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This study looked into the scope of integrating the aspirations of zakah and corporate social responsibility (CSR) to counter poverty, inequity, illiteracy, malnutrition and environmental pollution to ensure peace, happiness, prosperity and sustainability as envisaged in sustainable development goals (SDGs).

This is a qualitative research study conducted using both primary and secondary data. Primary data were collected from 29 business enterprises in Bangladesh employing a semi-structured interview protocol. The secondary data were collected through content analysis of annual reports, websites and CSR publications of sample organizations. Finally, collected qualitative data have been analyzed thematically following the due procedures to address the research questions.

The findings reveal that integration of the aspirations of zakah and CSR is a convenient and wholehearted approach for entrepreneurs resulting in pursuing SDGs. In addition, business entrepreneurs in Bangladesh consider such practices as killing two birds with one stone because this approach warrants performing both religious and social obligations simultaneously. Interestingly, the study explores that shariah compliance acts as a guiding force for selecting well-being-oriented projects in zakah-funded CSR resulting in pursuing the priority goals – No Poverty (1), Zero Hunger (2) – of SDGs, thereby addressing some of the most critical issues of emerging economies such as Bangladesh.

The findings of this research can be used as a guide to incorporate the spirit and principle of zakah into the CSR programs aimed at pursuing SDGs mainly in Muslim countries representing one-fourth of the world population.

Integration of the aspirations of zakah and CSR is an innovative move and net addition to the literature on sustainability, CSR and zakah because Muslim business entrepreneurs will now conveniently be able to use the entrepreneurs' zakah money – readily available in each financial year – to fund the entrepreneurs' various CSR projects (within shariah framework) relating to poverty alleviation, humanitarian and disaster relief, health and sanitation and environmental conservation which will eventually contribute to pursuing various SDGs.

The increasing number of papers on zakah shows that it has become an important research topic. However, few studies attempt to analyze the evolution of zakah studies which might be helpful as guidance for policymakers in creating zakah management systems and policies, for zakah management organizations administering zakah funds, for future research on related subjects and for academic actors to construct a zakah study curriculum. This study aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis of the evolution of zakah theme publications from 1964 to 2021.

This study uses bibliometric analysis to analyze the evolution of zakah research. This study compared all Scopus-indexed journal papers to Zakah publications regarding research flow, themes, abstracts and titles. The relationships between researchers, the titles of the papers and keywords associated with “zakah” are analyzed in these publications published between 1964 and 2021. A total of 632 scientific contributions were discovered using RStudio and VOSviewer to analyze the bibliometric metadata.

Based on the results, the theme of zakah has evolved from 1964 to 2021. The author emphasizes the zakah publication theme. Each affiliation and country have its conditions, management method, data sources and characteristics. The theme “zakah institutions and zakah collecting” grew in popularity between 2010 and 2021 and is projected to grow in the following years. Malaysia, Indonesia and Pakistan can be used as zakah development research models. In spans of zakah publications, the author with the most global citations is Wahab N.A., and the author with the most productive is Saad Raj.

Zakah publications are analyzed using the Scopus database. This study applied only Scopus index data, excluding non-Scopus, and most studies conducted in non-English languages. This conclusion indicates the issue’s importance among academic researchers and practitioners, notably on the subject of zakah. Thus, a comprehensive picture of zakah theme publications assists researchers and zakah fund institutions in making assessments, focusing on the unstudied fraction of the zakah theme.

This research is planned to serve as a reference for future research, particularly examining the theme’s novelty. It is intended to have implications for policymakers, particularly zakah institutions, regarding funding the several zakah research issues and concentrations.

This research can guide future researchers and is expected to include parameters such as author, year and data source while analyzing zakah publications to generate new findings.

This is probably one of few comprehensive studies that examined the evolution of the zakah theme using the Scopus-indexed database. The relevance of this paper is to provide suggestions and projections for future zakah research. Scholars should examine zakah publications by author, year and data source to gain fresh insights. Search for data sources with high-impact factors and objective metrics, then clear out irrelevant documents to improve the analysis’ quality and findings.

The face value of nonowner-occupied real estate and business fixed assets is excluded from Zakah, according to most Fiqh scholars who argue that it has not been explicitly ordered during the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad (sas). This study aims to test the hypothesis that the role of these properties in the early Islamic economy was insignificant and, therefore, differed from today.

A qualitative historical analysis of primary Islamic sources and narrations from early Muslim historiography has been conducted to understand real estate sales and rent, construction costs and the number and size of houses owned by the Sahabah. In addition, inheritance reports and land gift records have been examined to obtain relevant information about the value of real estate. As for business fixed assets, the type, number and wealth of craftspeople as well as their tools have been analyzed to reveal their significance in comparison with today.

The findings of this study confirm the hypothesis that real estate for investment purposes and business fixed assets were quasi-non-existent during the lifetime of the Prophet (sas) and, therefore, irrelevant from a Zakah perspective.

