Purpose – This research aims to look into the adverse impact of COVID-19 on Malaysian Islamic banks. Design/methodology/approach – For this work, literature review was undertaken to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 from selected countries. Findings – This research is an attempt to add to the body of knowledge on the matter at hand and to provide a better understanding of the adverse effect of COVID-19 on Islamic banks in Malaysia in terms of capital, liquidity and provision. Increased risk including capital, liquidity and provision, which COVID-19 is thought to disrupt. Research limitations – This study focuses on Islamic banks in Malaysia. Further research should look into the effect of COVID-19 on Islamic and conventional banks to see if there are any parallels or discrepancies with the results of this study. Theoretical implications – Because this paper is conceptual, it will be valuable for Islamic banks’ Shariah research function. The study also contributes to a review of the research on COVID-19 effect on Islamic banks in Malaysia Originality/value – It is the authors’ belief that this study is the first attempt of a conceptual examination of COVID-19’s adverse impact on Malaysian Islamic banks.

Islamic Credit Card has started its first innovation in Malaysia in the year 2002 with Arab Malaysian Bank (AMbank) - Al-Taslif Card. But, the society does not really aware and interested on the new invention until another Islamic Credit Card emerged under Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad with Bank Islam Card. With a great promotion done, BIMB is known as the first bank introduced Islamic Credit Card. In the year 2006 later, another card was issued in order to cater the demand and to become another alternative for Muslim consumers. Bank Simpanan Nasional then announced the new Al-Aiman card with the similar Shari'a operation with the other two cards. However, the emergence of Islamic Credit Card in Malaysia does not portray the level of awareness and understanding among card holder. Thus, this study is an attempt to obtain the relationship between ownership of Shari'a-based Credit cards to the religiosity indexes of the respondents. Specifically, the study focuses on the respondents different level of religiousness in terms of their 3 main entities, i.e. Tauhid, Belief on Pillars of Iman, Application of Pillars of Islam and performing other complementary deeds.

Studies on financial education highlight the need for having children to be exposed on financial management to inculcate sense of responsibility on financial management. The challenge, however is to engage them with the concepts and the same time to deliver the content is engaging and fun manners. The purpose of this study is to highlight key activities involved in the product development of an interactive learning tool, Muamalat Interactive Game. Muamalat Interactive Game (MIG) is a game-based educational tool that i) exposes the players to Islamic banking, investment and social finance instruments ii) promotes inclusive economic development by inculcating the spirit of gift economy. Single case study analysis is adopted in this study on the processes involved for product development of a financial education board game; product conceptualisation, validation and pilot testing to intended users. Descriptive reporting on product conceptualisation and content as well as content and pedagogical validation are provided in the paper. For the pilot testing stage, the learning behaviours of learners are examined from the aspects of Cognitive Knowledge, Affective Behaviors and Technical Skills gained from the pilot testing conducted to the group of 70 secondary children. Learning behaviors of the learners relates to the cognitive ability to identify wealth management vehicles such as real property, share investment and Islamic insurance products as the players are to accumulate wealth using Shariah-compliant and ethical-based investment vehicles. The affective aspect of the learning is tackled from the engagement on charity-giving as the game instills the willingness to share personal wealth built-up over the rounds of game-playing to the Sadaqah house via donation (sadaqah) and endowment (waqf). Sadaqah house serves as the communal fund that restores widened economic gap. The players too, gain technical skills of managing personal finance such as planning and recording cash inflows and outflows, budgeting personal expenses, managing debts, calculate tithe (zakat) due, and finally ascertain net wealth. The findings of this case study could be benefit future innovators wanting to learn product development of serious games.

