Unfair Contract Terms in Malaysian Islamic Banks: Empowering Bank Consumers by Islamic Education Ethics

Abstract

Purpose of study: The purpose of this study is to examine the importance of Islamic education ethics-based on the objectives of Shariah (maqasid al-Shariah) to bank consumers in raising their knowledge about their contractual rights and obligations since better-decision making empowers them to avoid unfair contractual terms in transactions with Islamic banks and manage their financial affairs responsibly.
 Methodology: Using qualitative analysis, this study reviews previously selected literature on Islamic education ethics and applies maqasid al-Shariahas a benchmark to determine the importance of Islamic financial literacy education. To emphasize such importance, the contents of both primary and secondary data are analyzed which include: official websites of Bank Negara Malaysia, books, academic journals, newspapers, and related industry reports.
 Result: Results shows that the Islamic educational ethics based on maqasid al-Shariah empowers bank consumers to improve their reading habits in making informed choices to assert their rights by being aware of the content and fairness of contract terms towards raising their financial literacy standard in avoiding unfair contractual terms and be equipped with Islamic financial knowledge and skill to demand for equitable contractual terms.
 Applications of this study: This study is important to Malaysian bank consumer empowerment since applying Islamic education ethics contributes to sound financial choice and better-decision making of whether or not to contract with IBIs since having no basic knowledge of contractual rights and obligations with Islamic banks, then they have little defense against one-sided and unfair contractual content.
 Novelty/Originality of this study: Because bank consumers do not read their contracts; this study promotes Islamic education ethics in empowering bank consumers to improve financial literacy in avoiding unfair contractual terms while making informed financial decisions and increase acceptability of Islamic banking products. This study contributes to the literature on Islamic ethics specifically on Islamic financial literacy educational ethics base on maqasid al-Shariah.