This is a conceptual article that includes an examination of a literature review on waqf from 2011 to 2021. According to the findings, "Use More" can occur among beneficiaries for various types of waqf and different types of beneficiaries. Donors' characteristics, as well as internal and external aspects of incentive, all contribute to the phrase "donate more." "Share more" refers to information exchange between three parties: the waqf manager/mutawalli, donors, and recipients. Waqf Prosumers encourage donors, in which the same person plays all three roles of Beneficiaries, Donors, and Volunteers in order to disseminate information. The Benefidonor Concept is dependent on the interactions between the three parties. The three parties share common interests in cultivating the quality of growth and change, as evidenced by their same points of view on 'Use more, donate more, and share more.' Furthermore, we discovered that in order for the donor to repeat, accountability and reporting are critical.

The Islamic financial system's beneficial expansion has resulted in a rise in the number of products and services offered by Islamic financial institutions (IFIs). However, IFIs may have neglected key factors that could have had an impact on the products and services they provide which is 'Shariah compliance'. This circumstance necessitates a system of internal check-and-balance procedures. As one of the components of Shariah governance, the Shariah auditor is responsible for ensuring the efficacy of the internal control system for Shariah compliance. Prior research reveals that the current framework explainsvery brief on Shariah audit function, thus lead to the various practices by takaful operators which may affect the effectiveness of the Shariah audit process. The aim of this study is to assess the structure of Shariah audit function practiced by Malaysian takaful operators. To this end, semi-structured interviews were conducted involving selected Shariah auditors for every takaful operators in Malaysia. Reflexive thematic analysis influenced by a constructivist perspective was used to analyse data using a combination of inductive and deductive methodologies. Recognizing the model adapted by takaful operators can help in understanding further the execution of the Shariah audit process. At the same time, the commitment of these takaful operators can be observed in providing one of the Shariah compliance functions as required in the Shariah Governance Framework. The study discovered that none of the takaful operators in Malaysia have specific departments or unit for Shariah audit function. This study may provide relevant guidelines especially for policymaker in developing a more comprehensive framework for Shariah audit, and at the same time is useful for takaful industry in enhancing their Shariah audit function.

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 financial position and performance for any company are translated into the financial statements which form part of the Annual Report of the company. Information in the financial statements of Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) is important for stakeholders to make economic and investment decisions as well as to assess the IFIs' extent of compliance with the Shariah principles and whether or not they have completed their duty in contributing to socioeconomic justice and stability. This paper aims to examine the differences between the financial statements of Islamic and conventional banks in order to highlight the differences of operations of both types. Although both types of banks are using the same accounting standards, there are issues unique to Islamic banks that require the management to provide different types of information in addition to the standard information found in conventional banks annual reports. In this study, we have conducted a comparative analysis using qualitative method by the way of content analysis to examine the differences between financial statements of Islamic banks and their conventional counterparts. The study found that the difference of disclosure of financial information in the two types of banks is due to the different nature of Islamic banks' operation as compared to the conventional banks especially in investment management and the use of its Islamic financial contracts. As for the components of annual report, little differences were found from the content analysis of the banks underanalysis. This study recommends some improvements for the Islamic bank's financial reporting so that they would provide more transparency in a fair and equitable manner to the users view of observing Islamic principles and making economic decisions. Detailed future work could be done to study the usefulness of additional information on financial statements of Islamic banks from the perspectives of stakeholders.

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

Waqf movement in Malaysia has a long history since the colonization era with plenty of innovations being practiced by waqf managers. The literatures have highlighted on the performance of waqf as a social finance instrument with transformational impacts to the economic wellbeing of the beneficiaries. There is a considerable gap between the cyclic impact on the transformation of waqf beneficiaries into donors that needs to be highlighted. The main aim of the study is to conceptualize and validate the beneficiaries-donors model which evolved from the perspective of mutual assistance (ta’awun) prosumers, consumerchant, and volunteer. The study adopts a three-phase qualitative approach. The proposed model on Benefidonors is the result of the first stage, which involved content analysis of literature data. Data was also obtained via Focus Group Discussions (FGD) in the second step of creating and confirming the model. Three different groups of participants, namely donors, beneficiaries, and mutawalli, participated in three different sessions of FGD using MS Teams. The third stage is model validation where the participants have validated the model through a few series of FGD. The participants were given a conceptual model to see whether the new term introduced, "Benefidonors," could be accepted or require further refinement. The new term coined, Benefidonors concept, suggests for a transformational cyclic impact of the major players in the waqf activism. The major output of this paper is the validated term “Benefidonors” which is a hybrid word, derived from the word, “Beneficiaries” and “Donors”. The “Benefidonors” promotes towards “share more”, “use more” and “donate more” for waqf ecosystem using the concept of mutual assistance (ta’awun) prosumers, consumerchant and volunteer. The finding of this research shows that the new term "Benefidonors," even though it is still emerging and requiring efforts for exposure and branding, is inherently practiced, being aware of and known in the community, but it needs a systematic design and strategic arrangement for further expansion.

