Historical evidence demonstrates the enormous role waqf institutions have played in the development and advancement of Muslims throughout the Muslim history. With the proper structure and strategy, waqf contributes to numerous spheres of life, including mainstream economic development. Contemporary development of Islamic finance has enabled the waqf concept to be linked to various financial products, including Shariah-compliant investment instruments, such as, Islamic unit trust funds and Islamic wholesale funds. This paper aims to highlight the current applications of the Waqf-Featured Fund (WFF) in the Malaysia Islamic Fund Management Industry. This is in relation to the launch of a new WFF framework to facilitate the offering of Islamic funds with waqf characteristics. The study took both qualitative via in-depth semi-structured interviews with eleven (11) WFF stakeholders, as well as, analyzing of policy documents, journal articles, books, and online resources. The findings shed light on the current issues and challenges confronting waqf projects in Malaysia, as well as the current guidelines and essential requirements for the WFF, the current application of the WFF in the Malaysian Islamic Fund Management (IFM) industry and a proposal for the future application model, which includes fund collection, investment structure, distribution process, and fund reporting.

The fastest growing in technology in the recent many of years has changed the way of people live and the conduct of business. The existing of the internet and mobile has led to profound transformation to a various industry from manual-based to automatic-based activity and from offline to online transaction include in banking and financial industry. The objective of this study is to analyze the related literatures on Digital Banking and Financial Inclusion between 2014 until 2020. The methodology that has been applied in this study is descriptive research based on document analysis on previous studies and literatures on digital banking and financial inclusion either from free-of-charge or free-of-registration online journals. The journals and articles are acquired from various sources of channel such as google scholar, science direct and researchgate.com. There are 126 articles related in this field were collected and examined. This study perceived at several variables which include authorship patterns, number of articles published, research approach, geographical affiliation, subject and gender of the author. The general finding of this study illustrates that most of the previous study discussed on economic and social development that positively influenced by digital banking and financial inclusion.

This study aims to understand the trends of scientific publications related to takaful in the world and to show how authors, institutions, and countries interact with each other in those studies in the field of takaful or Islamic insurance. This study is a quantitative research that employs bibliometric analysis. A time limit was set to examine the current data and the results between the years 2000 to 2023. The journals and articles are acquired from the Scopus scientific database. Overall, there are 321 articles related to the field of takaful were retrieved. This study perceived several variables, including authorship patterns, number of articles published, research approach, geographical affiliation, and subject area. The contribution of this study illustrates that most of the previous studies discussed economic and social development, which are positively influenced by the importance of takaful worldwide. This study finds that the number of takaful literature has increased significantly and consistently over the last 23 years. While there is a positive direction for future research related to takaful areas, however, there is no article produced in the scientific database touching on agriculture takaful. Thus, this will open a vast opportunity for future scientific research collaboration and publications in agriculture takaful. This study also found that Malaysia, Pakistan, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and United Kingdom have become the five countries that have played a major role in creating collaborative takaful research. The findings of this study provide important implications for improving the practice of takaful globally.

This paper aims to present the viability of unit trust waqf as an alternative asset class for waqf creation. The paper provides the conceptual framework of unit trust waqf based on the existing fixed unit trusts structure managed under Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB). This paper starts with the conceptual exploration of the literature in the area of waqf, which are sourced from authentic sources of al-Quran and al-Hadith, as well as secondary sources such as books, journal articles and online resources. The novelty of this paper lies in its attempt to highlight the importance of waqf investment strategy in ensuring the perpetuity of waqf by preserving its capital to maintain sustainable return for waqf beneficiaries. PNB’s fixed unit trust structure has been identified as a viable conceptual model for unit trust waqf to pool more cash waqf from individual investors. The sustainability of the capital waqf assets in the form of unit trust is preserved through the parameters for its application as proposed toward the end of the paper.