Shariah audit has currently emerged as an important mechanism in ensuring Shariah compliance in line with the rapid development of Islamic Banking. It strengthens the Shariah compliance and enhance the integrity of Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs) due to the uniqueness features of the IFIs such as the prohibition of riba, gharar, maysir and other requirements that its activities must be in compliance with Shariah. Research on audit expectations gap in Shariah audit practices has received little attention by researchers. Two objectives are set in this study; these are: Firstly, to examine the perceptions of the internal auditors (Shariah auditors), regulators (BNM), Shariah committee, Shariah officers, external auditors and depositors concerning the Shariah audit practices in the Islamic banks in Malaysia. Secondly, to determine the existence of expectations-performance gap between internal auditors (Shariah auditors), regulators (BNM), Shariah committee, Shariah officers’ external auditors and depositors concerning the Shariah auditor’s performance in the Islamic banks in Malaysia. Based on the findings there is existence of gap in Shariah audit practices and auditor’s performance. Thus, there is a need to strengthen the Shariah audit practices in the Islamic banks to ensure greater effectiveness of the goals of Shariah compliance. The research provides new insights into the structure, composition and extent of the audit expectation-performance gap in Shariah audit practices but, more importantly, it signals a rational, comprehensive approach towards narrowing the gap. This should bring practitioner’s and stakeholders's expectations on Shariah audit practices and Shariah auditors' performance into closer accord and, as a consequence, reduce the criticism and different expectations on the Shariah audit practices in the Islamic banks.

The main focus of shariah governance for an organization is to ensure that it is comply with shariah laws and regulations. Under Islamic finance industry, shariah governance is being given attention due to rapid growth of this industry in the world. For Malaysia, the authority through Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) have taken a proactive role by introducing shariah governance guidelines including the Shariah Governance Framework (SGF) 2010, the Islamic Financial Services Act (IFSA) 2013 and the latest is the Shariah Governance Policy Document (SGPD) 2019. These shariah governance guidelines are supposed to support the development of shariah governance practices especially by Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs) in Malaysia. However, there is limited to none study conducted to compare these guidelines. These shariah governance guidelines is necessary to be compared in order to find out whether these guidelines are complemented each other and to identify any differences among these guidelines. Therefore, the aim of this study is to compare between these shariah governance guidelines. Based on the analysis, it has been found that SGPD 2019 is the most comprehensive covers on shariah governance as compared to IFSA 2013 and SGF 2010. However, these three guidelines still not become comprehensive enough, as there is still limited to none discussion on the definition and objectives of shariah governance itself. Keywords: Shariah governance, SGF 2010, IFSA 2013, SGPD 2019

Islamic Credit Card has started its first innovation in Malaysia in the year 1996 with Arab Malaysian Bank (AmBank) - Al-Taslif Card. But, the society does not really aware and interested on the new invention until another Islamic Credit Card emerged under Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad with Bank Islam Card. However, the emergence of Islamic Credit Card in Malaysia does not portray the level of awareness and understanding among card holder. Thus, this research intends to find out the level of understanding and awareness of the emergence of Islamic credit cards among users in Klang Valley. This research is guided by a few important parameters. Firstly, in general, the researchers intend to zoom on the understanding and anareness of all respondents towards Islamic Credit Card. Secondly, the researchers attempt to find out the relationship between ownership of credit cards to a few determining factors. Thirdly, this study also attempts to unveil the relationship between ownership of Islanlic Credit Card to the demographic and socio economic background. Finally, the research is also interested in identifying the possible relationship between ownership of credit cards to the religiosity index of the respondents. The first finding showed that the i~nderstanding and awareness of credit card users on Islamic Credit card are considered as moderate and need a lot of improvement. The findings of the study also indicated that there are three factors contributing towards the ownership of Islamic credit card, namely understanding on the Shariah Application In Islamic Credit Card, understanding on the differences between Islamic Credit Card and Conventional Credit Card and understanding on the Services/Benefits/Promotions/Marketing Strategies by Islamic Credit Card Issuers. The result on the third parameter showed that only religion is significant to the otvnership of Islamic Credit Card. Last of all, in terms of religiosity effect on the ownership of Islamic Credit card, the study found that there is no relationship and possession of Conventional credit card has no direction from respondents' religiosity state.

