Islamic social finance (ISF) offers a comprehensive ecosystem for addressing poverty, inequality, and financial exclusion, encompassing key instruments such as zakat, waqf, sadaqah, and Islamic microfinance. While zakat remains central to ISF, its full potential is often undermined by fragmented implementation and lack of synergy with complementary tools. This conceptual paper proposes a unified ISF framework that positions these instruments as a strategic pillar within an integrated model of Islamic philanthropy and financial inclusion. The objective is to develop a conceptual structure that enhances the collective impact of ISF instruments through improved governance, institutional collaboration, digital integration, and alignment with Maqasid al-Shariah and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Using a qualitative conceptual methodology, the study synthesizes existing literature, policy discussions, and institutional practices to construct a framework that facilitates effective resource mobilization and targeted social impact. This paper contributes by highlighting the importance of integrated ISF strategies to strengthen the role of zakat in national and global development agendas.

Most existing sustainability assessment frameworks are primarily tailored for larger corporations, leaving MSMEs with limited resources and guidance to effectively evaluate their sustainability performance. To address this gap, this paper proposes a simplified, faith-aligned taxonomy tailored to Islamic MSMEs by adapting the ESG-i Framework into an ex-ante classification tool. Drawing on the EU Taxonomy, ASEAN Taxonomy, and Malaysia�s CCPT, the model introduces four Environmental Objectives, a Do No Significant Harm (DNSH) screen rooted in the Islamic principle of Al-Darar (harm avoidance), and three essential criteria: social safeguards, ethical governance, and Shariah compliance. Activities are categorised as green, amber, or red, with built-in pathways for improvement. Designed to be accessible and values-driven, this taxonomy bridges Islamic ethical principles with sustainable finance goals, empowering Islamic financial institutions and MSMEs to participate more meaningfully in the green transition.

Agricultural takaful has been introduced as a Shari'ah-compliant risk-sharing mechanism to support smallholder farmers in managing production and climate-related risks. This study explores the potential of integrating Islamic social finance (ISF) instruments into an agricultural takaful model to enhance agricultural resilience and agrifood system security among paddy farmers in Malaysia. A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining a structured survey of 385 paddy farmers from three major granary states in Malaysia, notably Kedah, Kelantan, and Selangor, with in-depth interviews involving takaful operators, agricultural agencies, and Islamic finance institutions (IFIs). The survey captured farmers� demographic profiles, willingness to participate and contribute to agricultural takaful, and their exposure to ISF instruments, while qualitative interviews provided complementary insights into challenges and opportunities for integrating takaful with ISF. he findings indicate that the paddy farmers have the intention to participate and contribute to agricultural takaful that predominantly influenced their attitudes and perceived behavioural control. However, affordability, awareness, and Shari'ah compliance issues remain barriers for their participation. Financial support through zakat and waqf has the potential to enhance acceptance, while pricing remains a critical determinant for uptake. Qualitative evidence further highlights the need for a model that extends beyond risk protection to reflect ethical, inclusive, and sustainability principles. This study contributes novel insights through the proposed takaful ta?awuni agro framework, which integrates takaful with zakat and waqf under a unified model of ta?awun (mutual cooperation). Ta?awun is positioned here as a broader guiding value for ISF, enabling collective responsibility, inclusivity, and community resilience. This study is limited by its cross-sectional design and focus on selected granary regions in Malaysia. Future research should apply long-term and pilot-based approaches to empirically test the operationalisation and performance of integrated takaful-ISF models across different agricultural and country contexts. The proposed takaful ta?awuni agro framework brings the spirit of ta?awuni into practice by aligning agricultural takaful with the Value-Based Intermediation Takaful (VBIT) agenda to provide a Shari'ah-compliant and inclusive risk-sharing solution for vulnerable farmers. The model demonstrates how ta?awun and VBIT can be applied beyond agriculture to strengthen financial resilience and social protection across other vulnerable sectors of the economy.

This study aims to discover the determinants of zakat donation to charity organizations (COs) among donors of a predominantly Muslim-majority country, Pakistan. To achieve their social objectives, COs need to understand the behavior of zakat donors to design effective strategies for mobilizing contributions from this class. This research, therefore, unearths the underlying factors that motivate Muslims to donate to COs. This research is based on in-depth interviews with 16 participants from both urban and rural areas of Pakistan. The data are analyzed through Quirkos 2.4, a qualitative data analysis software. This study finds that donors exhibit great interest in, and are influenced by, the organizations� disbursement mechanism. The provision of financial information by, and awareness about, the organization also affects donation decision. The results further reveal that trust is important in donors� behavior toward contributing to COs. Overall, these results support the assertion that trust in COs, fair disbursement of charity funds, disclosure of financial information to the stakeholders and spreading awareness about the COs activities are important considerations for the stakeholders. Based on insights derived from this study, the authors suggest that COs enhance donors� trust, ensure fair disbursement of charity funds, disclose financial information to the stakeholders and create awareness among people about their societal contribution to retain the existing donors and attract new ones. Besides its relevance to the charity sector, this study has managerial implications. COs and particularly zakat organizations are increasingly confronted with challenges, including competitive environments and publicized scandals, undermining donors� confidence in this sector. Innovative approaches are required to counter these challenges and retain public support in zakat organizations. Measures that can be helpful in this connection include sufficient financial disclosure, enhancing the fund disbursement mechanism and providing information about the achievements of COs to the general public to create awareness and dispel misperceptions. This study explores the psychological factors affecting donation behavior of the Muslims in Pakistan, an area where research is generally limited to the Western context. The findings can help the management and nonprofit marketers in fundraising and attracting donors toward COs. The study also enriches the knowledge of donors� behavior toward charity under a centralized zakat system.

Industry 5.0 is the latest revolution that represents a drastically new era from technology-driven to interactive cooperation between humans and machines. The focus of Industry 5.0 is different from Industry 4.0 as the latter focused on automation, exchange and communication of cyber-physical systems, and efficiency, whereas Industry 5.0 concentrates on human well-being, human creativity, and sustainability by utilizing modern technologies such as, for example, collaborative robots (cobots) and programmable logic controllers (PLCs). This article will consider the intersection of these technologies with Human-Centered principles of design in order to create adaptive, safe, and inclusive workplaces. We review recent literature, summarize drivers, enablers, and inhibitors in becoming Industry 5.0, and report case studies that illustrate the operational, cognitive, and socio-economic consequences deriving from human-centered and co-operative interaction within smart factories. In the end, Industry 5.0 is a reality with an ambitious role to play: the increased productivity that comes along with a more personalizable, adaptable, and sustainable workforce