JKAU: Islamic Econ., Vol. 32 No. 1, pp: 3-21 (January 2019)
DOI:10.4197/Islec.32-1.1
3
Reforming Islamic Finance for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals
Tariqullah Khan
Professor of Islamic Finance, College of Islamic Studies,
Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar
ABSTRACT. The paradigm of Islamic economics and finance is guided by the
motivation of comprehensive human development (CHD) and its preservation as
manifested in the objectives of Sharīʿah (maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah). However, the real
world free-market economies are driven by the linear economy paradigm under the
influence of Hotelling’s 1931 famous work concerning the economics of exploiting
natural resources, in which, the ecological environment is not recognized as a resource.
The global financial architecture is designed to protect and preserve the linear
economic paradigm. In practice, Islamic finance has also remained a ḥalāl sub-set of
this system. The resultant social, environmental, and governance imbalances have
recently led to different initiatives sponsored by the UN including the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs). Like the maqāṣid, the SDGs also aim at achieving and
preserving human development. In practice, for the first time, a real paradigm shift
from the linear to the ecological/circular economy is noticeably taking place, also
inducing the transformation of the financial architecture. In this paper, in a broader
perspective, we use the CHD and SDGs interchangeably, and discuss a number of
paradigmatic and regulatory reforms that will be required to enhance the actual
effectiveness of Islamic finance in achieving the ideals of CHD, and the SDGs at large.
The paper in fact outlines a wider scope of the potential reform initiatives.
Keywords: Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah, SDGs and Islamic finance, SDGs and design of
financial contracts, Reforming Islamic finance, Regulating Islamic finance, Circular
economy and Islamic finance, Reforming Sharīʿah governance; Reporting SDGs,
ESGs and Islamic finance.
JEL Classification: Q01, Q56
KAUJIE Classification: B5, H51
4 Tariqullah Khan
1. Introduction
Transformation of societies and economies, and
development of the relevant institutional architecture
and infrastructure, is a continuous process. What is
the Islamic vison of development that can be used as
a criterion for benchmarking the desirable transfor-
mation? This question became pertinent during 2006
when the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) went
through an internal reform and a new ‘Vision 1440H’
for comprehensive human development (CHD) was
formulated and adopted. The intellectual discourse
concerning the reform, in fact, triggered a motivation
for more detailed and formal academic works on the
CHD, the first among these being Chapra’s “The
Islamic Vision of Development in the Light of
Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah” (Chapra, 2008). Since then, a
sizeable literature on the maqāṣid and its contempo-
rary applications has emerged. Tag el-Din (2013), is
a good example of attempting to relate the maqāṣid
framework for achieving balanced socio-economic
development in the free market economy.
The CHD is achieved by simultaneously uphold-
ing and preserving the human necessity for: (a)
religious faith, (b) life with dignity, (c) progeny and
future generations, (d) responsible mind and intellect,
and (e) wealth and graceful sustenance. As elaborated
in the above cited works of Chapra and Tag el-Din,
the maqāṣid framework was developed by scholars
like al-Ghazali, Ibn Taimiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim and
al-Shatibi during the 12th and 14
th centuries. The fra-
mework has remained as the architectural founda-
tions of an ideal Islamic economics and finance
paradigm. As such, the maqāṣid represent the local
aspirations of the society.
Economic development parse has always remain-
ed in the agenda of national governments with differ-
ent ideological motivations, manifestations, achieve-
ments, and frustrations. In recent years, one measure
of the progress of countries was the UN millennium
development goals (MDGs). The MDGs era (2000-
2015) ended with mixed results. Progress was made
in several areas but MDG-1, concerning elimination
of absolute poverty, remained largely unaccom-
plished. Most of this failure still remains in member
countries of the IDB as documented in the IDB MDG
target study (Bello & Suleman, 2011). Since 2016,
the UN has embarked upon a new development
program termed as the sustainable development goals
– SDGs (see appendix section A for the complete
list). In IDB member countries, SDG-1 still remains
to be MDG-1 in scope and challenge. In this specific
SDG, financial inclusion is a priority area and Islamic
finance promotes access to financial services by
removing the faith-barrier to conventional finance.
Apart from SDG-1, there are several other simila-
rities between the SDGs and MDGs. However, the
SDGs are, in fact, a paradigm shift from MDGs. The
MDGs followed the conventional capitalistic linear
economy paradigm – its core being that the environ-
ment is not a resource and wealth creation is the
necessary and sufficient condition to cater to the
interest of the economy and future generations. The
SDGs, on the other hand, are augmented by the
United Nations (UN) Global Compact Principles
(GCPs), UN Principles of Responsible Investments
(PRIs), and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI &
UN Global Compact, 2017). The goals of the SDGs
and the GCPs and PRIs are given in the appendix. In
addition to the UN, other institutions such as those of
the European Union are actively engaged in a para-
digm shift from linear to an ecological and circular
economy (see, for example, European Commission,
2017).