This study focuses on development of Shariah governance and audit in Islamic Cooperatives in Malaysia. Suruhanjaya Koperasi Malaysia (SKM) governs Islamic cooperatives, which aim to stimulate the development of co-operatives in accordance with Shariah. SKM provides guidelines for Islamic cooperatives to manage the operation of institutions. The development of Shariah governance and audit is essential to complement the Shariah compliance mechanism that already in place and practised internally in the microfinance institutions. Strong regulations, framework and guidelines are needed to uphold the practice of Shariah compliance. Roundtable discussions was used as methodology of the study with the industry practitioners in Islamic Cooperatives. Apart from that, this study also used current guidelines in Islamic Cooperatives as benchmarking practices. SKM published few guidelines related to Shariah governance to assist the operation of cooperatives. Based on the finding, there is an existence of gap in regulation, framework, and guidelines in governing Shariah compliance principles in Islamic Cooperatives. This is crucial since regulation, framework and guidelines in Shariah governance and audit in Islamic Cooperatives will increase the level of trust of the stakeholders that the activities and operations are Shariah-compliant. Also, giving the standardize framework it will contribute towards managing the risk of the microfinance institutions and, within the grander scheme of things, contribute to the growth of the industry and the economy by providing adequate disclosure for the stakeholders to make informed decisions.

Studies on financial education highlight the need for having children to be exposed on financial management to inculcate sense of responsibility on financial management. The challenge, however is to engage them with the concepts and the same time to deliver the content is engaging and fun manners. The purpose of this study is to highlight key activities involved in the product development of an interactive learning tool, Muamalat Interactive Game. Muamalat Interactive Game (MIG) is a game-based educational tool that i) exposes the players to Islamic banking, investment and social finance instruments ii) promotes inclusive economic development by inculcating the spirit of gift economy. Single case study analysis is adopted in this study on the processes involved for product development of a financial education board game; product conceptualisation, validation and pilot testing to intended users. Descriptive reporting on product conceptualisation and content as well as content and pedagogical validation are provided in the paper. For the pilot testing stage, the learning behaviours of learners are examined from the aspects of Cognitive Knowledge, Affective Behaviors and Technical Skills gained from the pilot testing conducted to the group of 70 secondary children. Learning behaviors of the learners relates to the cognitive ability to identify wealth management vehicles such as real property, share investment and Islamic insurance products as the players are to accumulate wealth using Shariah-compliant and ethical-based investment vehicles. The affective aspect of the learning is tackled from the engagement on charity-giving as the game instills the willingness to share personal wealth built-up over the rounds of game-playing to the Sadaqah house via donation (sadaqah) and endowment (waqf). Sadaqah house serves as the communal fund that restores widened economic gap. The players too, gain technical skills of managing personal finance such as planning and recording cash inflows and outflows, budgeting personal expenses, managing debts, calculate tithe (zakat) due, and finally ascertain net wealth. The findings of this case study could be benefit future innovators wanting to learn product development of serious games.

The purpose of this study is to conduct an experiment on undergraduate students (the Generation Y) with the fundamental knowledge on fiqh muamalat (Islamic legal study on business transactions). The research examines the impact of experiential learning to the level of knowledge on Shariah contracts embedded in the game by measuring the pre and post score of the students on the features of the contracts. 114 students from business-related programme took part in the study. They answered pre-experiment questionnaire, played the game and eventually answered post-experiment questionnaire. The game referred to as Muamalat Interactive Game (MIG), an innovation that incorporates the concepts and operations for retail products offered by Islamic banks adopted for personal financial management. This game involves the participants (contracting parties) in several muamalat contracts commonly practiced in Islamic banks, such as as ijarah, tawarruq, rahnu, musharakah mutanaqisah, murabahah and other supporting contracts. The players of the game interactively transact among them to acquire assets, manages cash flow, pay tithe on income and wealth and contribute to charity, applying the muamalat contracts mentioned. The study found that the knowledge of the students significantly enhanced, after the experience of playing the game. They are doing better after the game when identifying the main features of the muamalat contracts, the sequence of transactions forming the contracts and the distinguishing the differences among the contracts. The results also revealed that the game experience made it easy for the students to visual the personal financial management. The results of the experiment revealed the usefulness of using experiential learning for teaching and learning.

