Towards a Shariah Legal Framework for Personal Financing: A Critical Analysis of Gift-Reward Mechanisms in Islamic Jurisprudence
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66325/nusantaralaw.v5i2.266Keywords:
Gift-Reward Mechanism; Islamic Jurisprudence; Personal Financing; Shariah Legal Framework; Tawarruq Munazzam.Abstract
This study examines the juridical potential of gift-reward mechanisms as an alternative structure for Shariah-compliant personal financing amid continuing debates over contemporary financing instruments such as tawarruq munazzam and baiʿ al-ʿinah. Although these mechanisms are widely employed in Islamic financial practice, their contractual structures have generated persistent juristic disagreement concerning substance, legal form, and conformity with the objectives of Shariah. The study aims to critically assess the legal basis, contractual characteristics, and Shariah boundaries of gift-reward mechanisms and to formulate a jurisprudential framework for their application in personal financing. Employing a qualitative doctrinal approach, the research analyzes primary and secondary sources of Islamic jurisprudence through content analysis, supported by uṣūl al-fiqh, maqāṣid al-sharīʿah, and qawāʿid fiqhiyyah. Particular attention is given to the legal characterization of hibah (gift), thawāb (reward), and their relationship with financing obligations to determine whether the mechanism constitutes a genuine contractual arrangement or merely replicates the economic substance of contested financing structures. The findings demonstrate that a reconstructed gift-reward mechanism may be accommodated within fiqh al-muʿāmalāt when the underlying contracts remain legally independent, the gift is not transformed into a disguised return on a loan, and contractual conditions do not undermine the principles of voluntariness, transparency, and avoidance of ribā. The study further identifies the need for clear legal boundaries governing the timing, conditionality, and economic relationship between financing and reward. Its academic contribution lies in developing a jurisprudential framework that connects classical contractual doctrines with contemporary personal-financing innovation without reducing Shariah compliance to formal contractual arrangements. The proposed framework offers a basis for developing ethically grounded financing structures while preserving contractual integrity and advancing the substantive objectives of Shariah.
Downloads
References
Abdul Mujib. “The Failure of Indonesian E-Commerce Law in Adapting to Digital Economy.” Ijtihad : Jurnal Wacana Hukum Islam Dan Kemanusiaan 25 (December 2025). https://doi.org/10.18326/ijtihad.v25i2.213-230.
Abdullah, Fadli Daud, Doli Witro, Misbahul Munir Makka, Muhamad Sadi Is, and Syahid Mujahid Wiwaha. “Contemporary Challenges for Sharia Financial Institutions to Increase Competitiveness and Product Innovation A Perspective of Sharia Economic Law: Evidence in Indonesia.” MILRev: Metro Islamic Law Review 3, no. 2 (December 2024). https://doi.org/10.32332/MILREV.V3I2.9202.
Al Farisi, Muhammad Salman, Erlina Puspitaloka Mahadewi, Nour Khalid, Aryanti Ratnawati, Heri Erlangga, and Hariyaty Ab Wahid. “Consumer Behavior of Muslim Minorities in Purchasing Halal Products: A Maslahah Perspective.” Jurnal Ilmiah Al-Syir’ah, no. 2 (2024). https://doi.org/10.30984/JIS.V22I2.2788.
al-Dardir. Al-Sharh al-Kabir. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, n.d.
Ali, Mohammad Mahbubi, and Rusni Hassan. “Survey on Sharīʿah Non-Compliant Events in Islamic Banks in the Practice of Tawarruq Financing in Malaysia.” ISRA International Journal of Islamic Finance 12, no. 2 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1108/IJIF-07-2018-0075.
al-ʿAmiliyy. Al-Raudah al-Bahiyah Fi Syarh al-Lumʿah al-Dimasyqiyyah. Beirut: Dar al-ʿAlam al-Islamiyy, n.d.
Ayub, Muhammad. Understanding Islamic Finance. In Understanding Islamic Finance. Wiley, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119209096.
Bahutiyy, M. Y. al-. Al-Raud al-Murabbaʿ. Riyad: Maktabah al-Riyad al-Hadithah, 1970.