In the existing linear paradigm, wealth creation
could inflict further damage to the ecological envi-
ronment, and hence could be disastrous in its conse-
quences for the future security of humankind and
other species. With this background, a new global
financial architecture motivated by the SDGs imple-
mentation requirements is emerging, parallel to Basel
III. In addition, the pressure on the existing global
financial architecture is also increasing due to the
emergence of the distributed ledger technology (DLT)
and potential financial disintermediation.
Another important area of shift in paradigm is in
the role of faith (local aspirations) as a positive moti-
vating force for achieving SDGs as compared to the
MDGs regime, which took it for granted that faith is
a barrier to accessing health, educational, and finan-
cial services. Religious philanthropies and faith-based
finance can enhance resources for the SDGs in the
Reforming Islamic Finance for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals 5
frame-work of a blended approach along with public
sector resources and private investments. Unlike the
MDGs, the SDGs give importance to local realities,
values, and institutions. More importantly, faith-
driven policies like Islamic finance can be consistent
with local aspirations and could be readily owned by
the relevant population segments. This brings the
SDGs closer to the maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah driven CHD.
The paradigm-shift in the SDGs opens up oppor-
tunities for Islamic finance that were not available
under the MDGs. Therefore, there is the expectation
that Islamic finance can play an important and wider
role in achieving the SDGs. This potential role of
Islamic finance can be enhanced by paradigmatic and
regulatory reform and support as well as surveillance.
In this regard, we identify the following broader areas
and these areas could also be themes for future
research:
(a) Facilitating a shift from the linear economy
paradigm to a circular/ecological economy par-
adigm;
(b) Transformation of the global financial archi-
tecture;
(c) Developing synchrony between local aspira-
tions (maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah), national goals,
and the SDGs;
(d) Reforming Sharīʿah governance by taking into
account the synchrony between the local aspi-
rations, national goals, and the SDGs, and by
integrating the Islamic institutions of compass-
ion in financial sector reforms;
(e) Strengthening the Islamic financial architecture
by removing structural risks in the design of
financial products;
(f) Incentivizing waste control and management
and promoting SMEs in ecological/circular
economy; and
(g) Encouraging integrated reporting on SDGs.
2. Shift the Paradigm
One of the prime objectives of the Sharīʿah is the protection and preservation of the rights of future generations and the enhancement of opportunities and security for them. In this context, intergenera-tional equity is an important debate and environ-mental balance has significant implications for future welfare and security. With a similar perspective, the conservationist movement for protecting natural resources and the environment was initiated by the early 1900s. In a seminal article, Hotelling (1931) offers an economic refutation of the conservationist arguments. Briefly, he argues that in the interest-based financial system, the interest mechanism will dictate through market forces whether it is more profitable to conserve the environment or to trans-form the environment into financial resources and transfer these to financial institutions and markets and earn financial returns. Hotelling argued for the transformation instead of conservation of natural and environmental resources. Costanza et al. (1997) explain that:
According to Hotelling’s model, even when market prices fully reflect the value of a species, it will be efficient to exploit a species to extinction or totally degrade an ecosystem if the value of the species or the ecosystem over time is not increasing at least as fast as money deposited in an interest-bearing bank account. (p. 54)
This argument was so convincing that it has domina-ted economic thought and policies ever since its publication in 1931. It is obvious that, in the model, the environment as such cannot be considered as a resource. The more it is extracted, the man-made capital/wealth can be created, the more is consumed and wasted. Given an effective demand through the credit mechanism, the more resources could be extracted. In this manner, the economy becomes a linear system of extracting, using, wasting, and extracting more. The interest-based financial system essentially becomes an engine for driving such a linear economy.
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8 Tariqullah Khan
3. Transform the Architecture
There is no doubt that for achieving the SDGs, the
global financial architecture has to undergo signifi-
cant transformation. In the absence of a consensus
regarding the definition of international financial
architecture, we describe it as a set of intertwined ins-
titutional parameters. These include: (a) the unalter-
able foundational principles concerning business and
finance; (b) the universal ethical norms of market
practices and business conduct in financial services;
(c) the international best practice standards pertaining
to financial services and (d) the relevant institutions.