This study intends to be a catalyst for the reconsideration of Zakah on these items of wealth and contributes to the Fiqhi discourse.

Qardhul Hasan (QH) is a type of Islamic contract that prioritises benevolent aspects between beneficiaries and the fund provider. The effective management and distribution of QH can contribute to overcoming economic problems in society. This study aims to explore the potential to enlarge the sources of QH funding and QH financing in Indonesian Islamic banks. The paper proposes a framework for QH management in Islamic banks by identifying the sources of QH funds as well as the management and potential allocations of QH funds.

This study uses a descriptive analysis method with a framework-based review to discuss the strategy of optimising the sources, financing and management of QH in Islamic banks. The implementation of QH in the Islamic banking industry is described based on the previous literature and current phenomena.

To positively impact economic development, Islamic banks can collaborate with parties that are more focused on charitable activities and have greater resources to channel and use QH funds. This study also formulates a framework of QH funds management that prioritises efforts to multiply benefits for both the fund provider and the beneficiaries.

The descriptive method used in this paper comprises preliminary research to analyse the current phenomena and potential strategies that can be implemented. Future studies may use empirical data to strengthen the analysis.

The recommendations of this paper can be used by relevant social fund management institutions in collaboration with Islamic banking.

QH reflects not only the social aspects of Islamic banks and extends beyond their corporate social responsibility activities, its effective management will make a greater contribution to reducing the level of unemployment, poverty alleviation and supporting the country’s economic development.

This paper provides a framework that integrates financial institutions in maximising QH fund management to encourage greater benefits for the community. Although previous studies have mentioned the important role of QH, relatively few have considered how Islamic banks maximise its management.

This paper aims to identify the antecedents of giving charitable donations (Sadaqah) during the pandemic in a majority-Muslim country. This paper proposes and tests a theoretical framework in which attitude toward giving donations mediates the effects of perceived behavioral control, subjective norms and past behavior on giving charitable donations (Sadaqah). The authors also investigate the mediating effect of attitude toward giving donations and the moderating effect of Islamic religiosity in an emerging nation characterized by the dominance of the Islamic doctrine. Gender, age and income have been examined as control variables.

Survey data from a sample of 377 respondents from Morocco were analyzed to test the hypotheses using structural equation modeling.

The results indicate that past behavior, subjective norms, attitude toward giving donations and intention to donate are key predictors of giving charitable donation during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper also confirms the mediating effect of attitude toward giving donations, e.g. subjective norms trigger positive attitude toward giving donations, which increases respondents’ donation frequency. The results also suggest a significant moderating effect of Islamic religiosity, e.g. individuals who feel themselves as highly religious are more likely to develop a favorable attitude toward giving donations and are therefore more likely to donate during the pandemic.

The findings suggest practical and social implications for both academics and practitioners. As attitude, subjective norm, past behavior and intention are found to significantly influence giving charitable donations (Sadaqah), fundraising organizations should give serious attention on these factors to improve individuals’ charitable giving (Sadaqah). Such organizations should also consider the use of faith-based messages and religious morals when planning their advertising campaigns in majority-Muslim markets.

Although preliminary studies have already attempted to provide knowledge about the factors influencing giving donations among both Muslims and nonMuslims, potential antecedents of giving donations (Sadaqah) during the COVID-19 pandemic have not been considered and are yet to be empirically investigated. This paper provides new perceptions on factors influencing giving donations on a majority-Muslim majority country where no zakat institution operates. Such findings can be useful for both academicians, fundraising organizations and policymakers in Morocco to promote charitable actions and boost its socio-economic affects.

This study aims to compare the nexus between donations to Islamic and conventional microfinance institutions (MFIs) and their credit risk, financial performance and social outreach.

The authors use fixed effects and two-step system generalized methods of moments models with internal instrumentation. The analysis is conducted on an international sample of 1,519 MFIs in 55 countries during 1999–2019.

Islamic MFIs receiving greater donations experience an increase in credit risk, whereas the opposite occurs among their conventional counterparts. Donations are associated with an improvement in the depth of outreach of Islamic MFIs, allowing them to serve a poorer client base, despite a simultaneous decline in the breadth of their outreach. On the other hand, donations improve both the depth and breadth of conventional MFIs outreach. Donations also exhibit a positive relation with productivity, efficiency and sustainability in conventional MFIs.

This paper addresses a gap in the literature on Islamic MFIs and their use of donor funds by examining how donations contribute to the quality of their credit portfolios, financial performance and social outreach. This study used Ahmed’s (2012, 2017, 2020, 2021) total factor productivity model to capture the impact of donations on the performance of MFIs.

Donations are found to contribute to positive financial inclusion outcomes for both Islamic and conventional MFIs, a promising implication for society and donors alike.

