Islamic Social Funds to Foster Yunusian Social Business and Conventional Social Enterprises

This paper proposes an integrated, comprehensive financial model that can provide startup capital to socially committed business ventures, such as social enterprises and Yunus Social Business (YSB), by using Islamic social funds (ISFs), Zakat (almsgiving), Waqf (endowments), Sadaqat (charity), and Qard Hasan (interest-free benevolent loans). The literature review method was adopted to explain this model's architecture, applications, implications, and viability. On the basis of logical reasoning, it concludes that ISFs can yield greater social wellbeing if utilised in SEs and YSB than in unconditional charity because both business models work for social betterment in entrepreneurial ways while remaining operationally self-reliant and economically sustainable. Additionally, ISFs can complement Yunus Social Business's zero-return investment approach to make it more robust towards social contributions. The implementation of the model orchestrated in this paper would enhance societal business practices and, hence, scale up social wellbeing while helping rejuvenate pandemic-stricken economies. It paves the way for new research too. © 2023 by the authors.

Addressing the agricultural financing gap in Malaysia via Manihah Agricultural Financing Model: will Islamic banks go the extra mile?

Purpose>This paper introduces the concept of manihah and develops a conceptual framework to address Malaysia's abandoned lands and food security issues.Design/methodology/approach>This is a conceptual paper based on insights from the existing literature and secondary data on food security, abandoned lands and manihah. Based on the prevailing gaps, the study proposes a conceptual framework of the Manihah Agricultural Financing Model to address Malaysia's abandoned land and food security issues.Findings>The proposed model can address abandoned lands and food security issues due to the new incorporation of manihah within Malaysia's agricultural and Islamic financial industries' milieu.Research limitations/implications>This is a conceptual paper mainly intended to spark a discussion on the potentiality of manihah.Practical implications>The paper contends that Islamic banks have a crucial role in furthering the socio-economic development agenda under the value-based intermediation (VBI). The paper will also be an excellent introduction to Islamic bank practitioners in understanding manihah's relevance to their daily operation.Originality/value>This paper introduces manihah as the potential solution to food security issues by utilizing abandoned lands.