Traditionally, the relevant institutions are the
Bank of International Settlements (BIS), Basel Com-
mittee for Banking Supervision (BCBS), Financial
Action Task Force (FATF), Financial Stability Board
(FSB), International Accounting Standards Board
(IASB), International Organization of Securities Co-
mmissions (IOSCO), International Monetary Fund
(IMF), and the World Bank (WB). These institutions
have the man-date to ensure safeguarding and stren-
gthening those parameters of the architecture with
their different instruments of policy support. Histori-
cally, these institutions and the standards set by them
have completely ignored the relevance of ecological
concerns for systemic stability.
The paper by the University of Cambridge’s
Institute for Sustainability Leadership in association
with the UNEP Finance Initiative (CISL & UNEP-
FI, 2014) raises important questions concerning this
critical gap in the Basel III banking regulations.
However, the SDGs, PRIs, GCPs, and initiatives
like the research of the GRI and UN Global Comp-
act (2017) which focuses on ESG and SDG disclos-
ures, are radically influencing the behavior of busin-
esses and their reporting systems worldwide. Hence,
the UN and GRI principles and their institutional
base now play a proactive role in the transformation
of the global financial architecture.
The traditional description of financial architect-
ture is also applicable to the global Islamic financial
architecture, covering in particular the Islamic
Financial Services Board (IFSB), Accounting and
Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institu-
tions (AAOIFI), the OIC Fiqh Academy (OIC-FA),
and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), in addi-
tion to the international institutions listed. These insti-
tutions also do not have any proactive agenda for the
ESG concerns and SDG implementation except that
in 2016 the IDB and UNDP have signed a MoU for
enhancing the role of Islamic finance in SDGs
implementation.
The global financial architecture and its Islamic
sub-set are designed to function within the frame-
work of the linear economy and cater to its needs and
requirements. As mentioned above, the linear econo-
my paradigm does not consider the ecological envi-
ronment as a depletable resource. It is market-driven
– earning more by maximum resource extraction,
production, usage, and even waste and more extrac-
tion. The global financial system is a part as well as
facilitator of this paradigm.
However, over the last few decades as a response
to the climate change and the damage done to the
eco-logical environment, the competing circular eco-
nomy paradigm has emerged, in which the environ-
ment is considered an essential and depletable reso-
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10 Tariqullah Khan
Figure (4) Islamic financial architecture in the global context
UN
SDGs
& ESG
concerns
G20 policy reforms
International financial architecture
International Islamic financial architecture and
standard setting
National legislative and judicial systems recognizing Islamic finance
specificities
National legal, regulatory, and supervisory authorities, policy advisory entities, and
Sharīʿah bodies
International apex fiqh academies, and Sharīʿah boards (whose research-driven views/guidance
notes are important)
Educational, informational, advisory, structuring, and rating services (cross-cutting services) needed to
implement genuine Islamic financial services
Micro-Sharīʿah governance: compliance at the level of institutions, products, services, markets, and users (ongoing
financial engineering and product development work)
Derived and adapted best practice standards for Islamic financial services industry (slowly changeable parameters but with significant
consensus); SDGs, ESG concerns, PRIs, GCPs, etc.
Received and given principles and architectural foundations of Islamic finance (unchangeable parameters); maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah
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12 Tariqullah Khan
On the other hand, Islamic finance offers a good
example of a prescription that caters to local prefere-
nces and hence guarantees inclusion. The same could
also be relevant for other services like educational,
health, and social development programs. Qatar
National Vision 2030, with four pillars – people,
economy, culture, and environment, is an example of
an outstanding policy prescription that caters to such
local preferences and hence, synchronizes local
aspiration and global goals. A mapping and compari-
son of the three in Figure 7 shows a complete syn-
chrony bet-ween the pillars with a realigned financial
architecture.
Figure (7) SDGs regime – reasons for optimism
5. Reform Sharīʿah Governance – Ḥalāl is
Essential but Insufficient
Compliance with local aspirations (maqāṣid al-
Sharīʿah) is a very broad and high-level policy re-
quirement in the national context, whether it is in the
juristic, educational, health, media, cultural, financial
domains, and so on. In the context of Islamic finance,
there is an internal process carried out by Islamic
financial institutions (IFIs). In at least five jurisdic-
tions, Sharīʿah governance (SG) is a regulatory requi-
rement prompted by the eventuality of systemic risk
of Sharīʿah non-compliance. Recognition of systemic
significance of Sharīʿah non-compliance necessitates
a two-tier SG system. Tier one of SG is at the level of
the regulator, who needs to oversee and have surveill-
ance on the second tier – the service provider. In
most other jurisdictions, where there are practices of
Islamic financial services (IFS), the systemic
significance of Sharīʿah non-compliance is not
recognized. In such jurisdictions, service providers
implement the SG voluntarily as a financial
engineering, product development, and behavioral
marketing strategy.
