Skip to main content
Log in

Ethical and Islamic Banking Compared from a Time-Based Perspective

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This conceptual paper explores and compares the ethical dimension of Islamic and so-called ethical banks. The investigation is made in two succeeding steps. First, an individual analysis as regards the respective level of correspondence between ethical principles and business practice. For the latter, a time-based perspective is adopted. Second, a side-by-side comparison of their overall “ethical coherence gap”. The results show that this gap is wider in the case of Islamic banks. The final part of the paper draws up three different scenarios for future development of these financial institutions where their ethical coherence is enhanced.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abdul-Majid, M., Falahaty, M., & Jusoh, M. (2017). Performance of Islamic and conventional banks: A meta-frontier approach. Research in International Business and Finance, 42, 1327–1335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abdul-Majid, M., Saal, D. S., & Battisti, G. (2010). Efficiency in Islamic and conventional banking: An international comparison. Journal of Productivity Analysis, 34, 25–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abedifar. (2019). Lending, the poor and Islamic scriptures: The Islamic finance versus Islamic welfare. Journal of American Academy of Religion, 87(2), 460–482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aggarwal, R. K., & Yousef, T. (2000). Islamic banks and investment financing. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, 32(1), 93–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahmad, A. U. F., & Hassan, M. K. (2006). The time value of money concept in Islamic finance. American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, 23(1), 66–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahmad, A. U. F., & Hassan, M. K. (2007). Riba and Islamic banking. Journal of Islamic Economics, Banking and Finance, 3(1), 1–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aksak, E., & Asutay, M. (2015). The Maqasid and the empirics: Has Islamic finance fulfilled its promise? In M. Asutay & A. Q. Turkistani (Eds.), Islamic finance: Political economy, values and innovation (pp. 187–219). Gerlach Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alhammadi, S., Alotaibi, K., Hakam, D. (2020). Analysing Islamic banking ethical performance from Maqāṣid al-Sharī'ah perspective: Evidence from Indonesia. Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, 1–23.

  • Allen, F., & Gale, D. (2001). Comparing financial systems. MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alzoubi, T. (2018). Determinants of bank profitability: Islamic versus conventional banks. Banks and Bank Systems, 13(3), 106–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amir-ud-Din, R. (2014). Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah: Are we measuring the immeasurable? Islamic Economic Studies, 22(2), 1–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anielski, M. (2004). The JAK members bank Sweden: An assessment of Sweden’s no-interest bank (JAK Bank Report). Anielski Management Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antonio, M. S., Sanrego, Y. D., & Taufiq, M. (2014). An analysis of Islamic Banking performance: Maqashid Index Implementation In Indonesia and Jordania. Journal of Islamic Finance, 1(1), 12–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Asutay, M. (2012). Conceptualising and locating the social failure of Islamic finance: Aspirations of Islamic Moral economy versus the realities of Islamic finance. Journal of Asian and African Area Studies, 11(2), 93–113.

    Google Scholar 

  • Asutay, M., & Harningtyas, A. F. (2015). Developing Maqasid al-Shari’ah index to evaluate social performance of Islamic banks: A conceptual and empirical attempt. International Journal of Islamic Economics and Finance Studies, 1(1), 5–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Azmat, S., Skully, M., & Brown, K. (2014). The Shariah compliance challenge in Islamic bond markets, Pacific-Basin Finance Journal 28 (C), 47–57.

  • Beck, T., Döttling, R., Lambert, T., & Van Dijk, M. (2020). Liquidity creation, investment, and growth (p. 14956). CEPR Discussion Papers, No.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bedoui, H., & Mansour, W. (2015). Performance and Maqasid al-Shari’ah’s pentagon-shaped ethical measurement. Science and Engineering Ethics, 21(3), 555–576.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belal, A., Abdelsalam, O., & Sardar Nizamee, S. (2015). Ethical reporting in Islami Bank Bangladesh limited (1983–2010). Journal of Business Ethics, 129(4), 769–784.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borhan, J. T. (2009). Rationale and consequences of the prohibition of Riba in an Islamic economic system. Innovatio, 8(2), 291–312.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapra, M.U. (1992). Islam and the economic challenge. The Islamic Foundation.

