Policymakers’ Logic on Islamic Banking: Islamic Banking as an Ethno-Political Tool in Malaysia

Abstract

Social scientists have long sought to understand what Islamic banking is. This study seeks to answer this question by exploring the neoliberalisation process of Islamic banking policies in Malaysia and identifying policymakers’ logic behind this process. For this purpose, this study conducted interviews with actors associated with Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), the central bank of Malaysia. The findings demonstrate that, in the neoliberal era, BNM quietly and continuously pursued the goal of preferably giving economic opportunities to Malay Muslims by establishing institutional mechanisms rather than by offering preferential treatment in a straightforward manner. The Shariah nature of Islamic banking served to conceal this goal from the public. I define Islamic banking as an ethno-political tool rather than simply as a religious economy and contend that the philosophy of Islamic banking as a moral economy conceals an agenda of protecting Malay interests.

Is It Islamic Bank Really Islam? (Based on Previous Research)

“…It also plays a significant role in emancipating Muslim society from Western capitalism. Islamic banks and traditional banks can be distinguished by five specific characteristics: (a) underlying principles and values; (b) offering interestfree goods and services; (c) limiting business transactions to those that adhere to Islamic law; (d) emphasizing social and developmental objectives; and (e) being subject to further inspections by the Syariah Supervisory Board (Haniffa & Hudaib, 2007) (Kitamura, 2021).…”

Transplantasi Hukum Ekonomi Syari`ah di Indonesia

“…Temuan Kitamura menunjukkan bahwa di Malaysia perbankan Islam digunakan sebagai alat etno-politik untuk menarik umat Islam dalam kegiatan ekonomi neokapitalis dan filosofi perbankan Islam sebagai ekonomi moral menyembunyikan agenda melindungi kepentingan orang Melayu (Kitamura, 2021). Ini menarik untuk di diskusikan sebab selama ini yang pahami oleh masyarakat khususnya di Indonesia bahwa berdirinya perbankan syariah semata-mata demi kepentingan umat Islam yang ingin terbebas dari bank konvesional.…”