Journal of Islamic Finance (JIF)
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An Integrated Model of Waqf, Sadaqah and Takaful for Poverty Alleviation through Empowering Women Farmers in the Rural Gambia
Full text linkThe agony of poverty on the globe is rather a perplexing one; despite the growth of global economies and advances in science and technology, yet over 700 million people is living in extreme poverty globally. Approximately 241 million are from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries, with just 9 of the Low-Income countries accounting for more than 40%. Despite these interesting statistics on poverty, the OIC countries housed more than two-thirds of theworld’s energy resources and 40% of its natural resources and yet accounts for more than half of the countries under the Low Human Development Index (HDI). According to the World Bank estimates, the COVID-19 pandemic could push about 70-100 million people into extreme poverty. The pandemic is drastically changing the poverty dynamics globally with Sub Saharan African countries deem to be the most affected. The Gambia, a member of the OIC and Sub Saharan African, has 48% of her population living below the poverty line with an HDI ranking of 174 out of 189. The Gambia produces only half of the food it needs, with acute malnutrition at 10%, and 23% of children are stunted. As conventional policies have been deployed over the years to fight poverty, it is only fair to raise the curtains on the potentials of Islamic Social Financing that can also complement the global efforts in eradicating poverty. As a conceptual paper, this study employed qualitative methods to present the potentials of agricultural investment through a hybrid model of waqf, sadaqah, and takaful to aid women farmers of the rural Gambia in financing their agricultural activities
Shariah Audit Practices in Malaysia: Moving Forward
Full text linkThe Shariah audit being a monitoring tool for ensuring Shariah compliance proved to be an important component in the operations of Islamic financial institutions (IFIs). In the case of Malaysia, Bank Negara Malaysia has issued a Shariah Governance Framework in 2010 which categorically made Shariah audit function as one of the required functions in IFIs in addition to Shariah Review, Shariah Research and Shariah Risk Management. In line with this, this study aimed at exploring the extent of practitioners’ awareness and perceptions of Shariah audit, the possible challenges associated with it as well as its future implications. The study used 83 practitioners drawn from various IFIs external audit firms that are involved in Shariah audit services through purposive sampling procedure. Questionnaire instrument was employed in generating the data. The findings of the study showed that practitioners’ awareness is satisfactory, as majority of them got to know about Shariah audit through an educational programme, which gave them the opportunity to express what ought to be the desirable practice of Shariah audit. Similarly, the findings revealed that the lack of the independent Shariah audit report, the standalone Shariah audit framework and the inadequate competent Shariah auditors are among the main concerns in the practice. Moreover, the findings also showed that Shariah audit will have a high potential to take up as a marketable career in the near future. Finally, the findings suggest that the integration of Shariah audit in accounting courses in institutions of higher learning; comprehensive Shariah audit framework and standards; new regulatory/professional body with a mandate of supervising IFIs as well as a professional certification in Shariah audit should be made available. It is hoped that the study will contribute towards the development of desired Shariah audit practices in Malaysia
Application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Islamic Investments
Full text linkThis study examines the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Islamic Investments. AI technology is very popular in both the conventional and Islamic banking systems as reflected in the contributions of AI in Islamic investment. The technology helps investors to analyse their stocks in terms of price levels, the current stability of each stock and the future price forecasts based on current price and stock data. The study is a conceptual discussion on the application of AI in Islamic investment, which focuses on the discussion of Text Mining, Algorithmic Trading, Stock Pick and Robo in Investment, which include Robo Advisor, Robo Islamic Advisor (RIA) and Robo Financial Advisor (RFA) operating in Islamic investment system. Thus, the discussion dwells on the cognitive application along with investment and compliance sectors of the financial services industry. The conclusion of the study highlights the implications, limitations and future research of the subject matter. 