This paper addresses a gap in the academic literature on Islamic MFIs and their use of donor funds by examining how donations contribute to the quality of their credit portfolios, financial performance and social outreach.

Although the phenomenon of the corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) has derived the interest of several scholars, in recent years, the comparative studies between Islamic banks (IBs) regarding CSRD quantity versus quality have not been the subject matter of studies till now. In this perspective, this chapter aims to investigate the importance given by IBs to the quality and quantity disclosure of CSR. Moreover, it seeks to explore the impact of CSRD quality and quantity on the IBs' financial performance (FP). To meet these objectives, we used a sample of 59 IBs from 2011 to 2016 in the Arab world and non-Arab world. Then, by adopting the content analysis approach, the authors constructed two CSRD indexes (quality and quantity). The empirical results indicated that IBs give more importance to the qualitative disclosure than the quantitative. Our findings will be very helpful for the policymakers and the managers of IBs because maintaining a good CSRD policy increases the capacity of IBs to deal with possible reputational events, thus protecting their profits and financial results. As far as the comparison between the Arabian and non-Arabian IBs, based on financial reports and Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) governance standard N°7 is concerned, our study is among the first studies that provides two new CSRD indexes (quantity and quality).

Most donation-related studies have extensively examined in-group donation behavior, but it is difficult to find similar studies that consider donations to out-group members. This study aims to understand online cross-religion donation during COVID-19 in Indonesia.

The online questionnaire is distributed using the purposive and snowball sampling technique. From July to August 2021, 753 respondents are obtained, comprising Muslims, Catholics, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and Confucian.

This study found that online cross-religion dona tion is strongly influenced by the social presence, trust in fundraiser and empathy. Interestingly, this study also reveals a partial mediation effect of trust in fundraiser and empathy in the relationship between social presence and online cross-religion donation. Future studies are encouraged to investigate and explore how care for others may affect online prosocial behavior.

This study provides two theoretical contributions. First, this study empirically evinced that charitable donation is blind to religious belief. Second, it promotes the mediating role of empathy and trust in fundraisers to improve online cross-religion donation.

This study aims to propose a temporary waqf model for family waqf by establishing its application parameters, which may facilitate the management of family waqf in Malaysia and encourage new donors to establish waqf.

A qualitative methodology was employed to analyse the data through deductive and field research methods. For field research, this study conducted semi-structured interviews with the Waqf Corporations and Mufti's Department in the selected states within Malaysia.

Results drawn from the interview's findings are that creating family waqf in Malaysia is hindered by several obstacles, including family waqfs not serving the public interest but rather their descendants, and family waqfs have been practised in perpetuity. Besides, inefficient management of family waqf and a lack of an effective mechanism and parameter exists. Therefore, this study presented a conceptual framework for a temporary cash waqf model for family waqf along with the parameters that can be used to implement it. The temporary waqf is a strategy to develop waqf property and the interests of creators, beneficiaries and trustees. Temporary waqf merged into the family waqf yields benefits to the family waqf.

Because of Malaysia's Waqf Regulation and Administration, this study was confined to selected states. This study has broadened the scope of temporary family waqf, including moveable, immovable property and cash waqf.

This study presented a temporary waqf model for family waqf as a realistic mechanism and criterion for its practical implementation in Malaysia.

This study could encourage new donors to establish waqf.

This study’s novelty lies in its attempt to highlight the importance of the temporary waqf model as a practical mechanism with holistic principles for its implementation in Malaysia to benefit the donors, their families and trustees. In addition to family waqf, numerous temporary waqfs may be established, in which the income or usufruct is shared proportionally, such as charitable waqf (waqf khairi), private waqf (waqf khas) and joint waqf (waqf mushtarak).

This study aims to present a bibliometric analysis of Islamic social finance (ISF) by addressing gaps in the existing research, exploring the current trends of publications and determining possible future research directions in this field.

Relevant bibliometric data of published research during 1914–2022 was extracted from the Scopus database and 1,355 studies were considered for the analysis. Biblioshiny app from RStudio, VOSviewer and Microsoft Excel were the tools used for analysis.

The identified current research streams are management and distribution of ISF funds especially zakat through fintech; governance and accountability of ISF institutions; Islamic microfinance for poverty alleviation and financial inclusion; ISF for promoting sustainable development and achieving United Nations sustainable development goals; waqf endowments and cash waqf; and Islamic charities. The identified themes for future research directions are Islamic fintech, integration of ISF, sustainable development, economic recovery, social entrepreneurship, sustainable ISF ecosystem and supporting refugees.

It provides extensive and up-to-date literature on the current trends in ISF and future research themes which can be useful for researchers, professionals and policymakers in the field.

The findings of this research contribute to the solutions to socio-economic challenges and support sustainable development through ISF.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is one of the first attempt to provide a pervasive bibliometric review on ISF by including various aspects of ISF and extending the study period to more than 100 years.