In the existing academic works and guiding notes
by regulators and standard setters, SG implies the
application and assurance of the principles of
Sharīʿah at these two levels. However, the focus of
SG has thus far been at the micro-level, covering the
Sharīʿah permissibility of products and services
offered by the IFIs. The purpose of the SG as such is
to establish the ḥalāl paradigm in financial services
covering business conduct and the earning of
permissible income. This is done within the overall
framework of the conventional capitalistic linear
economy paradigm.
Global goals (SDGs)
National Objectives
(QNV 2030)
Local aspirations (maqāṣid)
International financial
architecture
Reforming Islamic Finance for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals 13
This micro approach is indeed essential but insuf-
ficient. Moreover, on one hand the approach creates
structural risks resulting in something being treated as
ḥalāl and not ḥalāl simultaneously, which will even-
tually impede the progress and resilience of Islamic
finance. On the other hand, society’s overall
aspirations and objectives (reflected in the maqāṣid
al-Sharīʿah) are left outside the scope of SG. Further-
more, the micro-objective approach also ignores the
significant transformation that is taking place in the
global financial architecture as mentioned above.
Therefore, there is a need to redefine the purpose of
SG to cover – in addition to establishing the ḥalāl
paradigm – the internalization of the institutions of
compassion which include qarḍ, zakāh, and awqāf ;
forbearance; and ecological and social concerns
(World Bank and Islamic Development Bank Group,
2016).
In Figure 8(a) we describe the different layers of
Sharīʿah governance. In addition to the micro-level,
IFS comprise of the intermediate meso-level compo-
nents including educational, financial reporting, tran-
sparency, information, and advisory infrastructures
and services. For example, the rising trend of
Sharīʿah, SRI, and ESG screening of investment
opportunities is one of the most effective uses of
technology to empower investors in the imposing
market discipline in favor of local preferences. The
macro-level layer of IFS includes the courts, the legal
and tax systems, and the regulatory and supervisory
infrastructures. These regulatory infrastructures
would also include the implementation of interna-
tional best practice standards and the provision of
systemic liquidity, safety-nets, and an overall level
playing field. At the global level, we are referring to
the setting of international standards and the intera-
ction of Islamic finance principles with international
institutions, standards, norms, and legal regimes.
At each level of the micro, intermediate, macro
and global layers, the basic parameters of SG need to
be identified, discussed, analyzed and modified. This
needs to be done with perspectives of the changing
global financial architecture where SDGs, ESG,
PRIs, GCPs, and humanitarian issues are becoming
added concerns. We attempt to identify and discuss
the fundamental elements of SG and existing institu-
tional gaps at each layer. Looking ahead, we suggest
how best these gaps may be addressed and filled for a
locally genuine and globally credible and robust IFS
industry.
In light of the above discussion, the strategic goals
of Islamic financial services development and
implementation are:
(i) Enhancing financial inclusion and access to
finance by all businesses and segments of the
population;
(ii) Genuineness, stability and resilience of the
Islamic financial services;
(iii) Depth (meeting all needs) and breadth
(reaching all geographic areas and population
and business segments) of the financial
services; and
(iv) Promoting alertness and sensitivity to climatic
and humanitarian concerns and responsible
investment.
