Can religious values reinvigorate the links between development and falāh?

Abstract

Purpose Previous studies have challenged the Human Development Index’s (HDI) ability to emulate the achievement of falāh (happiness). This paper aims to evaluate the role of religious values in establishing a positive link between the current measurement of development and falāh. Design/methodology/approach First, this study derives an improved value-loaded development measure from the concept of Maqasid al-Shari’ah (the higher objectives of Islamic law). Second, this paper compares the calculated Maqasid al-Shari’ah Index (MSI) with the HDI of some Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries by using the parametric pair difference z-test and t-test along with the non-parametric Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Finally, the relationship of both indices and the proxy of falāh are examined by using the ordinary least square and the generalised method of moments estimations. Findings As far as the religious-led development is concerned, the HDI underestimates OIC countries’ development progress. Here, the MSI can better embody the attainment of falāh than the HDI. Research limitations/implications This study only covers limited OIC countries due to the data availability issue. Practical implications The cultural-based development stemming from the religious values proves useful for putting the government effort towards the attainment of the objective of human well-being in the right direction. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study examining the empirical relationship between the MSI and falāh.

Intergenerational analysis of cash waqf behavior: lessons learned from Indonesia

“…It fulfills the gaps left by both the private sector, which has enormous resources but limited concern for social causes, and the government, which focuses on providing public goods for its citizen yet is constrained with limited resources. This makes waqf consistent with the Islamic development paradigm in promoting the achievement of fal ah (multidimensional human well-being) (Jatmiko and Azizon, 2021). The very concept of waqf has also been adopted universally by other civilizations, as observed in the Common Law's trusts used by many countries in the West (Koehler, 2010).…”

Prosperity District/City Grouping Using the Smart City-Based Sharia Development Index in Aceh Province-Indonesia

“…The characteristic of a city that builds with Islamic development is that the city has modern Islamic financial institutions and complete facilities [17]. Smart citybased development must maintain cultural values originating from religious values which also prove useful in directing government efforts in achieving human welfare goals in the right direction [18].…”

Over a decade of maqashid sharia studies: a bibliometric analysis and direction for future research

“…On another side, several studies have attempted to investigate maqashid sharia as the determinants of Human Development Index (Mili, 2019;Oladapo & Ab Rahman, 2017), while other studies would like to examine the effect of maqashid index towards human well-being (Jatmiko & Azizon, 2021). (Oladapo & Ab Rahman, 2017) identify individual factors such social justice and human rights as significant factors of human development linked to the theory of maqashid sharia in Nigeria.…”

“…(Oladapo & Ab Rahman, 2017) identify individual factors such social justice and human rights as significant factors of human development linked to the theory of maqashid sharia in Nigeria. Meanwhile, (Jatmiko & Azizon, 2021) presents empirical evidence on the effect of Maqasid Sharia Index (MDI) toward the achievement of falah (happiness). On another note, few studies also have put concerns on several issues related to human well-being and the application of maqashid sharia both at the institutional level such as the enhancement of zakat distribution efficiency (Zakaria & Abdul Malek, 2014), importance of mental health takaful (Khairi et al, 2020); and at the individual level such as the freedom of labor's association (Seraji & Hassan, 2013), prevention of illegal marriages (Saidon et al, 2017), the improvement for prisoner's life quality (Mohamad et al, 2017).…”