With the appropriate structure and strategy, waqf can support many spheres of life, including the growth of the mainstream economy. The historical evidence has demonstrated the enormous contribution of waqf institutions to the advancement of the Muslim community. The waqf concept has been integrated into a variety of financial assets, including Shariah-compliant investment vehicles like unit trusts, as Islamic finance has developed in modern times. This paper aims to highlight the recent development of waqf-linked unit trust funds within the Malaysian context. The current study employed a qualitative research approach, which was designed through the use of document analysis of policy documents, journal articles, books, and online resources. The paper concludes that the waqf-linked unit trust fund, which upholds strong governance and a robust investment framework can contribute to the sustainable development of the Islamic community’s socio-economy. Waqf managers are urged to fully embrace the digital agenda in tandem with the Financial Sector Blueprint 2022-2026 in order to enable a digitalised ecosystem and fintech inclusion in managing waqf funds. This will improve the effectiveness of good governance and integrity in the waqf sector.

Agriculture is a crucial economic sector to generate income and supply food resources for a country. The agriculture sector contributes 7.1 per cent(RM101.5 billion) to Malaysia Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provides 10.5 per cent(1,566.0 thousand) jobs in 2021. However, the agro-food agriculture sector is exposed to many risks due to disasters caused by climate change, diseases, and pest attacks. It is estimated that the loss suffered by the agro-food sector is around RM90.6 million due to the flood incidents that hit several states in recent years. This condition is quite concerning because it leads to the destruction of livestock and crops, which will have an impact on farmers' income. In the long run, this may have an impact on the assurance of national food security as well as the occurrence of poverty. Until now, there hasn't been a national takaful programme that safeguards the rice agro-food sector as the primary source of food supply in Malaysia. The takaful scheme is believed to have the potential to provide social security guarantees in the form of income protection for rice farmers and further ensure the national food supply. This study employs document analysis of article journals, internet sources and policy documents to understand the current state of Malaysia’s takaful business in addressing agriculture risks. It is also important to explore the understanding of the rice farmers in Malaysia on the agriculture takaful. The novelty of this study is to explore the potential of introducing a blended financing mechanism of Islamic social finance (ISF) on the existing takaful business structure to establish a viable agriculture takaful framework based on the principle of ta’awun (cooperation) that can secure farmers' income more sustainably as well as preserve the national food security.

Human Governance refers to the governors’ commitment to improve employees’ values and ethical behaviour in the organization. Humans are capital asset and key driver to a successful organisation. The objectives of the study are to explain the development of human governance index and discuss the findings of human governance index when applied to 68 Shariah-compliant companies in the manufacturing sector. Previous study used primary and secondary data. Thus, this study will combine the indices of Human Governance from previous study and will develop a more comprehensive checklist using secondary data. Human Governance Index of this study comprises 37 items which are made up of four (4) main components which are (1) BOD Leadership - which is measured by i) BOD Job Experience Index, (ii) BOD Educational Background Index, (iii) BOD Educational Level Index, (iv) BOD Age Index, (v) BOD Gender Diversity Index; (2) Level of Integrity Index; (3) BOD Quantity of Training Index; and (4) Quality of Internal Control System Index. The index has been validated by panel experts and inter-rater consistency was also conducted. The index was then used to measure the Human Governance Index of 68 Shariah-compliant companies’ annual reports for the year 2019. 68 Shariah-compliant companies are from manufacturing companies which comprise 25 consumer products, 3 healthcare, and 40 industrial products. The results of this study revealed that consumer product sector has the highest items compared to industrial product and healthcare sectors. BOD job experience index has the highest mean of 92.9% indicates that BOD has more than 10 years’ experience and BOD gender diversity index has the lowest mean of 17.6% which comprises female. Human governance Index can be used to assist companies to improve their human capital who are important assets to the company and have been proven to increase performance of companies if they are better managed.

Harnessing a sustainable model of waqf remains as the key challenge faced by waqf managers particularly in the mid of socio-economic crisis due to COVID-19 pandemic. This paper aims to present the viability of unit trust waqf as an alternative asset for waqf creation. This study employed a qualitative research designed through the use of document analysis of classical Islamic books, Islamic ruling (fatwa), journal articles, books, online resources, and policy documents. The novelty of this paper lies in its attempt to highlight the importance of waqf investment strategy in ensuring sustainable returns for waqf particularly during this difficult time in reducing the socioeconomic impact of COVID-19 catastrophe, by introducing conceptual model of unit trust waqf as potential mechanisms to pool more cash waqf from individual investors. This paper submitted that waqf plays a significant role as global financial cure for economic revival post COVID-19. The sustainability of the capital waqf assets in the form of unit trust is preserved through the distinctive fixed price feature of the unit trust waqf as proposed toward the end of the paper.