14
Ex
Ebin
xist
Estabusin Is
ting
abliineslamse
g sco
Fi
shinss pa
mic frvic
ope
igu
ng ḥaradfinaces
of S
re (
ḥalādigmanci
Sha
(8b)
āl m ial
arīʿa
) In
ah g
nter
gov
Fi
rnal
ern
igur
lizin
anc
re (
ng t
ce
(8a)
the
G
M
M
M
) Sh
ins
lob
Macr
Mes
Micr
Usser
Tari
harī
stitu
al L
ro L
so L
ro L
sersrvic
iqulla
īʿah
utio
Leve
Lev
Leve
Leve
of ces
ah K
h go
ons
el
el
el
el
Khan
over
of c
R
rna
com
sa
co
gem
fi
Refo
ance
mpa
Ḥalscreand ompintco
enermaqinan
orm
e lay
assio
lāl beeniint
passteresonceratiqāṣincia
med s
yer
on t
busiing ernasionst-frernsonsid, Sal co
scop
rs
to im
ines+ galizn (zfree s ofs, etSDGontr
pe o
mpl
ss pgenuzingzakā
loaf ecotc.),Gs, ractdec
of S
lem
parauineg theāh, aans, ologalsPR
ting cisio
�
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Shar
ment
adigess oe inawqfor
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RIs a and
on
Int
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Le
tax
po
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ed
bu
an
an
Fin
the
ma
Us
rīʿa
t SD
gm +of cstitu
qāf, rebeandnco
and d in
tern
tter
egal
x fr
olici
now
duca
uildi
nd a
nd p
nan
e in
arke
ses
ah g
DG
+ etcontutiocha
earad futompGC
nves
natio
rs
l, re
ame
ies
wled
ation
ing,
dvi
prov
ncia
nstit
ets p
and
gove
s
hicatracons aritianceturepassCPs stme
ona
egul
ewo
dge,
nal,
, inf
sory
vide
l se
tutio
pro
d us
erna
al cts of ies, e, e singin ent
al st
lato
ork
,
, cap
form
y se
rs
ervic
ons
vid
sers
ance
and
ry a
and
pac
mati
ervi
ces
and
ing
e
dard
and
d
city
ion,
ces
and
d
the
d
,
d
em
Reforming Islamic Finance for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals 15
6. Redesign Financial Products
Hotelling’s basic argument was that the design of
interest-based financial contracts will efficiently
facilitate the transformation of natural resources into
man-made financial capital and ensure wealth
creation. The aspiration of society to preserve the
ecological system did not make economic/rational
sense to him. The same conflict of societal aspira-
tions vis-à-vis wealth creation still prevails even
within the framework of Sharīʿah governance, which
is the central theme of Islamic finance. The design of
financial contracts instead of being instruments of
risk transference could better reflect societal aspira-
tions by risk-sharing. The existing Sharīʿah gover-
nance institutions, which are core institutions of the
Islamic financial architecture, do not address this
concern at all. In most of these existing works, SG
implies the application and assurance of the
principles of Sharīʿah at the micro-level covering the
governance and conduct of providers of the Islamic
financial services (IFS) with the core and targeted
objective of making the services ḥalāl. The relevant
guidance notes issued by the IFSB and the AAOIFI
are also anchored by the micro-approach. Regulators,
whether they have Sharīʿah boards housed inside
national regulatory authorities (e.g., Malaysia, Indon-
esia, Pakistan, etc.) or whether they do not have such
national institutional set-ups (e.g., Saudi Arabia,
Bahrain, Qatar, etc.) all share the same micro-outlook
towards SG. The consequences are structural risks,
financialization, and ecological indifference.
6.1 Structural Risk in the Design of Financial Products
It may be argued that this overall micro and more
individuated approach to SG provides enough space
and incentive for financial engineering and product
development. However, in fact, such a micro appro-
ach that considers being ḥalāl as essential and
sufficient conditions for Islamic financial architecture
replicates interest-based contracts where the Hote-
lling argument prevails. Moreover, this approach also
gives rise to structural risks in the design of financial
products impeding the achievement of the strategic
goals set for the IFS and the SDGs.
Figure (9) Structural risk in the design of ṣukūk
Credit risk
Rate of return risk
Price risk
Interest rate
risk Credit risk
Price risk Bond
Equity
Ṣukūk with structural
risk
Ṣukūk
Ṣukūk
(a) (b)
(c)
16 Tariqullah Khan
Structural risk in the design of a financial contract is
the fragility of the contract due to opposing views
concerning the contract’s Sharīʿah validity. In figure
9 (a) ṣukūk replaces a bond having identifiable credit
risk and rate of return risk. This position concerning
ṣukūk is the consensus view of stakeholders – issuers,
underwriters, legal advisors, investors, and above all
the Sharīʿah advisors who allow repurchase of ṣukūk
assets at initial price. However, figure 9 (b) shows the
position of Sharīʿah scholars who allow repurchase
but only at market price prevailing at the future time
of repurchase. The contradictory positions underlying
figure 9 (a) and (b) give rise to figure 9 (c) which
means that since (a) and (b) exist, it is not possible to
separate the three risks; price risk as in (b), and
interest rate risk and credit risk as in (a) are bundled
and inseparable in (c). This state of affairs concerning
the design of financial products makes the
architectural foundations of Islamic finance shaky.
Structural risk may be confused with what is refe-
rred to as Sharīʿah risk where the two need to be dist-
inguished. If there were a consensus on the Sharīʿah
validity of these contracts that are dominating Islamic
finance, there would not have been any structural risk
in the design of these cont-racts. In that case, there
could still have been Sharīʿah risk showing the
potential distance of a specific contract from what is
considered as a Sharīʿah compliant structure. Howe-
ver, the reality in the present case is that the contracts
are Sharīʿah comp-liant to one group of scholars and
non-compliant to another group, complaint to one
apex Sharīʿah body and non-compliant to another
one. Such disputes on fundamental issues not only
follows the linear economy paradigm but also shakes
the architectural foundations of Islamic finance.