Purpose This study aims to explore the current Shariah audit practices in zakat and waqf institutions in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach A focus group discussion (FGD) with 38 zakat and waqf officers from 17 different zakat and waqf institutions in Malaysia was conducted. For reporting purposes, this study used a single-case study approach. The FGD was conducted and completed at the end of June 2021 via an online approach through Microsoft Teams. Findings The finding highlights the existing Shariah governance practices especially in terms of Shariah supervision roles, Shariah audit implementation in terms of Shariah audit scopes and common findings, Shariah audit competency, Shariah audit effectiveness especially the need for external Shariah audit function and Shariah audit issues and challenges faced in the implementation of Shariah audit practices. Practical implications The study findings and recommendations are useful for zakat and waqf institutions as well as the State Islamic Religious Councils to enhance Shariah audit practices in Malaysia. Originality/value This study is among the pioneer studies that explore Shariah audit practices in zakat and waqf institutions in Malaysia

This study aims to analyse the impact of Shariah audit training on the understanding of Shariah audit knowledge by final year students in Malaysian universities. Specifically, this study investigates the understanding of final year students from Malaysian universities based on Shariah audit knowledge learned by comparing the understanding before and after enrolling in the Certified Professional Shariah Auditor (CPSA) training program conducted under the National Graduate Employability (GE 2020) initiative. Shariah audit knowledge is measured through training modules covering Shariah principles, Shariah governance, Islamic financial transactions, Shariah risk management, Shariah audit planning and programme and Shariah audit fieldwork and communication. A survey method was used to collect data from 296 graduates of 13 Malaysian public universities who were enrolled in the training program from July to August 2020. The study found that fresh graduates improved their understanding of Shariah audit knowledge after joining the Shariah audit training. In particular, female students and students with muamalat/Islamic economic background highly improved their Shariah audit knowledge from this CPSA training program compared to other students. In addition, the results also show that Shariah audit education background does not play a significant impact on students’ understanding of Shariah audit knowledge after completing Shariah audit training – CPSA program. This study is believed to be the first study in recognising the impact of Shariah audit training on Shariah audit understanding by students.

This study aims to explore the current Shariah governance practices, Shariah function practices and Shariah governance issues and challenges in Islamic co-operatives in Malaysia. For this, a physical town hall session with 64 representatives from 39 Islamic co-operatives was conducted for data collection. The empirical finding indicates that the Shariah Advisory Council (SAC) of the Malaysia Co-operative Societies Commission (SKM) was perceived to play similar roles like the SAC of the Bank Negara Malaysia and the Securities Commission of Malaysia (SC). Besides, management of Islamic co-operatives in Malaysia also see the need to create a Shariah committee at the co-operative level as part of good Shariah governance practices. Moreover, although more than half of the respondents admit that their respective co-operatives are already implementing Shariah governance practices, the implementation of Shariah function such as Shariah review and Shariah audit is still at the initial stage, with more than half of Islamic co-operatives yet to implement this Shariah function. In addition, several issues and challenges have been identified in the implementation of Shariah governance in Islamic co-operatives. Thisstudy is expected to contribute to enhancing Shariah governance practices in Islamic co-operatives to ensure better Shariah compliance.

The publication of this book is timely for the industry players and regulators to understand the mechanics and good practices of Shariah governance and assurance to manage the Islamic banks and financial institutions in accordance with Shariah principles or the maqasid Shariah. It is hoped that this book would aid students in their quality learning effort towards successful preparation of their examination. As this textbook provides comprehensive knowledge in the area of Governance and Shariah Audit in IFIs, it will prepare the students as Shariah Auditors in IFIs, accounting and auditing firms and corporations.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a comprehensive approach of the company that determines the amount of the organisation's contribution to society and the use of its available resources in a responsible manner. Previous statistics have shown that the contributions of Palestinian companies towards social issues are still limited, and corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) is at a low level. This paper aims to examine the level of CSRD of Palestinian companies and to examine the relationship of board of directors’ (BOD) independence on CSRD. The study employs OLS linear regression analysis to analysis of data using a sample of 31 companies listed on the Palestine Stock Exchange (PSE) during the period from 2012 to 2021. The theoretical framework of agency theory will be adopted to comprehend the relationship between the variables under investigation. The findings reveal that the level of CSR disclosure in Palestinian companies included in the sample of study is 29.5%.The results of the study also, indicated that the positive and significant relationship between BOD independence and CSRD.