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.

This chapter is written by Muhammad Iqmal Hisham Kamaruddin, Mustafa Mohd Hanefah and Zurina Shafii from Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM). The chapter aims to assess the gaps that exist between the requirements outlined by Malaysia accounting standards (MAS) with AAOIFI’s Financial Accounting Standard No.1 (FAS1). Additionally, this chapter also focuses in examining the compliance of all IFIs in Malaysia with the disclosure on investment account. This issue could potentially be explored to identify the extend of the disclosure practices by IFIs in Malaysia and whether it is beyond MAS requirements and in line with some other additional features of FAS1.

Purpose Since International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are not primarily meant for the accounting needs of Islamic banks, the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) was established to develop specific accounting standards for Shari'ah compliance. The purpose of this paper is to assess the de jure harmonisation between the disclosure requirements of the IFRS-based Malaysian Accounting Standards (MAS) and those of the AAOIFI. Design/methodology/approach Using Malaysia as a case study, the paper examines the extent of the de jure congruence between the IFRS-based MAS and AAOIFI's Financial Accounting Standard No 1 (FAS1), which is considered to be one of the key disclosure standards for Islamic banks. We employ leximetrics and content analysis to analyse these accounting standards and the additional guidelines introduced by the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board (MASB) and the Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia, BNM) to identify the gaps between different tiers of MAS and FAS1. Findings The study finds that de jure congruence between the IFRS-based MAS and AAOIFI standards has improved through the introduction of additional accounting guidelines by both the MASB and the banking regulator, BNM. However, some gaps remain between the two standards. These gaps may be difficult to completely eliminate due to differences in the fundamental principles underlying the development of both standards. Originality/value While some studies have explored the de facto congruence between AAOIFI accounting standards and others, this paper is the first, to the best of the authors' knowledge, to examine the de jure congruence between those standards with the IFRS-based MAS.

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.

Waqf has been practised by Muslims since the time of the Holy Prophet Muhammad time. The practice continues today, covering various sectors and fields. One of the sectors in which waqf is practised is education. Education is one of the basic needs of people, but not all can afford to pursue their studies to tertiary level. In Malaysia, some public and private universities have initiated efforts to develop awqaf properties with the intention of helping poor and needy students, among others. In addition, waqf can also be used to finance other beneficial projects, the returns being channelled to other beneficial purposes that are allowed by Sharia. This paper is a conceptual paper, with data gathered from interviews and articles published in journals, conference proceedings, books and universities' official website. the data show that among higher education institutions, five public and four private institutions had established a waqf fund. They established the waqf fund with the aim of helping poor and needy students. Usufructs or returns from awqaf funds have been channelled into scholarships and research grants, to build facilities and to find academic projects to benefit the universities.

The integration of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors has emerged as a critical aspect of the Takaful industry, driven by growing social and environmental consciousness among customers. This study investigates the effectiveness of a financial literacy program implemented by a takaful operator in Malaysia, aiming to enhance customers' financial literacy and raise their awareness of ESG considerations. The program provided guidance on individuals’ financial cycles, starting from earning money, cash flow management and budgeting, protection via Takaful products, savings, investment, wealth purification, and estate planning. This research evaluates the programme's impact through surveys and interviews conducted with traineesand assesses its efficacy in improving financial literacy and promoting ESG awareness. The findings demonstrate that the financial education program successfully enhanced financial literacy levels and raised ESG awareness among the target group and the public. The study concludes by highlighting the significance of financial education programs as valuable tools for fostering ESG integration in the Takaful industryand suggests effective techniques for developing such initiatives.

Despite operating in a niche market, Islamic funds continue to face considerable challenge from conventional funds. Past studies have shown that the return of Islamic funds is generally lower whilst their risk is higher as compared to conventional funds and market index. This study attempts to investigate the reasons for the Islamic funds under performance in Malaysia. The study found that the poor performance relative to conventional funds and benchmark index is arguably caused by the inability of Islamic funds to achieve optimal diversification. The major contributing factor is the Shariah-compliance restrictions, a feature unique to Islamic funds, which limit the Islamic funds access to those more stable and profitable industries and large capitalised stocks.

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.