  • Coase, R. H. (1937). The nature of the firm. Economica, 4(16), 386–405.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De George, R. T. (1990). Ethics and coherence. Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association, 64(3), 39–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeMarco, J. P. (1997). Coherence and applied ethics. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 14(3), 289–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dusuki, A. W., & Bouheraoua, S. (2011). The framework of Maqasid al-Shari’ah and its implication for Islamic finance. ICR Journal, 2(2), 316–336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • El-Gamal, M. A. (2007). Mutuality as an antidote to rent-seeking Shari’ah arbitrage in Islamic finance. Thunderbird International Business Review, 49(2), 187–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ess, C. M. (2019). Ethics and mediatization: Subjectivity, judgment (phronēsis) and meta-theoretical coherence? In T. Eberwein, M. Karmasin, F. Krotz, & M. Rath (Eds.), Responsibility and resistance. Ethics in mediatized worlds (pp. 71–90). Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Farooq, M. O. (2009). The Riba-interest equation and Islam: Reexamination of the traditional arguments. Global Journal of Finance and Economics, 6(2), 99–111.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farooq, M. O. (2012). Exploitation, profit and the Riba-interest reductionism. International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, 5(4), 292–320.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferhi, A. (2018). Credit risk and banking stability: A comparative study between Islamic and conventional banks. International Journal of Law and Management, 60(4), 1009–1019.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foltz, R. C., Denny, F. M., & Baharuddin, A. (Eds.). (2003). Islam and ecology: A bestowed trust. Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, R. E. (2010). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Giovannini, A., Iacopetta, M., & Minetti, R. (2013). Financial markets banks, and growth: Disentangling the links. Revue De l’OFCE, 131(5), 105–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Groeneveld, H. (2020). Reconciling different truths about isomorphic pressure and distinctive behavior at European cooperative banks: Back to the future with Raiffeisen’s principles. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 91, 359–385.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hameed, S., Wirman, A., Alrazi, B., Nazli, M., & Pramono, S. (2004). Alternative disclosure & performance measures for Islamic banks. Kuala Lumpur: International Islamic University Malaysia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haniffa, R., & Hudaib, M. (2007). Exploring the ethical identity of Islamic banks via communication in annual reports. Journal of Business Ethics, 76(1), 97–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hasan, A. (1971). Social justice in Islam. Islamic Studies, 10(3), 209–219.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hasan, H., & Ali, S. S. (2018). Measuring deprivation from Maqāṣid Al-Sharīʿah dimensions in OIC countries: Ranking and policy focus. Journal of King Abdulaziz University: Islamic Economics, 31(1), 3–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayat, U. and Malik, A. (2014). Islamic finance: Ethics, concepts, practice. CFA Institute Research Foundation

  • Hidayah, N. N., Lowe, A., & De Loo, I. (2020). Identity drift: The multivocality of ethical identity in Islamic financial Institution. Journal of Business Ethics, 171, 475–494.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hudaefi, F. A., & Noordin, K. (2019). Harmonizing and constructing an integrated maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah index for measuring the performance of Islamic banks. ISRA International Journal of Islamic Finance, 11(2), 282–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iqbal, M., & Molyneux, P. (2005). Thirty years of Islamic banking history, performance and prospects. Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Iskandar Suppia, N. M., & Che Arshad, N. (2019). Bank specific characteristics and profitability of Islamic and conventional banks in Malaysia. International Journal of Islamic Business, 4(1), 39–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, M. C., & Meckling, W. H. (1976). Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of Financial Economics, 3(4), 305–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jonnes, J., Izzeldin, M., & Pappas, V. (2014). A comparison of performance of Islamic and conventional banks 2004–2009. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 103, 93–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kamla, R., & Alsoufi, R. (2015). Critical Muslim Intellectuals’ discourse and the issue of ‘Interest’ (ribā): Implications for Islamic accounting and banking. Accounting Forum, 39(2), 140–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kammer, A., Norat, M., Pinon, M., Prasad, A., Towe, C.M., & Zeidane, Z. (2015). Islamic finance; Opportunities, challenges, and policy options. IMF Staff Discussion Notes 2015/005.

