A mixed method approach on policy, legal and regulations of non-Shariah compliant income in the Islamic banking Industry: the case study of Malaysia

Channelling funds to charity by Islamic banks has become a popular approach to de-recognise non-Shariah income derived from non-Shariah compliant transactions. Unlike conventional banks, this distinctive feature occurs within Islamic banking environments due to nonconformance with Shariah (Islamic law), which is a basic principle of the Islamic banking system. For instance, the first stand-alone Islamic bank established in Malaysia has reported in its 2011 audited annual report that an amount of MYR181,791.91 was received from nonShariah compliant transactions. Thus, this research aims to study the issues and occurrences of non-Shariah compliant transactions in Islamic banks and to identify resolutions, particularly in Malaysia, by highlighting four main areas. These are: incidents of non-Shariah compliance, Shariah and corporate governance, a legal and regulatory framework, and financial disclosure. The research focuses on a mixed method approach, combining quantitative and qualitative methods to identify gaps and the lacuna in dealing with non-Shariah income. Due to the limited access of internal reporting of non-Shariah compliant transactions within Islamic banks and the central bank of Malaysia, self-administered questionnaires were generated and filled in by Shariah officers of Islamic banks as primary data. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with members of Shariah Advisory Council (SAC) of the central bank of Malaysia to understand and explore their perceptions and views on non-Shariah compliant issues. Furthermore, content analysis of audited annual report of Islamic banks was used to extract statutory information regarding financial disclosures, specifically on non-Shariah compliant transactions for specific accounting periods. The findings in the study have discovered that there are shortcomings in existing practises of dealing with non-Shariah compliant transactions and income. Based on the empirical analysis, the study constructively proposes a comprehensive model and policy recommendations to enhance and further overcome the existing shortcomings in the main areas mentioned abov