The expansion of information and communication technology (ICT) has confronted the banking and financial industry towards the era of digitalization. This digitalization has brought advantages to the people nowadays to make the banking transaction easier in term of time-saving and easy to access compared to over-the-counter transaction (at the branch), in which the people need to waste their time for waiting their turn to make a simple transaction like withdraw and deposit money and reaching the people who are unbanked in order to them enjoy the banking and financial products and services. In this context, as most of the community in Malaysia are Muslim, the regulator (Bank Negara Malaysia) needs to concern with the value of Shariah and the element of financial inclusion that should be adopted in the development of digital banking. So, this will lead to the development of Islamic digital banking based on Maqasid al-Shariah for financial inclusion that able to cater the current market needs. However, the model of Shariah compliant digital banking is important to be introduced in order to achieve the true spirit of Maqasid al-Shariah for financial inclusion. This article is aimed to develop a framework of Islamic digital banking based on Maqasid al-Shariah for financial inclusion. This research employs a qualitative approach as this research is conducted through interview with experts for the development and verification of the proposed framework. The proposed framework has been found to be feasible for the implementation in accordance with the ongoing advancements in the digital age.

Kenaikan kos sara hidup memberi kesan yang besar kepada perbelanjaan pelajar terutamanya mahasiswa universiti. Bagi menyokong kewangan para mahasiswa, kerajaan dan universiti mengambil langkah proaktif untuk meluaskan pendanaan universiti melalui dana sosial seperti zakat dan wakaf. Kertas kerja ini bertujuan untuk membandingkan tadbir urus pengurusan zakat di universiti awam iaitu antara Pusat Wakaf dan Zakat (PWZ) Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) dan Pusat Wakaf Zakat dan Endowmen (WAZAN) Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). Maklumat dan analisis bagi kedua-dua pusat pengurusan zakat universiti ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif. Hasil kajian mendapati kedua-dua PWZ dan WAZAN mempunyai dua jawatankuasa utama bagi menguruskan zakat yang melibatkan pelaporan operasi zakat dari segi kutipan dan agihan, serta membuat keputusan melibatkan dasar dan polisi serta pengurusan agihan zakat di peringkat universiti. Berdasarkan tadbir urus kedua-dua universiti, kajian ini mencadangkan supaya Majlis Agama Islam Negeri (MAIN) dan pengurusan tertinggi universiti memberi autonomi sepenuhnya kepada pusat zakat universiti untuk menyelaras semua aktiviti berkaitanzakat di universiti masing-masing selain membenarkan kutipan dibuat di sekitar kawasan universiti.

The existence of Information and Communication Technology had paved a way to various sectors especially in financial sector. Banks have been pushed to develop digital banking to meet the needs of clients who are always on the go. During COVID-19 outbreak, digital banking is compulsory to the community in order to conduct day to day banking transaction. However, as the majority of community in Malaysia is Muslim, the need of the Shariah compliant digital banking is significant. Islamic financial sectors had been urged to join the digital banking revolution in order to be an alternative against conventional one. This study is aimed to investigate the perception of Malaysian community on the reliability of the adoption of Islamic digital banking. This study used a quantitative survey questionnaire with 150 valid respondents. The software SPSS version 26 was utilised in this study to analyse the data using descriptive analysis. The general finding of this study shows that the perception of Malaysian community from various occupational on the reliability of Islamic digital banking in mobilizing financial sector has demonstrated a favourable consequence.

Purpose — Waqf unit trust funds are a form of value-based impact investing that combines financial investment with philanthropic goals through waqf (Islamic endowment). This study uses the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to investigate the factors that influence people’s intentions to participate in waqf unit trust funds in Malaysia. Furthermore, the study investigates the function of religion as a moderator in predicting an individual’s intention to engage in waqf unit trust funds. Design/Methodology/Approach — Four hundred and four completed survey questionnaires have been obtained. Descriptive analysis and Partial Least Square–Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) are performed to analyse the data. Findings — The findings show that an individual’s intention to engage in waqf unit trust funds is influenced by attitude, subjective norms, perceived behaviour control, and moral norms. Furthermore, religiosity influences the relationship between moral norms and the intention to join in waqf unit trust funds. Research Implications and Limitations — Findings from this study which focuses on Muslims’ involvement in recently established waqf unit trust funds can be used by the waqf unit trust managers in Malaysia to develop appropriate marketing strategies in encouraging Muslim participation in waqf unit trust funds. Participation in waqf unit trusts is not limited to Muslims; hence, future studies can be conducted to cover a wider base of respondents among non-Muslims.