Djumadi, Hamida, Kamiruddin, Arzal Syah, and Mujahidin. “Critical Review of Murābaḥah Financing in Contemporary Islamic Banking: A Maqāṣid al-Sharī‘ah Perspective.” MILRev: Metro Islamic Law Review 4, no. 2 (2025). https://doi.org/10.32332/MILREV.V4I2.11087.
El-Gamal, Mahmoud A. Incoherence of Contract-Based Islamic Financial Jurisprudence in the Age of Financial Engineering. 2007. http://www.jlaw.com/Articles/heter4.html.
Elvia, Evi Eka, Abdul Mujib, Azhar Nor, and Muhammad Imanuddin Akbar. “BASYARNAS as a Place for Dispute Resolution of Musyarakah Financing in Sharia Banking in the Disruption Era.” El-Mashlahah 13, no. 1 (June 2023). https://doi.org/10.23971/EL-MASHLAHAH.V13I1.5345.
Fazlim Yusoff, Amir. “Islamic Personal Financing Instruments in the Malaysian Banking Industries: Issues and Alternatives.” Journal of Contemporary Islamic Law 1, no. 1 (2016).
Ghazzaliyy, M. M. al-. Al-Wasit. Cairo: Dar al-Salam, 1996.
Ghozali, Mohammad, Khusniati Rofiah, Khurun’in Zahro’, and Mualimin Mochammad Sahid. “Reforming Qardh Practices in Islamic Banking: A Critical Analysis Based on Jasser Auda’s Maqāṣid al-Sharīah Systems Approach in Indonesia.” Justicia Islamica 22, no. 2 (December 2025). https://doi.org/10.21154/JUSTICIA.V22I2.11165.
Hanifuddin I, Kasanah N., Eficandra. “Al-Qarḍ al-Ḥasan Program of Bankziska: Zakat Fund-Based Empowerment Model for Victims of Loan Sharks.” JURIS (Jurnal Ilmiah Syariah) 23, no. 1 (2024). https://doi.org/10.31958/JURIS.V23I1.10799.
Haskafiyy, A. A. al-. Al-Durr al-Mukhtar Sharh Tanwir al-Absar Wa Jamiʿ al-Bihar. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1996.
Hasnita, Nevi, Ayumiat, Isnaliana, Intan Qurratulaini, and Dara Amanatillah. “Assessing the Effectiveness of Al-Qarḍ al-Ḥasan Financing (A Case Study of Baitul Misykat Microfinance Institution in Aceh).” AHKAM : Jurnal Ilmu Syariah 25, no. 1 (December 2025). https://doi.org/10.15408/AJIS.V25I1.45586.
Hermanto, Agus, Gesit Yudha, Siti Nurjanah, and Agustiyara. “The Role of Maslahah Mursalah in Strengthening Religious Moderation: A Contemporary Approach to Mitigating Radicalism in State Islamic Universities in Indonesia.” MILRev: Metro Islamic Law Review 5, no. 1 (2026). https://doi.org/10.32332/MILREV.V5I1.10191.
Hilliyy, J. A. al-. Sharaʾiʿ Al-Islam Fi Masaʾil al-Halal Wa al-Haram. Beirut: Muʾassasah Matbuʿah Ismaʿiliyyan, n.d.
Holis, Nasrulloh, Sugeng Widodo, Dzikrulloh, Ach Mus’if, Tri Pujiati, Abu Yasid, and Ahmad Musadad. “Reconciling Shariah Compliance and Institutional Risk: A Maqāṣid-Based Analysis of Ḥawālah and Kafālah in Indonesian Islamic Banking.” Jurnal Ilmiah Mizani: Wacana Hukum, Ekonomi Dan Keagamaan 13, no. 1 (April 2026). https://doi.org/10.29300/MZN.V13I1.10758.
Ibn Hanbal al-Shaibaniyy, A. Musnad Ahmad. Cairo: Muʾassasah Qurtubah, n.d.
Ibn Hazm. Al-Muhalla. Beirut: Dar al-Afaq al-Jadidah, n.d.
