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The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic literature review on Shariah governance and Islamic banks.

The literature was searched from Scopus and Web of Science using various queries related to Shariah governance and Islamic banks. Through a screening process, 93 articles were considered fit for the systematic literature review.

The paper provides a systematic review based on different themes, including measurement of Shariah governance in Islamic banks, disclosure of Shariah governance and its determinants, the impact of Shariah governance on performance, risk management and other outcomes of Islamic banks. Finally, issues and challenges of Shariah governance in Islamic banks are discussed, followed by conclusions and recommendations related to future research.

This study is the first of its kind, to the authors’ knowledge, to provide a comprehensive systematic literature on Shariah governance and Islamic banks by exploring different themes and highlighting multiple future avenues of research.

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.

The study aims to critically review the Shariah governance framework for Islamic banking prevailing in Pakistan and provide a comparison with Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI).

It analyzes 16 circulars issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) since 2002, including three Shariah governance frameworks in 2014, 2015 and 2018. Additionally, the study compares the SBP and AAOIFI Shariah governance standards to evaluate the soundness of the SBP framework against international benchmarks.

Pakistan’s Shariah governance model is centralized, with the SBP’s Shariah board having ultimate authority. The SBP has provided a comprehensive Shariah framework, which includes among others, the criteria for the qualifications and conflict of interests of Shariah members. Both AAOIFI and SBP Shariah governance frameworks have similarities and differences in terms of the tenure of Shariah Supervisory Board (SSB) members, reporting line of SSB, number of SSB meetings, minimum experience of SSB members, primary duties of Shariah board, code of ethics and conduct for SSB and management and requirement of publication of SSB report in the annual report of Islamic banks. The frameworks differ in terms of the delegation of SSB powers, assessment and appraisal of SSB effectiveness and outsourcing of Shariah Compliance Department and Internal Shariah Audit Unit.

The study recommends expanding the qualification criteria for Shariah advisors to include additional degrees and qualifications, upholding stringent criteria for conflict of interests and promoting stakeholder consultation through exposure drafts.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first of its kind which critically review and compare the Shariah governance framework prevailing in Pakistan.

The purpose of this paper is to perform Shariah review of Brownian motion that is used for prediction of Islamic stock prices and their volatility.

It uses the Shariah compliant development model guidelines to review the Brownian motion and its applications.

The model of Brownian motion does not involve any variable that renders it non-Shariah compliant; neither all applications of Brownian motion are Shariah compliant. Because the model is based on stochastic properties that involve randomness, therefore the issue of gharar takes the utmost important to handle in the applications of the model. The results need to be analyzed strictly in accordance with the Shariah whether they create any element of gharar or uncertainty in case of expected price and volatility estimates.

The research suffers from the limitation that it analyses only one model of physics, i.e. Brownian motion model from Shariah perspective.

The research opens an area for Shariah analysis of results generated from the application of advanced models of physics on matters related to Islamic financial markets.

The originality of this study stems from the fact that to the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first study that extends Shariah guidelines into Financial physics for making the foundations of Islamic econophysics.

The purpose of this paper is to propose the conceptual relationship between competency and effectiveness of internal Shariah auditors in Islamic financial institutions (IFIs).

Normative and theorizing based on the main sources of Islam, mainly Maqasid al-Shariah theory, has been utilized in this research.

This study demonstrated how Maqasid al-Shariah or higher objectives of Islamic law have gradually captured the attention of increasing numbers of modern Muslim scholars for solving contemporary issues.

This study uniquely captured Maqasid al-Shariah for the competency of internal Shariah auditor.

This study aims to present a detailed investigation of Shariah audit research based on a systematic literature review.

A total of 53 studies were collected from the Scopus and Web of Science databases following a systematic methodology. These studies were analyzed and evaluated based on the theoretical perspective, geographical distribution, research settings and themes background.

The findings indicate an increase in the literature on Shariah auditing over time, especially in the Malaysian context, with a dearth of research in other contexts and institutions (Takaful). It has been also revealed that the existing literature is still unclear about the effectiveness and consequences of effective Shariah auditing, pointing the need for more work on these areas. The authors outline opportunities for future Shariah auditing research.

