Exploring Undergraduate Students’ Understanding of Shari’ah Based Audit: Implications for the Future of Shari’ah Auditing Labor Market in Brunei

Abstract

The worldwide Islamic finance industry had grown remarkably in the past decades, primarily propelled by the strong demand for shari'ah (Islamic Law) compliant banking products by Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Behind the façade of such outstanding industry's development, there remain unresolved critical governance issues warranting for immediate attention by industry stakeholders. Besides the presence of significant variations with regards to the scope and framework for shari'ah audit in the currently available shari'ah governance policy standards, another imperative issue surrounds the relatively small pool of knowledgeable and competent shari'ah auditors (vis-à-vis conventional auditors) to perform shari'ah auditing of Islamic financial transactions and hence, the institutions. Arguably, these pose a significant threat to the coordinated development of this religiously rooted industry. The study's conjecture is that education holds the key to resolve the issue. Accordingly, it Asian Journal of Finance & Accounting ISSN 1946-052X 2013 www.macrothink.org/ajfa 85 undertakes a preliminary survey on Bruneian undergraduate students in the field of accounting, business and shari'ah related, majority of whom are expected to be part of Brunei's future shari'ah auditing labor market. The study finds that students' understanding of shari'ah auditing is arguably "rudimentary" in nature. While the characteristics and knowledge expected of shari'ah auditor are well understood, the students are however unsure of the primary objective for shari'ah auditing. These highlight the practical imperative for the Brunei government to consider a holistic revamp of its education strategies in meeting future market demands for qualified and well trained shari'ah auditors.

Exploring Undergraduate Students’ Awareness of Internal Shariah Auditing in Malaysia

“…For example, the Shariah standards of AAOIFI for Islamic products and activities, governance benchmarks of AAOIFI for Shariah compliance and review eISSN: 2395-6518, Vol 7, No 1, 2019, pp The researchers in Brunei are the only ones that have specifically addressed the issues pertaining to Shariah audit among students. They are the first to conduct an exploratory study of Shariah audit to explore the students' awareness and comprehension on Shariah audit's term and concept (Yaacob & Donglah, 2012;Yaacob, Shafeek & Nahar, 2013). It reveals that the students did not have a high level of awareness and comprehension on Shariah audit's term and concept.…”

Exploring Shariah Audit Training Impact on Shariah Audit Understanding by Malaysian Students

“…In this case, each student who participated in this training program was requested to evaluate their understanding (dependent variable) and knowledge (independent variable) of Shariah audit prior to and after completing the CPSA program. To measure such understanding and knowledge, this study employed a 5-point Likert scale consisting of "(1) = very low" to "(5) = very high" which had been used widely in similar previous studies Khalid et al, 2019;Yaacob & Donglah, 2012;Yaacob et al, 2013). The list of items and respective variables used in this study is listed in Appendix A.…”

“…Another similar study was conducted by Yaacob et al (2013) on 59 undergraduate students in Brunei. In this study, they found that 60% of the students were not aware on Shariah auditor roles.…”

The Development of Shariah Audit Scope in Malaysian Takaful Industry: A Preliminary Analysis

“…It's worth noting that the study conducted before to the publication of SGF 2011 focused on the idea for a single Shariah compliance component in any IFI. Prior to the issuance of the SGF, the focus of the research is on shariah audit practise, shariah audit human resources, issues and challenges and shariah audit awareness Yaacob et al, 2013;. Mohd Ali & Shafii, 2014;Kassim & Zuraidah, 2013;Ab.…”