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Since 2004, Pakistan carried the banking sector under the umbrella of the Islamic financial paradigm, consequently the Islamic Banking Industry (IBI) placed an upright position in the banking and financial market of Pakistan. In this context, this study aims to analyze the effect of Shariah-compliant products of the IBI on the pace of economic growth in Pakistan.

The data set covered 13 Pakistani Islamic banks comprising four full-fledged Islamic banks and 9 conventional banks holdings standalone Islamic Branches, for the period 2004–2019. Considering nature of the empirical model and data set, the estimation was carried out with the Pooled Ordinary least squares estimation technique.

The findings of the study reveal that Shariah-compliant products have a positive effect on the pace of economic growth. This indication is based on the fact that five out of six Shariah-compliant products hold positive signs and are statistically significant. In addition, the empirical evidence shows that at large conventional financial sector signifies its role in the Shariah-compliant products and pace of economic growth nexus. Among the control variables, foreign direct investment, human capital, trade openness, inflation and private credit pose negative, whereas money supply and stock market capitalization have a positive effect on the pace of economic growth in Pakistan. Findings of the study points towards the fact that Shariah-compliant financing has great potential to enhance the economic growth of Pakistan therefore to touch the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Having played a significant role in the growth process, Islamic bankers should portray a positive image of their industry to the government authorities. The government should design a public policy to encourage Islamic modes of finance at a macro level to increase the pace of economic growth and therefore SDGs realization.

Findings of the study present new insight into the application of Shariah-compliant products of IBI toward the realization of SDGs in case of Pakistan.

The purpose of this paper is to document the performance of analysts' recommendations for shariah-compliant firms and non-shariah-compliant firms in the MENA region during the period between 2005 and 2009.

This paper uses post-recommendation market-adjusted returns as a measure of performance and computes returns for different holding periods. Significant positive (negative) returns following buy (sell) recommendation will indicate value relevance of these recommendations.

The results show that analysts are not able to make any value relevant recommendations for shariah-compliant firms. The author documents insignificant returns following analysts' buy and sell recommendations for shariah-compliant firms. In contrast to their performance for shariah-compliant firms, the results show that analysts are able to produce value relevant recommendations for non-shariah-complaint firms. The author reports significant returns following analysts' buy recommendations for non-shariah-complaint firms. The author also reports significantly positive spread between returns following analysts' buy and sell recommendations for non-shariah-compliant firms. Positive spread indicates that analysts are able to differentiate between well-performing and badly-performing non-shariah-compliant firms. Interestingly, in case of sell recommendations, the results show no significant value in analysts' sell recommendations for non-shariah-complaint firms.

The results imply that investors should not blindly follow analyst recommendations for shariah-compliant firms while making their investment decisions in the MENA region.

This paper makes detailed analysis of analyst recommendations for shariah-compliant firms and non-shariah-compliant firms in previously unexplored MENA region.

This study aims to examine the impacts of Shariah-compliant products, value-added benefits, mortgage repayment policy and well-versed bankers on the consumer acceptance of Islamic home financing. These variables, thereafter, are called the “critical success factors” (the CSFs) for Islamic home financing.

Guided by the Islamic theory of consumer behaviour (ITCB), this study intends to propose the specific CSFs that ensure consumer acceptance of Islamic home financing a success. The term success refers to consumers’ willingness to take up the facility. A questionnaire survey was conducted to elicit responses pertinent to the level of agreement/disagreement of the CSFs. A total of 460 respondents usable responses were obtained and analysed accordingly.

The results obtained indicate that Shariah-compliant products, value-added benefits, mortgage repayment policy and well-versed bankers are instrumental to influence the consumer acceptance of Islamic home financing.

Like other works, this study has confined its context to capture only a limited geographical area, and the study’s contributions are restrained to the variables analysed to a specific context of Islamic home financing in Malaysia.

The results obtained can become as a yardstick to measure the consumer acceptance of Islamic home financing.

New proposed CSFs can help to address the new demand of Islamic home financing accordingly, where a new area of improvement is brought into play. This study also extends the applicability of the ITCB to include Islamic home financing products.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate Shariah compliant real estate development financing and investment in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

In this paper, the authors employed desk research and survey to examine issues relating to Shariah compliant real estate development financing and investment. Following the desk research, 18 in‐depth interviews were conducted with senior executives of banks, real estate developers and consultants.

Equity Shariah instruments are found to be in high demand by real estate investors, however they are rarely offered by Islamic banks. In addition, the survey results confirm that Islamic financiers tend to partner real estate companies through land acquisition to post construction, contrary to how conventional financiers operate, therefore reducing moral hazard issues.

As Shariah compliant real estate research and knowledge is limited, the authors faced a challenge in getting respondents who are familiar and willing to participate in the interview. Nevertheless, the 18 respondents gave adequate inputs to enable the authors to write the research paper.

The paper includes challenges and implications for the future developments of Shariah compliant real estate development financing and investment.

This paper provides the Shariah compliant perspective of real estate development financing and investment, where the current knowledge is very limited.

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.

This paper aims to examine the challenges of applying Shariah law in the equity market by engaging in narratives with Shariah screeners and advisors on how they conduct their screening responsibilities despite the low levels of Islamic-related disclosure made by companies in their annual reports. The Shariah screening processes in three countries with different Islamic equity markets – Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom – are examined.

