Assessment of the Sharīʿah requirements in the Malaysian Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 from the managerialism and Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah perspectives

Purpose - The Maqāṣid (objective) hierarchy is a triple-tiered conceptualisation of individual and social needs that is grounded in the five objectives of Sharīʿah (Islamic Law). Managerialism is the ideological representation of human interaction based on managerial doctrines and practices. This paper aims to explore the tension between the Maqāṣid hierarchy and managerialism by evaluating theSharīʿahrequirements in the Islamic Financial Services Act (IFSA) 2013 of Malaysia from theMaqāṣid al-Sharīʿahperspective. Design/methodology/approach - This qualitative study uses an inductive approach to review the sources ofSharīʿahand classical literature of Islamic jurists to presentSharīʿahrulings on managerialism andMaqāṣid al-Sharīʿah. Findings - The Maqāṣid hierarchy promotes a vision of human life that is the opposite of managerialism. In the case of IFSA 2013, the Maqāṣid hierarchy, which is supposed to be the bedrock for Islamic finance, is replaced by a managerial hierarchy closer to Maslow’s hierarchy than it is to Imam Shatibi’s concept of human life. A process of fitting the Maqāṣid hierarchy into a narrow managerial mould occurs in IFSA 2013, meaning that many of the unique aspects of theMaqāṣid al-Sharīʿahare lost. Social implications - This study will assistSharīʿahscholars, policymakers and Islamic financial institutions to develop the financial system and to implement theMaqāṣid al-Sharīʿahto improve macro policy and shaping Islamic institutions. Originality/value - This is a pioneer study that develops a bridge between the Islamic Maqāṣid and conventional managerial hierarchies, which will encourage academics and practitioners to enrich the literature by conducting more in-depth studies on this topic.