Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the legal paradigm of multiple Sharia' board directorship practice from the Sharia' law concept of Maslahah Al-Mursalah (public interest). Design/methodology/approach It uses a doctrinal research method that relies on the commonly referred sources of Quran and Sunnah, with a specific focus on Maslahah Al-Mursalah and, where applicable, commentaries by contemporary scholars, academics and practitioners as well as translations of classical book of Fiqh. This study scrutinises the polarity of views concerning the distinct Masyaqqah (necessity) surrounding the practice in discussion: the Masyaqqah that encourages and one that discourages the application of the practice. Findings This study is keen to suggest the industry to adopt a cautious approach and consider exploring a corporate governance framework that appraises the theoretical and practical Sharia' issues concerning its application in cognisance of its adversarial influence towards the sustainability of Islamic banking industry. Originality/value Since Murat Unal’s study of multiple Sharia' board directorships in 2009 and 2011, empirical works that scrutinise the practice from the Sharia' law perspective have remained limited or almost non-existent. It is aspired that this study may assist fellow readers and future researchers alike in evaluating and appreciating the divergent views surrounding the application of this practice in Islamic banking.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to supply basic insights into the principle of shūrā (consultation) in Islamic banking, the idea of a centralised approach to the corporate governance of Islamic financial institutions (IFIs), the roles of a centralised Sharīʿah board as the highest authority on Sharīʿah issues and its distinguishing features from a de-centralised system and the advantages and disadvantages of the two governance systems. Design/methodology/approach In analyzing these, the paper adopts the critical legal studies approach and refers to the provisions of the Qurʾan and Sunnah, ijmāʿ (consensus) of Sharīʿah scholars and recent Islamic banking reports. Findings Despite the fact that the double-digit growth of the current US$2tn Islamic banking industry is a promising sign for its further expansion – expecting to cross the US$6.5tn mark by 2020 – there remains concern over the lack of standardization or rather the diversified approaches to the corporate governance of IFIs across key Islamic banking regions. Practical implications There has been much debate surrounding the issue of whether the Islamic banking industry requires a centralised Sharīʿah board at the state level to complement the Sharīʿah boards at the IFIs’ individual level in providing better supervision of the Sharīʿah-compliance of IFIs. The fact that the industry is already equipped with two prominent standard-setting agencies in the form of the AAOIFI, the IFSB does little to suggest that best governance practices – which centre around the themes of consistency, harmony and uniformity – are on the horizon, at least not whilst their issued standards and guidelines remain voluntary for IFIs. Originality/value All in all, it is aspired that this paper may assist the reader in evaluating the pros and cons of the whole concept of Sharīʿah board centralisation.

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