The Securities Commission Islamic Fund and Wealth Management Blueprint 2017 was the precursor for the establishment of waqf-featured funds in Malaysia. This is in line with the intention of Bank Negara Malaysia to employ social finance for the delivery of social goods and services. To date, there are five unit trust funds and one wholesale fund that are linked with waqf. The former are the Makmur myWakaf Fund, PMB-An-Nur Waqf Income Fund, Kenanga Waqf Al-Ihsan Fund, Maybank Mixed Assets-I Waqf Fund, and BSN Dana Wakaf Al-Ikhlas. Yet to the knowledge of the researchers, there is a dearth of studies that examine the performance of these funds. This could be attributed to the fact that the first unit trust waqf-featured fund, the Makmur myWakaf Fund, was only launched in 2021. Therefore, this study aims to compare the performance of unit trust waqf funds and identify the top consistent fund. By employing the modified Sharpe ratio method, we found that the top consistent fund is PMB An-Nur Waqf fund while the Makmur myWakaf fund should be considered for further analysis. This study is significant to aid investors in making sound decision in regards to unit trust waqf investments and may help the finance regulatory institution to further develop the social finance landscape in Malaysia.

This article adopts a maqāṣid al-sharīʻah approach to dealing with Bitcoin transactions. The Islamic law’s position on Bitcoin transactions is not explicitly clear. Unsurprisingly, Islamic law provides no rulings specific to Bitcoin transactions, as Bitcoin never existed at the time of Prophet (PBUH). Such disparity has created controversy among contemporary Islamic jurists on the permissibility of such transactions. While many Islamic jurists argue for the impermissibility of Bitcoin and any associated transaction involving Bitcoin, few Islamic scholars counter-argue the permissibility of Bitcoin if it is so engineered to fully adhere to Islamic values and principles. The article adopts a legal research (doctrinal) methodology in conformity with its agenda which is to review the Islamic rulings on the impermissibility of bitcoin transactions. This article suggests that the existing disparity is eliminated with a maqāṣid al-sharīʻah approach that takes a broader view of the philosophy and values of Islam linking the explicit rulings of Islamic law and jurisprudence to their implicit objectives. The research findings suggest that bitcoin and any transactions involving bitcoin fail to comply not only the jurisprudential requirements of permissibility but also the implicit objectives of sharīʻah, notably the “preservation of wealth” (ḥifẓ al-māl). This study emphasises that the objectives of sharīʻah must be followed in managing Bitcoin-related entities by formulating corporate objectives and Bitcoin policies complying with maqāṣid al-sharīʻah. Furthermore, these formulated objectives must be incorporated to indicate whether the Bitcoin entity upholds Islamic principles.

Zakāt has a worship dimension (a pillar of Islam) and a rights dimension (a right of the poor ordained by Allah). We focus on the economic dimension only by asking: how is zakāt different from both the capital income tax and the wealth tax? Economists discuss whether a capital income tax is optimal for welfare or a wealth tax is better. Traditional literature argued that the two are equivalent if the tax on wealth is set equal to the capitalised value of the tax on capital income. However, Guvenen et al. (2019, 2023) have forcefully shown that this equivalence holds only if the rate of return on capital is equal across individuals. When rates of return on investment are heterogeneous across individuals, the two tax systems have opposite implications for efficiency and inequality. A capital income tax burdens the more productive capital, whereas a wealth tax—by taxing all wealth holders—not only increases the tax base but reduces the wealth of low-productivity individuals. If the productivity differences are persistent, then the wealth of low-productivity individuals will be gradually pruned. In this sense, a wealth tax creates a use-it-or-leave-it effect. How is zakāt different from both taxes and what are its efficiency and distributional implications? We bring in some key macro-features of zakāt which is a tax on idle wealth, not on deployed (or employed) wealth. Aimed at promoting wealth circulation and helping the poor, zakāt helps address the wealth gap and income inequality in a different way than what is possible by either the capital income tax or the wealth tax. It has a much stronger “use-it-or-lose-it” effect than a wealth tax.