Shariah Governance in Islamic Financial Institutions in Indonesia and Malaysia: A Comparative Analysis
Full text linkIslamic finance and banking in Indonesia and Malaysia have seen significant growth regionally and globally due to the effective implementation of Shariah Governance (SG) in their respective Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs). Hence, this study aimed to comparatively analyse Shariah Governance frameworks practiced in IFIs in these two countries. The study adopted a qualitative analysis based on a case study of SG in Indonesia and Malaysia. Official documents and policies, particularly Shariah Governance Policy Document 2019 in Malaysia and Peraturan Bank Indonesia 2009 in Indonesia, were comparatively analysed according to the responsibilities of the Board of Directors, senior management, Shariah supervisory board and Shariah compliance culture. The study found that SG in Indonesia and Malaysia has several similarities and differences in its SG practices. SG in Indonesia is observed to be not as comprehensive as in Malaysia as the Board of Commissioners and Board of Directors in Indonesian IFIs do not have an active responsibility in SG as compared to Malaysia. Furthermore, SG in Indonesia does not require the establishment of Shariah control functions, and there is also a lack of a robust Shariah non-compliance (SNC) risk management when compared to Malaysia. Nevertheless, the authors believe that the internal policies of Indonesian IFIs would address these issues and strive to enhance the robustness of their SG practices. In the end, the authors hope that the findings from this study would fill the knowledge gap with new developments in SG in Indonesia and Malaysia
Assessing the Awareness of Islamic Law on Equity Investment in State of Assam, India
Full text linkThe objective of the study is to ascertain the awareness level of the Shariah and equity investment decisions among the Muslims population in the selected districts of Assam, India. The study is based on primary data collected from the government and semi-government sector which are classified as educated Muslim employees working in Assam, India. This study found that the awareness levels on the Shariah and equity investment of the educated Muslim employees are low. However, the pretention of awareness on the Shariah requirements with regards to equity investment is moderate. The study is conducted based on the response from Muslim employees in the four districts of Assam, India. Since the level of awareness on equity investment as well as the Shariah is at low level, there is a need for adequate awareness campaign highlighting the salient features of Islamic law regarding the equity investment in particular and about the equity investment in general
Issues and Challenges of the Application of Mudarabah and Musharakah in Islamic Bank Financing Products
Full text linkThere has been a record of limited Islamic financial institutions applying risk sharing principles in financing product, especially Mudarabah and Musharakah. The issues of high risk and multi-faceted business risks that are associated with Mudarabah and Musharakah become the main obstacle in the implementation. This study aims to explore the current development of Mudarabah and Musharakah contracts in Islamic financing products, to analyze the issues and challenges in the implementation of Mudarabah and Musharakah contracts in Islamic financing products from the perceptive of Islamic banks, regulators, and customers/entrepreneurs. It also explores the possible recommendations to enhance the implementation of Mudarabah and Musharakah contracts in Islamic financing products. This study uses library research method by acquiring and analysing the information from literature related to the products and issues on Musharakah and Mudarabah as an equity mode of financing. This study finds that high risk, asymmetric information problems, moralhazard, and difficult financing evaluation processes are the main reasons of Islamic banks not offering financing product with profit and loss sharing contract. At the same time, regulators also require better risk mitigation for the scheme due to its high risk. To increase the development of Mudarabah and Musharakah products, the authors recommend the industry to change their mindset of Islamic banking operations, increase customer awareness, adopt fintech to reduce evaluation and monitoring costs, and improve the regulatory framework that supports Islamic banking by issuing regulations and incentives which could encourage the implementation of profit and loss sharing scheme
Islamic Social Finance and Green Finance to Achieve SDGs through Minimizing Post Harvesting Losses in Bangladesh