6.2 Financialization
In terms of the design of financial contracts, the
typical consequence of Hotelling theory for the glo-
bal economy was summarized in figure 2. Global
financial assets and derivatives far exceed global
GDP. In theory, Islamic finance controls financialize-
tion as finance cannot be created without real goods
and services. However, this theoretical premise of
Islamic finance does not hold in practice. Important
examples are bayʿal-ʿīnah (selling on cash and
buying-back on credit) and bayʿ al-tawarruq (buying
on credit and selling-back on cash); the first contract
is now dominant in the global ṣukūk market and the
second is dominant in the financing offered by the
Islamic banks. Both are designed to bypass the
theoretical premise and are effectively applied with
the approval of Sharīʿah scholars within the micro-
Sharīʿah governance framework. One group of scho-
lars working for banks and service providers argue
that selling on cash and buying-back on credit or
buying on credit and selling-back on cash whichever
best represents the client’s economic circumstances is
a legitimate out-come of a trading transaction and the
client’s need for cash is fulfilled in a Sharīʿah comp-
liant (ḥalāl) manner. However, another group of
Sharīʿah scholars mostly independent in their
standing argue that both these contracts are fictitious
trading and are, in fact, a legal arbitrage to circum-
vent the prohibition of ribā and therefore are Sharīʿah
non-compliant. So much so that even the two apex
Sharīʿah bodies of the IFS, namely, the OIC Fiqh
Academy and the AAOIFI Sharīʿah Boards have
opposing guidance notes pertaining to the two
contracts; the first banning and the second allowing.
The result of the ḥalāl is sufficient approach has the
added disadvantage of leading to excessive leverage,
and potentially a market for “Islamic” derivatives,
having the same consequence as depicted in fig 2;
financial assets and derivatives exceeding real GDP
10-fold.
The stability and resilience of the financial archi-
tecture will depend on the robustness of the founda-
tional principles. The structural risk identified as such
is related to the architectural foundations of Islamic
finance and, therefore, is more severe in nature than
recognized. Since there is no agreed upon Sharīʿah
compliant structure, the Sharīʿah risk becomes irrele-
vant. Hence, within the IFSB universe of identified
risks, this rather most virulent risk remains unidenti-
fied posing a real threat to the genuineness, stability,
and resilience of the Islamic financial architecture.
6.3 Sustainability Gaps
The existing Islamic financial contracts including
ṣukūk are, in their design, either indifferent or even
implicitly counter sustainability. A sustainable design
of a financial contract will explicitly be pro towards
ecological and social concerns. Many sovereign
Reforming Islamic Finance for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals 17
ṣukūk are designed to serve social purposes by deve-
loping the physical infrastructure. An example is the
Hamad Medical City in Doha, which was financed
by a ṣukūk issuance. The structure of similar ṣukūk
can be designed to be sustainable by documenting,
for example, the waste management systems, use of
green energy, and the social aspects of the project
being financed. There is an obvious gap in the design
of Islamic financial contracts and products in this
regard which can be conveniently filled with proper
policy inducement and regulatory support.
7. Incentivize Waste Control and Management
Waste control and management (WCM) is of primary
importance to ensure safeguarding environmental,
promoting recycling, and the ecological economic
paradigm. WCM strategies and targets have been
given an important status and priority in the Euro-
pean Union and in other parts of the world. In these
countries separate collection of waste remains one of
the challenges. Increasingly, companies are integra-
ting disclosures about their WCM policies in repor-
ting. However, in the IDB member countries, except
for a few exceptions, WCM is an unfamiliar idea.
Government policies at various tiers as well as regu-
latory guidelines can contribute substantially in
introducing WCM initiatives at different levels inclu-
ding house-holds and businesses.
Significant emphasis has been attached to the role
of SMEs in promoting inclusive economic develop-
ment and promoting shared prosperity. Regulatory
guidelines and support to SMEs within the ecological
economic paradigm could be more consistent with
the SDGs and ESG concerns. Infrastructure financing
is another pertinent area where Islamic finance is
expected to contribute and where waste reduction and
management has to attract attention on priority basis.
For a comprehensive coverage of the potential policy
guide-lines, legislative proposals, and potential initia-
tives on waste, see European Commission (2017) on
the action plan for the implementation of the circular
economy.
