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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of applying alternative Shariah screens on the resulting universe of halal assets and to show that Shariah screening procedures currently used in practice are inconsistent with respect to discriminating between halal and haram.

An empirical data analysis of the different asset universes obtained when applying the criteria specified by the most prominent Shariah‐compliant funds and indexes to a common standard asset universe, the assets contained in the S&P 500 index.

Analysis reveals that the asset universes are significantly different in size as well as constituents, i.e. for every index there is a substantial number of assets which are specified as halal or haram but classified the opposite way for other indexes. This indicates that, so far, there is no universal or generally accepted understanding of how to transform the descriptive Shariah rules into a system of checkable investment guidelines.

The results presented in this paper could motivate the development of a standardized screening framework which, taking into account the existing Shariah guidelines, produces a controlled, unified and understandable classification of assets, by which the credibility and consistency of Islamic equity products is enriched.

Islamic institutions and Shariah scholars are guided to set up a common and standardized Shariah screening norm based on which computer‐based management systems for Shariah compatible portfolios could be developed.

This paper is believed to be the first empirical comparative analysis identifying the impact of using different Shariah screens on the composition of the compliant asset universe. The sensitization of Shariah scholars, fund managers and Islamic investors for the consequences of this so far undiscovered relation will certainly contribute to an enrichment of the credibility and consistency of Islamic equity products.

This study aims to explore the evolution of the Islamic capital market (ICM) from the perspective of research publications.

A bibliometric analysis was applied based on selected publications from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database from 2000 to 2021. The study adopted VOSviewer software which was developed by Leiden University.

This study has some implications that need urgent action. Firstly, there are some areas that have received little attention among researchers, although they are relevant to the industry, for instance, in fintech and blockchain in ICM. Secondly, the inconsistent frequency of publications in some niche areas may suggest that there are unprecedented events that hinder further research; probably, the researcher may anticipate more information and progress in the industry. Thirdly, the need to strengthen the collaboration between industry and academia to advance research.

This study considered only the WoSCC database. The provider of WoSCC is Clarivate (formerly known as Thomson Reuters), where access to publications is limited to institutional subscribers. The implications of this study are to identify and propose future research trends in the field of ICM.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the present study is among the pioneer studies in analysing bibliometric focusing on ICM. Previous research has focused on Islamic finance and banking, and not specifically on ICM. Accordingly, this study sheds light on research gaps in ICM.

The purpose of this paper is to indicate the current state of studies on Islamic finance and management through a bibliometric analysis of the only social science citation index (SSCI)-indexed journal in this field.

The paper uses a bibliometric analysis, collecting data from the 319 papers published in the International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management (IMEFM) from 2008 to 2019. Moreover, VOSviewer software has been used to illustrate the citation analysis (including most cited papers, most cited authors and authors’ affiliated institutions and countries) and the keyword map.

The number of papers published in each issue of the IMEFM is found to have significantly increased owing to its unique situation being the only SSCI-indexed journal in this domain. The share of the empirical researches in total papers published annually has steadily risen, reaching 95% in 2019. In terms of case countries, although Malaysia is the most examined country in the papers, other countries such as Indonesia and Turkey are found to have been used as a case country by researchers recently. Islamic banking-related papers are the most prevalent studies, as expected, with mainly their performance being examined. Meanwhile, the number of papers about Islamic social financial institutions has notably grown in recent years. Finally, technology-based initiatives such as crowdfunding and cryptocurrencies are noted to have not yet been the subject of any paper.

The main contribution of this study is its analysis of the only SSCI-indexed journal on Islamic finance and management using bibliometrics. Also, all the papers published in the journal have been reviewed in terms of methodology, case country/country groups and topics/subtopics to lead the way for future research.