This study aims to evaluate the relationship between Islamic corporate governance, human governance and sustainability reporting by investigating Shariah compliant companies in Malaysia. This is very significance as to ensure that the corporate governance mechanism will lead the organization to do more sustainability practises when there is disclosure on Islamic corporate governance and human governance. Human governance is measured by job experience of Board of Directors (BOD), education background of BOD, education level of BOD, age of BOD, gender diversity of BOD, level of integrity, the quantity of training attended by BOD and internal control quality. This study investigates the relationships between sustainability reporting, which comprises economic, environmental, social, Islamic corporate governance and human governance. The study has been using quantitative analyses based on a total of 68 Shariah compliant companies’ annual reports for the year ended 2019.Descriptive and multiple regression analyses were used to analyse the data. The study found that, education background of BOD, education level of BOD, age of BOD, level of integrity and internal control quality were significantly related to sustainability reporting. However, job experience of BOD, quantity of training attended by BOD and gender diversity of BOD were found not to be significantly related to sustainability reporting. Islamic corporate governance was also found not to be significantly related to sustainability reporting. Shariah companies should focus on having BOD diversity in terms of age, education level and education background. There should also be an internal quality control system and an ethical culture in place to improve its sustainability reporting. Further, this study contributes to the discussion of Islamic corporate governance, human governance and sustainability reporting. The findings can be used to identify the necessary mechanisms that should be enhanced to strengthen the practice of sustainability reporting. Hence, future research could include more items in Islamic corporate governance on the sustainability practises.

The rapid growth of information and communication technology development has driven the Islamic banking and finance industry to digitalize all transactions and Islamic banking products to go fully online. However, there is a hindrance in developing Islamic digital banking which is the lack of understanding about Islamic digital banking among Malaysia community from different age and level of income. This study aims to investigate the relationship between age and level of income of Malaysian community with the level of knowledge about Islamic digital banking. This study employed a quantitative survey questionnaire of 100 respondents. The Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) software version 27 has been used in this study in analysing the data through descriptive analysis. The general finding of this study showed that the young generation and people with lower income have more intention to adopt this new application compared to the older generation and people with higher income. By analyzing these relationships, the research could help Islamic banks tailor their services and products to various demographic groups, enhancing accessibility and understanding. Additionally, the findings might inform policymaking to create a more inclusive financial system, particularly in predominantly Muslim countries. Overall, the study appears to connect the fields of demographics, technology, economics, and cultural studies, potentially providing essential insights for the development and growth of Islamic digital banking.

Waqf institutions have contributed significantly towards the advancement of ummah during the golden era of Islamic civilization. In line with rapid development of Islamic financial system throughout the world, unit trust has been identified as one of the financial instruments to have potential as waqf asset. Such approach is also supported by an efficient and professional manner in managing waqf assets. However, the concept of unit trust waqf is stil at an infancy stage that requires further in-depth study on its mechanism and implementation. This study conducts a review of literature with respect to the current fatawa (Islamic legal rulings) pertaining to unit trust waqf. The main objective of this study was achieved through content analysis of the classical and contemporary books as well as fatawa associated to financial instruments including unit trusts. The finding is expected to pave the way in generating some insight to waqf managers, regulators and fund managers in establishing a dynamic and viable unit trust waqf to be implemented in Malaysia. Keywords: Waqf, Unit Trusts, Fatwa, Islamic, Financial

The waqf concept has been integrated into a variety of financial assets, including Shariah-compliant investment vehicles like unit trusts. With the appropriate structure and strategy, waqf can support many spheres of life, including the growth of the mainstream economy. This paper aims to highlight the recent development of waqf-linked unit trust funds within the Malaysian context and identify the underlying governance principle for waqf. The current study employed a qualitative research approach through document analysis of previous literature. The paper concludes that the waqf unit trust fund, which upholds strong governance of accountability and transparency as well as backed by the stakeholder theory may contribute to advancing the social and economic well-being of the ummah.