Ibn Nujaim, Z. Al-Bahr al-Raʾiq. Beirut: Dar al-Maʿrifah, n.d.
Ibn Qudamah. Al-Mughniyy. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1984.
Iriantoro, Agung. “Notarial Authority and Legal Accountability in Sharia Banking Contracts: A Doctrinal Study.” Jurnal Hukum 41, no. 3 (August 2025). https://doi.org/10.26532/JH.V41I3.42041.
Ishak, Muhammad Shahrul Ifwat, Ahmad Akram Mahmad Robbi, Fathullah Asni, and Mohd Hafiz Mohd Dasar. “The Principle of Maalat in Dealing with the Issue of Tawarruq Overuse in Islamic Banking in Malaysia.” Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, ahead of print, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIABR-08-2024-0304/1255739/THE-PRINCIPLE-OF-MAALAT-IN-DEALING-WITH-THE-ISSUE.
Ishaq, K. Mukhtasar Khalil. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1994.
Jusoh, Amir Fazlim, and Mat Noor Mat Zain. “Sharia Objectives in Illegitimacy of Bay‘ al-‘Inah as A Personal Financing Product in Malaysia.” Islamiyyat - The International Journal of Islamic Studies 39, no. 2 (December 2017). https://doi.org/10.17576/islamiyyat-2017-3902-01.
Jusoh Yusoff, Amir Fazlim. “Reassessment of Islamic Legal Bases for Matrimonial Property in Malaysia.” El-Usrah: Jurnal Hukum Keluarga 7, no. 2 (2024). https://doi.org/10.22373/UJHK.V7I2.26374.
Lahuri, Setiawan bin, Muhammad Rizal Pranoto, Imam Kamaluddin, Syamsuri Syamsuri, and Eko Nur Cahyo. “Halal Certification Governance in Indonesia: An Islamic Legal Appraisal Based on Maṣlaḥah Principles.” JURIS (Jurnal Ilmiah Syariah) 24, no. 2 (2025). https://doi.org/10.31958/JURIS.V24I2.15411.
Mahmoud A. El-Gamal. Islamic Finance Law, Economics, and Practice. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Maksum M, Hidayah N. “The Mechanism of Avoiding Riba in Islamic Financial Institutions: Experiences of Indonesia and Malaysia.” JURIS (Jurnal Ilmiah Syariah) 22, no. 2 (2023). https://doi.org/10.31958/JURIS.V22I2.6952.
Malikiyy, A. al-. Kifayah Al-Talib. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1991.
Mardawiyy, A. S. al-. Al-Insaf Li al-Mardawiyy. Beirut: Dar Ihyaʾ al-Turath al-ʿArabiyy, n.d.
Murtada, A. Y. al-. Al-Taj al-Madhhab Li Ahkam al-Madhhab. Beirut: Dar al-Kitab al-Islamiyy, n.d.
Nawawiyy, Y. al-. Raudah Al-Talibin. Beirut: Al-Maktab al-Islamiyy, 1985.
Nik Hassan Thani, N. N. T., and Madzlan Hussain. “Legal and Regulatory Issues Concerning Islamic Finance’s Development in Malaysia.” Current Issues in Islamic Banking and Finance Resilience and Stability in the Present System, ahead of print, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789812833938_0005.
Novida, Irma, Junarti Junarti, Hidayatulloh, Nur Hidayah, and Ujang Maman. “Rethinking Profit and Loss Sharing: Regulatory Paradoxes in Mudharabah Savings and the Operationalization of Maqasid al-Shariah.” Al-Istinbath: Jurnal Hukum Islam 11, no. 1 (April 2026). https://doi.org/10.29240/JHI.V11I1.11364.
Nurani, Nina, Apriwandi Apriwandi, and Hafied Noor Bagja. “Intellectual Property Rights Law Reform Based on Maqāṣid Al-Sharī‘ah as a Model for Green Business-Based Creative Industry Protection to Support Sustainable Development.” De Jure: Jurnal Hukum Dan Syar’iah 18, no. 1 (February 2026). https://doi.org/10.18860/J-FSH.V18I1.40840.
