during the post-subprime crisis period, the meta-analysis findings suggest that there is a positive significant association between SB characteristics (size, qualification, reputation, interlock and expertise) and performance. The meta-analysis findings stress the importance of several SB attributes in improving IBs’ performance, especially, during the economic recovery period.

This paper adds significance to the extant Islamic finance literature as well as assists the appropriate stakeholders in assessing the determinants of IBs’ performance from Shariah governance perspective. It further aims to reconcile the findings of the previous studies around the world. Moreover, the findings help future research to build a comprehensive Shariah governance index for IBs.

This study aims to identify the significant scientific actors, reveal the intellectual structure and explore essential features for future research direction in Sharia governance studies.

The study applies a hybrid review combining bibliometric analysis and content analysis. It uses Rstudio (biblioshiny), VOSviewer and Microsoft Excel to analyze 457 articles published in 206 journals indexed by Scopus and/or Web of Science during the period of 1985 until the end of 2022.

The paper discovered four distinct streams of Sharia governance studies: structure of Sharia governance, Sharia governance and risk management, Sharia governance and sustainability and the effect of Sharia governance toward firm’s financial performance. Furthermore, it derives and summarizes 26 main research questions for future studies.

In terms of theoretical implications, the finding contributes to the general literature on Sharia governance by conducting bibliometric analysis and content analysis. In terms of practical implications, this study suggests that Sharia governance should be strengthened by the management of Islamic banks and other Islamic-based businesses.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the early studies using a hybrid review on the topic of Sharia governance, allowing future researchers in this field to capture the trends and progress of current literature as well as the research gaps to be filled in by future researchers.

This paper aims to investigate factors influencing Shari’ah governance disclosure (SGD) in financial institutions.

Using content analysis approach, 46 annual reports published in 2015 by banks and insurance companies were investigated based on a self-constructed disclosure index.

The results show that the average level of voluntary disclosure of Shari’ah governance in Saudi financial institutions is 11.7 per cent, which is lower than expectations Moreover, regression analysis shows that industry type, ownership structure and board composition significantly determine the extent of voluntary disclosure of Shari’ah governance. Local financial institutions which are owned by non-governmental agencies are more likely to disclose voluntarily their Shari’ah governance, in particular from the banking industry.

It also bridges the gap between theory and practice and can be used to practice economic and commercial impact in teaching to influence public policy in research contributing to the body of knowledge and especially for the insurance sector and government.

It provides guidance to the ethical investors and supports them in the decision-making process.

This research extends the investigation of SGD into insurance sector in a country that has a general policy about adhering to Islamic principles. Financial institutions might go beyond the country affirmations to legitimate their identity in response to the society critiques about the issue. Accordingly, internal attributes and strategies of financial institutions may play a significant role in distinguishing its compliance with Islamic principles to respond to the society critiques about financial transactions.