Full text linkThe whole world is passing through an unprecedented period and struggling to overcome the economic and financial losses caused by a tiny virus COVID 19. Bangladesh is no exception. The economy of the country is agricultural-based and post-harvesting losses of fruits and vegetables is a significant issue here. This paper tries to investigate the old problem from a different perspective, with a new strategy, hoping to mitigate the impairment. Basically, renewableenergy-based cold storage can solve the issue. Green financing, along with Islamic Social Financing, can play a vital role to facilitate the cold storage opportunities to the rural farmers. This paper, following a qualitative research method, is trying to offer a solution to minimize the post-harvesting losses. The implementation of this solution can help the rural mass to get rid of the poverty, hunger and malnutrition problems. In this effort not only good health and well-being will be ensured, but also partnership business practices will be enhanced while guaranteeing affordable clean energy uses. Consequently, the successful implementation of the new strategy can help the country to achieve several sustainable development goals, some directly and some indirectly
Examining the Firm-Specific Factors Influencing Systematic Risk of Transportation Firms in Malaysia and Singapore
Full text linkThe objective of this study is to examine the effect of firm-specific variables on systematic risk in the transportation industry in Malaysia and Singapore for 20 years from 1997 to 2016. To determine the systematic risk, this study employs panel data analysis of Fixed Effect Model (FEM), Pooled Ordinary Least Square (POLS), and Random Effect Model (REM). Overall findings of both countries showed that financial leverage, profitability, and firm growth are insignificantto systematic risk. However, Malaysia shows liquidity significantly and positively associated with systematic risk. Meanwhile, Singapore indicates a positive relationship with firm size. Moreover, by examining the impact of the financial crisis (2008) on systematic risk, this study found that the presence of the financial crisis does not influence the behaviour of systematic risk in the transportation industry in Malaysia and Singapore. The findings of this study contribute to the finance literature which may help to increase the current understanding about the nature of systematic risk of the firms, including the Shariah-compliant transportation firms in Malaysia. A good perception of the sources of risk may assist policymakers as well as firm managers to obtain new ideas against external issues such as systematic risk, and this may help firms to increase profitability and prevent them from a loss or bankruptcy cost. Moreover, the additional information about the financial crisis and systematic risk may help firm managers to be more prepared to handle systematic risk in anormal as well as during crisis periods. 
Book Review: An Introduction to Islamic Finance (Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani)
Full text linkThe book An introduction to Islamic Finance by the renowned Pakistani scholar Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani is an indispensable reference in its field of scholarship. Even after twenty years, the book remains one of the gateways to Islamic finance despite the remarkable developments in industry and the predominant scholarly production
The Contemporary Role of Tabung Haji Malaysia in Fulfilling Sustainability via Islamic Social Finance
Full text linkAs an Islamic institution, Tabung Haji (TH) Malaysia is important in mobilising savings of depositors and operating innovative Islamic investment fund in an efficient manner thereby fulfilling the lifelong desire of Muslims in embarking their pilgrimage journey and performing hajj rituals. The positive impact of TH on Muslim society in Malaysia is undeniable. However, problems have been brewing in TH when in 2015 the Central Bank of Malaysia issued a warningto TH on their negative reserves but still paid out higher dividends and in 2018 the new management of TH made police reports on the 2017 financial accounts alleging that the previous management misused fund, broken their own accounting rules, and illegally declared dividends. This paper undertakes to examine the history, objectives and sustainable strategies of TH that ensures its long term survival, resilience and contribution to Islamic Social Finance (ISF). This study uses qualitative library research method that specifically refers to financial reports (2010-2018), documents, journals and texts regarding activities of TH and authors’ own observation, to test how TH adapts to the new setup of Covid-19 (C19) challenges via ISF. This study reveals that although TH provides a good example as a competent hajj agency worldwide unethical political and external interference on professional management and decision-making of TH has brought undue pressures on TH to make politically-motivated decisions resulting in a conflict of interests. This study suggests that in times of C19 new landscape, TH should lead in ISF, reinvent TH as an effective post pandemic organisation and adopting purposeful technologies for business survival. This study has important implications on business goals and relevance of TH if they are to enhance their image and contributes to sustainable development of ISF