Proponents of Islamic economics and finance are motivated by their strong belief that the disciplines have a lot to offer. However, the academia, industry and policymakers have yet to show wide acceptance to the disciplines’ core ideals. This is surprising since among the heterodox schools of economic thought, Islamic economics does show the character of a valid integrated social science. This unfulfilled potential scenario requires the address of critical issues. Recently, a lively debate has appeared on the topic of economic agent. The focus is on the relevance of homo Islamicus in sustaining the body of knowledge itself. Thus, this article argues for the rightful place and emphasis for homo Islamicus within the overall framework of Islamic economics. The discipline’s foundation and doctrinal aspects must uphold the homo Islamicus concept. In policy design formulations, the Islamic economists are then inspired by homo Islamicus since they would be assisting towards the gradual evolution of its behavioural norms. Interestingly, this task-driven placement for homo Islamicus’ conceptual types fits well with the list of tasks for the Islamic economists. So, harmony among the discipline’s proponents would be promoted when the relevance of homo Islamicus is not questioned anymore. This methodological stance could attain wide applicability as it does not negate the usability of other economic agent concepts for modelling exercise on economic realities under study by the Islamic economists. Therefore, Islamic economics and finance disciplines could be the backbone for a sustainable humane economy.

The widespread adoption of digital technologies in Malaysia, with internet penetration reaching 97.4% in 2023, has profoundly redefined childhood experiences. While digital parenting principles are globally recognised, their application in Malaysia is shaped by socio-cultural diversity, religious beliefs, and economic inequalities, and existing parenting resources often lack sustained, culturally competent guidance. This study employed a mixed-methods design, combining a nationwide market validation survey of Malaysian parents (n = 240) with focus group discussions involving participants from diverse backgrounds, to examine challenges, preferences, and expectations in digital parenting. Findings reveal that parents struggle with screen time regulation, online risk management, and awareness of harmful content, issues further compounded by disparities in digital literacy. Parents expressed strong demand for short-form, visually engaging, and interactive content, alongside features such as expert-led Q&A, age-specific content filtering, and peer-sharing narratives, while also emphasising the importance of moral and faith-based guidance embedded in Islamic and cultural values. Evaluation of the Platform Keibubapaan Digital (Platform KID) prototype highlighted the need for greater interactivity, community engagement, and personalisation. By synthesising global best practices with local cultural contexts, the study informs the development of Platform KID as a model for empowering Malaysian parents with the skills, confidence, and ethical frameworks to raise digitally resilient children, with implications that extend beyond Malaysia to other Muslim-majority and multicultural societies.

The study proposes a new Islamic model for advertising agencies that embraces a normative perspective framed by Maqasid Al-Shari’ah. The phenomenological research design was adopted through semi-structured interviews carried out on 25 advertising industry practitioners and academicians well-versed in Maqasid Al-Shariah. The findings reveal that advertising agencies applied various Maqasid Al-Shari’ah principles in their codes of conduct, but they did not adhere to the same set of standards whilst academics recommended that Maqasid Al-Shari’iah elements be embedded in a standardised code of conduct and implemented in an ecosystem that ensures professionalism and sustainability. The study is significant as it examined both advertising agency and academic perspectives giving birth to the Model of the Implementation of the Advertising Codes of Conduct using Maqasid Al-Shari’ah that visualises how best to implement Maqasid Al-Shari’ah.

This study conducts a systematic literature review (SLR) to identify themes of Islamic spiritual care (ISC) within the literature of Muslim practitioners and their equivalent in Ṭibb Nabawī (TN) genre, by examining the ḥadīths used to derive a Prophetic framework for Islamic spiritual care. Reviewing 18 selected sources, this study adheres to PRISMA guidelines and employs the PICo framework to explore the Prophetic model from professional practitioners’ perspectives. Findings indicate the use of approximately 75 ḥadīths across 16 sub-themes, with 14 of them aligning with Ṭibb Nabawī genre, highlighting the significance of ḥadīth in Islamic spiritual care. The study recommends further research to develop a comprehensive Prophetic framework by incorporating the element of physical medication, in addition to integrating all relevant ḥadīths and elements of tasawuf, offering a holistic approach to Islamic spiritual care. This research is a pioneering SLR in integrating ISC with TN.i

In the wake of major global events such as 9/11, it is becoming increasingly necessary to consider Religion as a tool to analyse these conflicts. Unfortunately, the field of International Relations (IR) has sidelined Religion in favor of other mainstream, secular theories, particularly in the West. This research aims to highlight the non-Western perspective of Religion in IR and discusses how to effectively implement it in the discipline. The study was conducted by analysing data collected during interviews with 13 IR scholars from three Malaysian research universities (RU). The findings revealed a strong consensus on the importance of integrating Religion into IR. Scholars largely dismiss the field’s secular bias, and suggest a constructivist approach when analysing Religion in IR due to its emphasis on ideational factors and normative change. Lastly, the scholars recommended multidisciplinary and experiential approaches to prepare students to engage with the complexity of Religion in IR.