Purpose: The existence of internal control for Sharīʿah-compliance promotes reasonable assurance that the Islamic financial institution’s (IFI’s) objectives are achieved in the following categories, namely, the effectiveness and efficiency of operations, the reliability of financial reporting and the level of compliance with applicable laws and regulations, as well as accounting and auditing standards. Sharīʿah non-compliant income (SNCI) is an important issue in IFIs’ operations. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to identify issues related to governance and internal control of SNCI in selected IFIs in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach: This research uses a case study approach to gather data on the measures of governance and risk management in relation to the internal control for SNCI in IFIs. Interviews were conducted with officers of the Sharīʿah and internal audit departments on internal control practices regarding SNCI. Findings: Regulator’s guidelines on SNCI are simple and brief, lacking rigour in terms of governance, risk management and audit procedures. The section on SNCI is only a brief statement within the Bank Negara Malaysia’s Guidelines on Financial Reporting for Islamic Banking Institutions and also in the Operational Risk Integrated Online Network system operated by IFIs. Most of the respondents in the interviews suggested that there should be a proper guideline in determining the classification of SNCI. Second, although IFIs have established the purification account to manage SNCI, the real practice varies from one IFI to another. Third, although there are supposedly documented procedures established in relation to management and administration of SNCI, the following events still occur in practice, namely, no authorisation from the Sharīʿah Committee (SC) on various types of income channelled to the SNCI account; unauthorised use of SNCI for other purposes; SNCI not being reported in the annual financial reports; and distribution of SNCI prior to obtaining the SC’s consent. Fourth, there is an absence of Sharīʿah risk assessment conducted on operational risk by IFIs to identify any potential Sharīʿah non-compliant event. Research limitations/implications: This research contributes to the importance of Islamic corporate governance theory and Sharīʿah risk management, as well as strengthening the case for reporting SNCI to shareholders. It also contributes to the body of knowledge on the capability of the management in managing the internal control system of IFIs’ SNCI.

The development of Shariah governance and audit in Islamic Cooperatives in Malaysia is one of the primary concerns since some issues were raised throughout the process. Islamic cooperatives in Malaysia are regulated by Suruhanjaya Koperasi Malaysia (SKM), which aims to encourage the growth of cooperatives that comply with Shariah. Islamic cooperatives operate their business under supervision from SKM regarding governance and Shariah perspective. The development of Shariah governance and Shariah audit support the Shariah compliance system that already operates in most Islamic institutions. During the Shariah governance and audit process, some issues are addressed during the development, which involves guidelines, Shariah auditor competency, staff skills, and governance and Shariah audit of the cooperative sector. The study’s approach included an interview with practitioners from cooperatives, auditors, and experts in the industry. This paper aims to identify the issues and challenges of Shariah governance and Shariah audit in the Islamic cooperative sector. The study will contribute to one of the key critical elements in strengthening the Shariah governance and Shariah audit in the cooperative sector

This study aims to examine the current issues and challenges in implementing Shariah audit practices in several Shariah-based sectors in Malaysia, namely, Islamic financial sector, Islamic Capital Market (ICM), Islamic cooperative, public Shariah-based and Public Trust Entity (PTE). Furthermore, based on the findings, several future strategies are proposed to enhance Shariah audit practices. In this study, a series of Focus Group Discussions (FGD) was employed, and 124 participants from 76 Shariah-based institutions were involved through five FGD sessions. This study discovered that each Shariah-based sector has different issues and challenges in implementing Shariah audit practices due to the current Shariah governance and assurance practices in respective sectors. Thus, three main strategies were proposed that can be used to bring Shariah audit practices to another level for these Shariah-based sectors. This includes nurturing Shariah governance and assurance, developing specific Shariah audit scopes based on the uniqueness of each Shariah-based sector, and enhancing the professionalisation of Shariah auditors. Note that this study is considered a pioneering study in identifying the issues and challenges in implementing Shariah audit practices in various Shariah-based sectors. It also contributes by proposing the main strategies to enhance Shariah audit practices as a next step in the future.