8. Encourage Integrated Disclosures
In the impact investment field, the socially response-
ble investors – SRI and ESG oriented companies –
have already started offering voluntary disclosures on
SDG and ESG strategies, activities, and achieve-
ments. Khan and Mohomed (2017) show that some
Islamic banks like the Bangladesh Islamic Bank
Limited are offering more voluntary information on
ESG related concerns. GRI and UN Global Compact
(2017) offers a comprehensive template for such
disclosures. The template is 223 pages in size cove-
ring all the 17 SDGs and 169 targets. Since it is not
possible to present a meaningful abstract of such a
large document, here we present two quotes from the
Chief Executive of GRI and from the CEO of the UN
Global Compact who have jointly published the
report. In the words of the Chief Executive of GRI:
At a time when the revenues of large companies
exceed the GDP of many countries and supply
chains stretch around the world, the private sector
plays a vital role in achieving the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs). This analysis of the
goals and targets is a first step towards a unified
mechanism to help companies report on the SDGs
in a comparable and effective way. By reporting on
their progress, companies will improve their perfor-
mance which will enable meaningful progress tow-
ards achieving the SDGs. (p. 9)
The CEO of UN Global Compact said:
The SDGs provide a unique opportunity to elevate
communication on sustainability. Governments
have emphasized this agenda through SDG 12 –
recognizing how important it is for companies to
adopt sustainable practices and integrate this infor-
mation into their reporting cycles. The expectations
on companies are huge. Companies that align
repor-ting and communication with the SDGs will
be speaking in the same language that increasingly
is adopted by governments, foundations, NGOs and
even investors. (p. 9)
Some companies have already initiated disclosure co-
ncerning their contributions to SDGs implementation.
Regulatory authorities can play a tremendously impo-
rtant role in expecting from the companies to start
using the template and gradually adapting it within a
reasonable period.
9. Conclusions and Implications
Our foregoing discussion shows that the linear
economy paradigm is transforming into the circular
economy paradigm, especially driven by SDGs and
through active policy support and strategic targets
18 Tariqullah Khan
within the European Commission. The global finan-
cial architecture is transforming because of the
responses of businesses to the various UN initiatives.
The ways that companies had been doing businesses
is also changing and reporting is becoming more
comprehensive covering SDGs and ESG concerns.
However, the global best practice standards – Basel
III, IFSB standards, financial reporting standards etc.
– still cater to the linear economy paradigm. The
CISL and UNEP-FI (2014) study formally raises this
important gap in the standards and is calling upon the
standard setters and regulators to revise the existing
standards in the light of the new but rapidly changing
realities. This call is equally relevant for the IFSB
and AAOIFI standards. Some of these are listed here:
(a) IFSB to recognize in its approach and stan-
dards the ESG concerns and SDGs, PRIs,
GCPs, etc., and to identify tasks and response-
bilities under Pillar 2 and disclosures require-
ments under Pillar 3. Under Pillar 1 the IFSB
can encourage green ṣukūk by different
incentives.
(b) AAOIFI to consider GRI and UN Global
Compact (2017) and encourage replication by
its members wherever applicable.
(c) Central banks to encourage green assets and
design of contracts based on long-term risk
sharing.
(d) Security regulators to enhance the ethical
screening methodologies in line with SDGs,
PRIs, GCPs, and GRI.
(e) Finance Ministries to enhance coordination
with regulators and other stakeholders on the
SDG implementation.
This paper has only described the broader outline for
a paradigmatic and regulatory reform of Islamic
finance. The transformative global scene provides an
excellent opportunity for researchers to undertake
more work with an objective to contribute to transfor-
ming economies to become more responsible, inclu-
sive, and resilient and to ensure shared prosperity and
wellbeing.
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Tariqullah Khan is currently Professor of Islamic Finance at the College of
Islamic Studies, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, Doha. He was
previously with the Islamic Development Bank Group as Co-Lead of Global
Islamic Financial Industry Development Initiative and Division Chief, Islamic
Banking and Finance, Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI). He was also
a visiting scholar at the Harvard University Law School during summer 2011, as
well as at the Stanford University Law School during the summer of 2017.
E-mail: [email protected]
20 Tariqullah Khan
Appendix
Sustainable Development Goals, Global Compact Principles, and Principles of Responsible Investment
This appendix shows the principles that are transforming
the global financial architecture. The UN Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) are given in section A.
Section B presents the UN Global Compact Principles.
The Principles of Responsible Investment, which are
supported by the UN, are given in section C.
A. UN Sustainable Development Goals
SDG Goal 1: No poverty.
SDG Goal 2: Zero hunger.
SDG Goal 3: Good health and wellbeing.
SDG Goal 4: Quality education.
SDG Goal 5: Gender equality.
