Human beings are naturally inclined towards safeguarding and protecting themselves from future misfortunes. This natural tendency of risk mitigation has given rise to the concept of insurance which existed thousands of years ago and was fervently practiced by many ancient tribes. Over time, the concept of insurance has changed since it is now being commercialized and have been transformed into a profit-oriented business. To revive the legacy of the real concept of insurance, the takāful (Islamic insurance) scheme was introduced in the second half of the 20th century differentiating itself from conventional insurance practices. The takāful scheme is strictly based on Islamic law known as Shari'ah. This paper thus expounds on the concept of takāful assimilating a holistic overview of this emerging industry while sorting the differences between the takāful scheme and the conventional insurance mechanisms. It concludes that the takāful (Islamic insurance) scheme is a robustly viable and sustainable alternative to conventional insurance.

The Journal of Economics and Business is an Open Access publication. It may be read, copied, and distributed free of charge according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

The Journal of Economics and Business is an Open Access publication. It may be read, copied, and distributed free of charge according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

In conventional banking, the validity of a contract is recognised through case law and the legal system of the country. Islamic banking contracts follow the same laws in addition to Shariah principles, which sometimes create legal uncertainty. Murabahah is an Islamic financial instrument which allows a buyer to purchase goods from a seller at a specified profit margin. In contemporary banking practice, Murabahah has been widely used by Islamic financial institutions as a financing contract. It is therefore important to scrutinise the legality and validity of Murabahah practised by Islamic financial institutions in contemporary settings because the existing substantive law on contracts and commerce may not fit well with the Shariah principles. This paper selected three Murabahah cases in Malaysia and Indonesia between 2013 and 2016 as points of comparison. Future research could compare and contrast legal cases over a wider time span.