“Platinum Price Chart | BullionByPost.” Accessed April 9, 2025. https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/platinum-price/.
Qurtubiyy, Y. A. al-. Al-Kafi. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, n.d.
Rahman, Tunis Abu Bakr, Widad Mahdi Jasim, and Nooruldeen Mustafa Kamil Al-Gburi. “Legal and Shariah Analysis of Commercial Paper Discounting and Islamic Banking Financing Alternatives.” Nusantara: Journal of Law Studies 5, no. 1 (2026). https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.18676735.
Rahmatya, Mila Dwi, Mohd Syahiran Abdul Latif, Mohd Hapiz Mahaiyadin, and Mohd Sirajuddin Siswadi Putera Mohamed Shith. “Islamic Sale & Purchase Principles in Decentralized Exchanges: An Evaluation of Sharia Compliance.” AHKAM : Jurnal Ilmu Syariah 25, no. 2 (December 2025). https://doi.org/10.15408/AJIS.V25I2.41250.
Rina Zahari RBS Coutts, Zaha. A Primer on Islamic Finance. n.d. Accessed March 11, 2026. www.cfainstitute.org.
Sarakhsiyy, M. A. al-. Al-Mabsut. Beirut: Dar al-Maʿrifah, n.d.
“Shariah Resolutions in Islamic Finance (Second Edition) - Bank Negara Malaysia.” Accessed March 12, 2026. https://www.bnm.gov.my/-/shariah-resolutions-in-islamic-finance-second-edition-.
Shinsuke N. “Critical Overview of the History of Islamic Economics: Formation, Transformation, and New Horizons.” Asian and African Area Studies 11, no. 2 (2012). https://doi.org/10.14956/ASAFAS.11.114.
Siamtina, Desi Norma, Muhammad Chairul Huda, Sukron Ma’mun, and Nastangin. “The Legal System of the All-You-Can-Eat Ticket System at Tlogo Argo-Tourism, Indonesia: A Maṣlaḥah al-Mursalah Perspective.” Journal of Islamic Law 4, no. 1 (February 2023). https://doi.org/10.24260/JIL.V4I1.1150.
Suyutiyy, A. A. al-. Al-Ashbah Wa al-Nazaʾir. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 1982.
Syihabudin, Deri Wanto, Zakaria Syafe’i, Amalia Muazzah Adawiah, and Sahraman D. Hadji Latif. “A Bibliometric Study of Sharia Compliance in Islamic Banking.” Al-’Adalah 22, no. 1 (June 2025). https://doi.org/10.24042/ADALAH.V221.26525.
The International Islamic Fiqh Academy. Resolutions and Recommendations of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy. Jeddah: International Islamic Fiqh Academy, 2024.
Visser, H. (Herschel). Islamic Finance : Principles and Practice | E-Book. 2009, 184.
Yuliana, Lia, and Antoni Julian. “Power and Ethics in State-Owned Enterprises: The Pertamax Adulteration Case through the Lens of Sharia Economic Law.” Nusantara: Journal of Law Studies 4, no. 2 (October 2025). https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.17340949.
Yusnita, Eti, Yuswalina, and Muhammad Toriq. “Embracing E-Court Innovation: Advancing Maslahah Mursalah in Indonesia’s Religious Courts.” Nurani: Jurnal Kajian Syari’ah Dan Masyarakat 24, no. 2 (December 2024). https://doi.org/10.19109/NURANI.V24I2.24744.
Yusoff A. F., Ahmad A. A., and Nik Abdul Ghani N. A. R. “Classical Tawarruq: A Potential Alternative to Baiʿ al-ʿĪnah in the Malaysian Banking and Finance Industries.” Arab Law Quarterly 33, no. 4 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1163/15730255-12330401.
ʿAbdariyy, M. Y. al-. Al-Taj Wa al-Iklil. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1977.
ʿAtfayish, M. Y. Syarh Al-Nail Wa Syifaʾ al-ʿAlil. Saudi Arabia: Maktabah al-Irsyad, n.d.
ʿUlaish, M. Manh Al-Jalil. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1989.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Amir Fazlim Jusoh Yusoff
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