The synthesized findings are helpful for policymakers and managers to understand better how research in Shariah auditing is developing and how to translate research findings into practice. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research to comprehensively synthesize the literature on this topic and identify the potential opportunities for future research directions.

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 provide an analysis on whether takaful operators actually maintain separated and segregated accounts between the operator and participants’ funds, thereby conforming to Shariah compliance requirements or not.

The research uses a qualitative methodology by analysing secondary data relating to two takaful operators in each of the jurisdictions of the Kingdoms of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

The findings generally reveal that the financial statements and Shariah Supervisory Board annual reports of the takaful operators in the Kingdom of Bahrain confirm the Shariah-required maintenance of separate accounts between the operator and participants, as well as reveal transparency-related issues and Shariah governance weaknesses for takaful operators in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Generalizing based on a single case study may affect the accuracy of the findings. It may also be argued that qualitative researches are generally considered as less valid than quantitative researches.

This research may have provided empirical data that did not previously exist in the literature.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the Shariah governance practices of Islamic fund management companies (IFMCs) in Malaysia, with the principal goal of reviewing the need for a comprehensive Shariah governance framework for the Islamic fund management industry.

The study was conducted using a qualitative approach via 14 semi-structured interviews with three companies (i.e. Company A, Company B and Company C) involving face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews and emails. Data from the interviews were recorded and later analysed using content analysis.

The study finds that Shariah governance processes among the IFMC examined are well-managed; and the current regulations issued by the regulators are sufficient to ensure the Shariah compliance of Islamic fund management industry. In spite of the absence of a comprehensive Shariah governance framework for the industry, most Shariah functions (i.e. Shariah risk management, Shariah review and Shariah audit) are performed by the parent company, except for Shariah research. Nevertheless, Shariah research is not an important function in Islamic fund management because the investment instruments are generally selected from a predetermined list of Shariah-compliant investment options.

The study offers an overview of Shariah governance practices in the Islamic fund management industry to policymakers and practitioners for the future development of Shariah governance practices among IFMC.

This is the first paper to study Shariah governance practices in the Islamic fund management industry in Malaysia.

The study explores the existing Shariah audit practice of Islamic banks (IBs) in Bangladesh aiming at providing suggestions for improvements on the detected shortfalls in the relevant areas.

This research applied a qualitative method, and data were collected through conducting semi-structured interviews in Bangladesh. A total of 17 interviews were conducted for accomplishing the research objectives.

The study finds that there is no comprehensive Shariah audit manual in the current operation for IBs in Bangladesh, and as such, the requirements of their Shariah compliance remain a big question. Although the Shariah audit is conducted within IBs, and the Shariah audit officers or Shariah officers inspect necessary documents while conducting the Shariah audit, they only cover 10–20% of total investments and transactions. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that the Shariah auditing tasks should broadly cover at least 80% of the investment portfolios, documents and financial contracts and activities.

The findings of this research are expected to significantly contribute to the regulatory authorities concerned in Bangladesh and beyond, which include the suggestions that IBs can adopt to strengthen their Shariah governance system. The study also pinpoints that in the current system, Shariah auditors' roles are somehow limited in examining and checking the investment sides with a minimal portion (10–20%), for which they are unable to perform their responsibilities in a befitting manner to provide assurance services and overall Shariah compliance of IBs activities.

This study explores the current Shariah audit systems and provides recommendations to improve the existing systems which will be beneficial for Islamic banks of Bangladesh.

To the researchers' knowledge, perhaps this is the first research of its kind which seeks to explore the current Shariah audit practice in Bangladesh qualitatively, and it provides some practical suggestions for making the necessary developments of the current audit process of IBs. In addition, there are no empirical studies in the entire Emerald insight publishers and Scopus database regarding Shariah audit practices. The study contributes to the agency, stakeholder and legitimacy theories by exploring the Shariah audit of IBs.