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A bibliometric review of the Waqf literature

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Abstract

Waqf received research attention due to its ability to contribute to socio-economic development. While a high volume of literary evidence on this Islamic social finance instrument is available, the research motivation and study findings are diverse. Therefore, we conduct a bibliometric analysis of waqf literature to understand the pattern and direction of research on Waqf broadly. We collect 319 articles, and reviews on Waqf extracted from the Scopus database, covering a period exceeding 100 years from 1914 until June 2020. We employ RStudio, VOSviewer, and Microsoft Excel for citation analysis, content, and network analyses. A systematic review of recent publications complemented the bibliometric analysis. Alongside revealing the most relevant scientific actors in waqf literature, most researchers on Waqf were from Malaysia; they conducted studies widely on cash Waqf. As a result, we identify four research themes for waqf studies which include (1) Cash Waqf endowment, (2) Islamic accountability and Waqf, (3) Waqf and Islamic social finance, and (4) Governance for Waqf endowment. This is the first study to provide a bibliometric review of waqf literature to address gaps in the existing research and offer directions for future research which could benefit early-career Islamic finance researchers.

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Notes

  1. A gap of 36 years exists between the first published paper on Waqf (1914) and the second one in (1952).

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Acknowledgements

All authors have contributed equally to this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Finance and Accounting, Middle East University, Amman, Jordan

    Muneer M. Alshater

  2. Department of Economics & Finance, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, 70148, USA

    M. Kabir Hassan

  3. UBD School of Business and Economics, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

    Mamunur Rashid

  4. Department of Finance and Accounting, Coventry University, Coventry, UK

    Rashedul Hasan

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  1. Muneer M. Alshater
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  2. M. Kabir Hassan
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  3. Mamunur Rashid
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  4. Rashedul Hasan
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Correspondence to Muneer M. Alshater.

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Alshater, M.M., Hassan, M.K., Rashid, M. et al. A bibliometric review of the Waqf literature. Eurasian Econ Rev 12, 213–239 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40822-021-00183-4

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