  • Kennedy, M. I. (1995). Interest and inflation free money: Creating an exchange medium that works for everybody and protects the earth. New Society.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khan, F. (1991). Time value of money and discounting in Islamic perspective. Review of Islamic Economics, 1(2), 35–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khan, F. (2010). How “Islamic” is Islamic banking? Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 76(3), 805–820.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan, I., Khan, M., & Tahir, M. (2017). Performance comparison of Islamic and conventional banks: Empirical evidence from Pakistan. International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, 10(3), 419–433.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan, M. S. (1986). Islamic interest-free banking: A theoretical analysis. IMF Staff Papers, 33, 1–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan, M. A. (2013). What is wrong with Islamic Economics? Analysing the present state and future agenda. Edward Elgar Publishing.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Khan, M. A. (2020). Riba in Islamic finance: Some fresh insights. Journal of Economic and Social Thought, 7(1), 25–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khan, M. M., & Bhatti, M. I. (2008). Developments in Islamic banking: The case of Pakistan. Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Khan, T., & Mohomed, A.B.R.N. (2017). Ethical banking and Islamic banking: A comparison of Triodos Bank and Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited. Islamic Economic Studies 25(S), 14–53.

  • Laldin, M. A., & Furqani, H. (2013). Developing Islamic finance in the framework of maqasid al-Shari’ah. International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, 6(4), 278–289.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewison, M. (1999). Conflicts of interest: The ethics of usury. Journal of Ethics, 22, 327–339.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mansour, W., Ben Jedidia, K., & Majdoub, J. (2015). How ethical is Islamic banking in the light of the objectives of Islamic law? Journal of Religious Ethics, 43(1), 51–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mergaliyev, A., Asutay, M., Avdukic, A., & Karbhari, Y. (2019). Higher ethical objective (Maqasid al-Shari’ah) augmented framework for Islamic Banks: Assessing ethical performance and exploring its determinants. Journal of Business Ethics, 170, 797–834.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mews, C. J., & Abraham, I. (2007). Usury and just compensation: Religious and financial ethics in historical perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 72(1), 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miah, M. D., & Suzuki, Y. (2020). Murabaha syndrome of Islamic banks: A paradox or product of the system? Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, 11(7), 1363–1378.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miah, M. D., & Uddin, H. (2017). Efficiency and stability: A comparative study between Islamic and conventional banks in GCC countries. Future Business Journal, 3(2), 172–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mili, M. (2014). A structural model for human development: Does Maqaṣid al-Shari’ah Matter! Islamic Economic Studies, 22(2), 47–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mills, P. S., & Presley, J. R. (1999). Islamic finance: Theory and practice. Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Minhat, M., & Dzolkarnaini, N. (2016). Islamic corporate financing: Does it promote profit and loss sharing? Business Ethics: A European Review, 25(4), 482–497.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Minsky, H. P. (2015). Can “it” happen again? Essays on instability and finance. Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mohammed, M.O., Dzuljastri A.R., and Fauziah M.T. (2008). The performance measures of Islamic banking based on the Maqasid framework. Paper presented on IIUM International Accounting Conference (INTAC IV), Putra Jaya Marroitt, Malaysia, pp. 1–17.

  • Mohammed, M. O., & Shahwan, S. (2013). The objective of Islamic economic and Islamic banking in light of Maqasid Al-Shariah: A critical review. Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research, 13(13), 75–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mohammed, M.O., Tarique, K.M., and Islam, R. (2015). Measuring the performance of Islamic banks using maqāṣid-based model. Intellectual Discourse 23 (special issue), 401–424.

  • Munro, J.H. (2011). Usury, Calvinism, and credit in protestant England: From the sixteenth century to the industrial revolution. University of Toronto Working Papers No.439

  • Ngalim, S. M., Ismail, A. G., & Yaa’kub, N.I. (2015). A comparative analysis of the Maqasid Shari’ah of Islamic banks in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Gulf cooperation council countries. In M. Asutay & A. Q. Turkistani (Eds.), Islamic finance: Political economy, values and innovation (pp. 221–252). Gerlach Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paulet, E., Parnaudeau, M., & Relano, F. (2015). Banking with ethics: Strategic moves and structural changes of the banking industry in the aftermath of the subprime mortgage crisis. Journal of Business Ethics, 131(1), 199–207.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paulet, E., & Relano, F. (2012). Social banks, ethical banks: What is the difference? In E. Paulet (Ed.), The subprime crisis and its impact on financial and managerial environments (pp. 149–175). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pedrini, M., Langella, V. and Bramanti, V. (2015). Review of impact assessment methodologies for ethical finance. FEBEA-ISB.

