Challenges and opportunities of SRI sukuk toward financial system sustainability: a bibliometric and systematic literature review

Abstract

PurposeThe main objective of this paper is to analyze works of literature on SRI sukuk to highlight the potential for these kinds of instruments in financing more sustainable financial systems (SFSs). The analysis mainly accentuates a dearth of knowledge on the various challenges and opportunities in the realm of SRI.Design/methodology/approachThis paper pioneers the bibliometric and systematic literature review of the development of the SRI sukuk from 2016 (the first available year in the field) to and 2021.FindingsThe study findings highlighted several pertinent SRI issues: the lack of standardization due to the different interpretations of Shariah and green, the lack of retail investors, which inevitably produce a lack of liquidity in the secondary market, thus limiting their growth, its funding allocation’ close resemblance to green financing, and the role of Malaysia and Indonesia as global sustainable financial hubs to stimulate the development of Shariah-compliant sustainable instruments and contribute to the international debate about the building of a global standardized framework related to sustainable investments.Originality/valueThe integration of the environmental principles of a green bond with the Shariah-compliant financial structure of a sukuk, the SRI sukuk, represents a vital crossroad in both sustainable and Islamic finance. Social-impact sukuk and green sukuk is an undervalued instrument that could play an important role in financing a more sustainable economic and financial system, including Islamic investing. This kind of instruments, which is based on a “pay for success” principle in the conventional layout, perfectly fit with the profit-and-lost sharing’s (PLS's) ethicality, the sustainability principles of Islamic finance and the religious principles of Islamic law.