SDG Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation.
SDG Goal 7: Affordable and clean energy.
SDG Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth.
SDG Goal 9: Industry, innovation, and infrastructure.
SDG Goal 10: Reduced inequalities.
SDG Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities.
SDG Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production.
SDG Goal 13: Climate action.
SDG Goal 14: Life below water.
SDG Goal 15: Life on land.
SDG Goal 16: Peace, justice, and strong institutions.
SGG Goal 17: Partnership for the goals.
B. UN Global Compact Principles
Human rights:
Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the
protection of internationally proclaimed human rights;
and
Principle 2: Make sure that they are not complicit in
human rights abuses.
Labor:
Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of
association and the effective recognition of the right to
collective bargaining;
Principle 4: The elimination of all forms of forced and
compulsory labor;
Principle 5: The effective abolition of child labor; and
Principle 6: The elimination of discrimination in respect
of employment and occupation.
Environment:
Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary
approach to environmental challenges;
Principle 8: Undertake initiatives to promote greater
environmental responsibility; and
Principle 9: Encourage the development and diffusion
of environmentally friendly technologies.
Anti-corruption:
Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption
in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.
C. UN-Supported Principles of Responsible
Investment
Principle 1: We will incorporate ESG issues into
investment analysis and decision-making processes.
Principle 2: We will be active owners and incorporate
ESG issues into our ownership policies and practices.
Principle 3: We will seek appropriate disclosure on ESG
issues by the entities in which we invest.
Principle 4: We will promote acceptance and
implementation of the Principles within the investment
industry.
Principle 5: We will work together to enhance our
effectiveness in implementing the Principles.
Principle 6: We will each report on our activities and
progress towards implementing the Principles.
.
Reforming Islamic Finance for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals 21
إصالح التمو�ل اإلسالمي لتحقيق أ�داف التنمية املستدامة
طارق هللا خان
قطر، جامعة حمد بن خليفة، �لية الدراسات اإلسالمية ، أستاذ التمول اإلسالمي
(CHD) 'س%$شد نموذج االقتصاد والتمول اإلسالمي بدوافع التنمية ال�شرة الشاملة. املستخلص
ملقاصد الشر8عة اإلسالمية، ومع ذلك فإن اقتصادات السوق ا01ر /. العالم يحرك)ا ًوحفظ)ا وفقا
استغالل املتعلقة باقتصاديات م١٩٣١نظرة Jوتلينغ /. عام نموذج االقتصاد اF1طي تحت تأث@$
املوارد الطبيعية، حيث ال يتم االع%$اف بالبRئة اإليMولوجية كمورد، إذ تم تصميم ال)يMلة املالية
العاملية 01ماية وحفظ النموذج االقتصادي اF1طي. ومن الناحية العملية ظل التمول اإلسالمي
الجتماعية والبيdية أيًضا عبارة عن فرع بقى /. Jذا النظام بمس^[ حالل. لقد أدت االختالالت ا
واM01ومية /. اآلونة األخ@$ة إgh املبادرات الf[ ترعاJا األمم املتحدة بما /. ذلك أJداف التنمية
ا ملقاصد الشر8عة الo ]fسgn إgh تحقيق التنمية ال�شرة وا0lافظة علjkا وفًق (SDGs) املستدامة
قيقي فعq. من االقتصاد اF1طي إgh اإلسالمية. ومن الناحية العملية، وألول مرة، يحدث تحول ح
اإليMولوy./الدائري بصورة م0vوظة، مما يحفز أيًضا تحول ال)يMلة املالية. tستخدم /. Jذه الورقة
zشMل (SDGs)والتنمية املستدامة (CHD)من منظور أوسع دوافع التنمية ال�شرة الشاملة
مية املطلو|ة لتعزز التأث@$ ا01قيقي متبادل، ونناقش عدًدا من اإلصالحات النموذجية والتنظي
، وأJداف التنمية املستدامة zشMل (CHD)للتمول اإلسالمي /. تحقيق التنمية ال�شرة الشاملة
عام. كما تناقش الورقة بصورة أوسع مبادرات اإلصالح ا0lتملة.
الةال لمات َّ
املالية، إصالح ، التمول اإلسالمي، تصميم العقود اإلسالميةمقاصد الشر8عة :الد
التمول اإلسالمي، تنظيم التمول اإلسالمي، االقتصاد الدائري والتمول اإلسالمي، إصالح ا01وكمة
.عن التنمية املستدامة، والتنمية الشاملة والتمول اإلسالمي التقرر ،الشرعية
JEL: Q01, Q56 تص�يف
KAUJIE: B5, H51 تص�يف