  • Presley, J. R., & Sessions, J. G. (1994). Islamic economics: The emergence of a new paradigm. Economic Journal, 104(424), 584–596.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rahman, R. A., Danbatta, B. L., & Saimi, N. S. B. (2014). Corporate ethical identity disclosures: The perceived, the publicized and the applied in Islamic banks. International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance, 5(2), 199–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramlan, H., & Adnan, M. S. (2016). The profitability of Islamic and conventional bank: case study in Malaysia. Procedia Economics and Finance, 35, 359–367.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raza, M.W., Shah, S.F., and Khurshid, M. R. (2011). Islamic banking controversies and challenges. University Library, MPRA Paper 70623.

  • Relano, F. (2015). Disambiguating the concept of social banking. ACRN Journal of Finance and Risk Perspectives, 4(3), 48–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Relano, F., & Paulet, E. (2012). Corporate responsibility in the banking sector: A proposed typology for the German case. International Journal of Law and Management, 54(5), 379–393.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saeed, A. (1996). Islamic banking and interest: A study of prohibition of interest and its contemporary interpretation. Leiden: Brill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Safieddine, A. (2009). Islamic financial institutions and corporate governance: New insights for agency theory. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 17(2), 142–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salma Sairally, B. (2013). Evaluating the corporate social performance of Islamic financial institutions: An empirical study. International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, 6(3), 238–260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salman, A., & Nawaz, H. (2018). Islamic financial system and conventional banking: A comparison. Arab Economic and Business Journal, 13(2), 155–167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • San-Jose, L., Retolaza, J. L., & Gutierrez-Goiria, J. (2011). Are ethical banks different? A comparative analysis using the radical affinity index. Journal of Business Ethics, 100(1), 151–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schumpeter J. A. (1961). The theory of economic development. An Inquiry into profits, capital credit, interest, and the business cycle. Oxford University Press

  • Siddiqi, M.N. (2004). Riba, bank interest and the rationale of its prohibition. Jeddah (Saudi Arabia): The Islamic Research and Teaching Institute, Visiting Scholars’ Research Series, No. 2.

  • Siddique, M. Z., & Iqbal, M. (2016). Theory of Islamic banking: From genesis to degeneration. History of Economic Ideas, 24(2), 75–110.

    Google Scholar 

  • Syafa’atur Rahman, A. and Haron, R. (2019). The effect of corporate governance on Islamic Banking performance: A Maqasid Shari’ah index approach on Indonesian Islamic Banks. Journal of Islamic Finance 8 (special issue), 1–18

  • Thagard, O. (2000). Coherence in thought and action. MIT Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Uppal, J., & Mangla, I. (2014). Islamic banking and finance revisited after forty years: Some global challenges. Journal of Finance Issues, 13(1), 16–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, O. E. (1979). Transaction-cost economics: The governance of contractual relations. Journal of Law and Economics, 22(2), 233–261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yousef, T. M. (2004). The Murabaha syndrome in Islamic finance: Laws, institutions and politics. In C. M. Henry & R. Wilson (Eds.), The politics of Islamic finance (pp. 63–80). Edinburg University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zainuldin, M. H., Lui, T. K., & Yii, K. J. (2018). Principal-agent relationship issues in Islamic banks: A view of Islamic ethical system. International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, 11(2), 297–311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Francesc Relano.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The Authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Research Involving Human Participants and/or Animals

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the Authors.

Informed Consent

Informed consent is not applicable. The Author declares that his research has no individual participants. The empirical data were collected from publically available annual reports and websites of banks.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Relano, F. Ethical and Islamic Banking Compared from a Time-Based Perspective. J Bus Ethics 188, 795–805 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-023-05497-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-023-05497-8

Keywords

Navigation