The authors interview 19 Shariah screeners and advisors in three different Islamic equity markets – Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom.

Overall, the findings in this study show that despite the differences in the regulatory environment, companies still make Islamic-related disclosures on a voluntary basis. However, the lack of Islamic-related disclosures presents various challenges for Shariah screeners, particularly when identifying the operations that constitute the main activity of the company in screening for prohibited activities.

Shariah screeners can play an important role in increasing the level of understanding and perhaps increasing Islamic-related disclosures in annual reports by establishing a set of effective guidelines or practices for Shariah screeners to use when screening companies for their Shariah-compliant status.

The paper identifies a gap in the Shariah screening literature and voluntary Islamic disclosures literature. By identifying this gap, the paper highlights the challenges Shariah screeners and advisors face because of the low level of Islamic-related disclosures.

The purpose of this paper is to explain three additional parameters, namely maqasid al‐Shariah, financial reporting, and legal documentation of contract for determining Shariah legitimacy of financial instruments in Islamic financial institutions. Currently, contract ('aqd) is the only parameter recognized by Shariah scholars at the supervisory level.

This analysis begins with examining the pitfalls of the contract approach and proceeds to present the maqasid, financial reporting and legal documentation approaches in ascertaining absolute Shariah compliant of financial products.

The paper argues that the four approaches must be applied in package in determining Shariah compliant status to avoid costly errors that might lead to litigations and loss of competitiveness in the Islamic financing business.

The paper provides new insights and integrated analysis of Shariah auditing where knowledge clusters concerning the Shariah, economics, finance and accountancy, and law are algamated to ascertain wholesome Shariah viewpoint.

In this paper, the authors explore the specific nature of material-based legitimation and examine how it differs from other forms of legitimation. Prior studies of institutional legitimacy have predominantly focused on the discursive and iconic aspects of legitimation, with much less focus placed on the role of materiality. To advance our argument, the authors introduce the notion of enactive legitimation. The authors suggest that legitimation is derived from and supported by the ongoing engagement and interaction with materials and material-based practices. To elaborate our argument, the authors study a case of the use of material signification to legitimize a new financial product within Islamic banking. The authors show that the legitimacy of the product is grounded in materials and the materiality of a number of ritualized practices. Materials and practices, however, also impose their own specific constraints on the process, and do so in ways that are more evident than when legitimation is based on signs and symbols (both language and images). The paper contributes to practice-based institutionalism by leveraging one of the central tenets of practice theory to extend the understanding of legitimation. It also illustrates what practice-based sensitivity may look like in action.

The purpose of this paper is to examine views of financial statements preparers with regard to the practices in reporting Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs), thereby contributing to answer whether there is indeed a need for a separate set of Islamic accounting standards for IFIs.

Drawing upon seven in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted with IFIs’ leading officers who are highly involved in preparing financial statements in Malaysia, the paper offers evidence on the current stance of reporting the operation of IFIs, the influence of AAOIFI accounting standards and the feasible application of IFRSs in reporting IFIs.

While it is shown that most of the interviewees admit the feasibility of IFRSs in reporting IFIs, many interviewees placed greater emphasis on the spirit of Islam based on Islamic contract. In that case, the findings show that to convince the public that they offer Shariah compliance products approved by Shariah Advisory Council, there is a need for specificity guidelines or standards for IFIs within the IFRS framework. The main concern raised in the paper is that separate Islamic accounting standard is not needed, instead the option needs to be within the IFRS framework with the collaboration work of Accounting and Auditing for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) and the International Accounting Standard Board (IASB).

With the recent rapid growth of IFIs, this paper contributes regarding the inconclusive stance on the need for specificity accounting standards for IFIs such as the ones issued by AAOIFI. It adds to the current body of knowledge by highlighting the collaboration of the AAOIFI and the IASB for the intended specific guidelines for IFIs to be accepted globally.

This paper aims to examine empirically whether there is a real demand for takaful products among Muslims in the UK, and to assess the awareness about takaful insurance and its main principles among UK Muslim communities.

The paper uses empirical data collected via an online questionnaire.

The study shows that the survey respondents are likely to buy car, health, home and home contents insurance if the same cover is offered as conventional insurance and if prices are competitive. The paper also shows that there is quite a lack of awareness about takaful insurance and its main principles among UK Muslim communities, and that most respondents are only aware of the riba and maysir concepts. It also showed that about half the respondents are not sure whether takaful insurance is in accordance with Islam. The majority of the respondents prefer to get takaful products via banking channels rather than from independent takaful institutions. Not surprisingly, the majority of respondents agreed to the use of Arabic terms for the Islamic insurance to show that these are Islamic products and to differentiate them from conventional alternatives in order to attract more Muslim participants.

This findings presented in this paper would encourage more banks in the UK to develop takaful products to target the rapid increase in Muslim populations in the UK and increase the demand for Islamic insurance products. Some promotion strategies may be needed to increase the customers' awareness of the existing takaful products and, more importantly, to their compliance to the Shariah law. Despite the fact that there is an obvious preference among the survey participants towards using Arabic terms in takaful products, one could argue for the financial benefits of introducing these Islamic insurance products to non‐Muslim customers where Arabic terms are avoided but with the explanations of the main concept of takaful products.

The paper examines empirically (via an online questionnaire) whether there is a real demand for takaful products among Muslims in the UK.