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The purpose of this paper is to analyse the Islamic finance segment within the Updated Commercial Transactions Law in the UAE and opine whether the new alterations will have a significant impact on the Islamic financial industry in the UAE.

This research uses a qualitative methodology, and the UAE as a case study. A single/embedded case study design is adopted, to analyse several chapters within the Updated Commercial Transactions Law in the UAE (multiple units of analysis).

The study revealed that the introduction and incorporation of fiqhi and Islamic financial principles within the Updated Commercial Transactions law in the UAE was done so in its rudimentary form, indicating that its purpose was to enhance the UAE’s position as a leading global Islamic financial hub – as opposed to the sole purpose of its usage during disputes between counterparties.

This research is limited to the UAE as a case study and thus does not provide a comparative analysis with other GCC countries. A separate study would be required for a comparative analysis.

Given that the Updated Commercial Transactions Law in the UAE is relatively new, limited research papers have analysed this segment of the updated law in particular. This research, thus, contributes to knowledge by paving the way for future research pertaining to the same matter.

This paper aims to provide an analysis on how takaful operators choose, which takaful model to adopt when managing their insurance operations.

The research uses a qualitative methodology and uses the Kingdom of Bahrain as a case study. A single/holistic case study design is used to holistically analyse how a takaful operator chooses which takaful model to adopt when managing its insurance operations.

The results reveal that generally, takaful operators adopt either the hybrid wakala-mudharaba or wakala model of takaful, depending on whether a takaful operator is managing/investing the participants’ general or family fund, respectively.

As the empirical data and results pertain to one jurisdiction, it may be difficult to generalize the empirical findings upon other jurisdictions.

This research may have contributed to knowledge by adding to literature empirical data and results in relation to takaful in the Kingdom of Bahrain that may have not previously existed in literature.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis on whether takaful operators actually maintain separated and segregated accounts between the operator and participants’ funds, thereby conforming to Shariah compliance requirements or not.

The research uses a qualitative methodology by analysing secondary data relating to two takaful operators in each of the jurisdictions of the Kingdoms of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

The findings generally reveal that the financial statements and Shariah Supervisory Board annual reports of the takaful operators in the Kingdom of Bahrain confirm the Shariah-required maintenance of separate accounts between the operator and participants, as well as reveal transparency-related issues and Shariah governance weaknesses for takaful operators in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Generalizing based on a single case study may affect the accuracy of the findings. It may also be argued that qualitative researches are generally considered as less valid than quantitative researches.

This research may have provided empirical data that did not previously exist in the literature.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic literature review on Shariah governance and Islamic banks.

The literature was searched from Scopus and Web of Science using various queries related to Shariah governance and Islamic banks. Through a screening process, 93 articles were considered fit for the systematic literature review.

The paper provides a systematic review based on different themes, including measurement of Shariah governance in Islamic banks, disclosure of Shariah governance and its determinants, the impact of Shariah governance on performance, risk management and other outcomes of Islamic banks. Finally, issues and challenges of Shariah governance in Islamic banks are discussed, followed by conclusions and recommendations related to future research.

This study is the first of its kind, to the authors’ knowledge, to provide a comprehensive systematic literature on Shariah governance and Islamic banks by exploring different themes and highlighting multiple future avenues of research.