Volume II: Law, Policy, and Ecological Justice

Green Murābaḥah Financing and Eco-Theological Responsibility in Islamic Banking: A Maqāṣid Al-Sharī’ah Framework from Indonesia

  • Muhammad Isa Mustafa Ramli M Gani UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung, Indonesia
  • Mohamad Sar'an UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung, Indonesia

Keywords

Green Murābaḥah, Islamic banking, Maqāṣid al-Sharī’ah, eco-theology, sustainable finance, Indonesia, Sharia-compliant financing, environmental responsibility.

Abstract

This study investigates the integration of ecological responsibility into Murābaḥah financing within Indonesian Islamic banking through the lens of Maqāṣid al-Sharī’ah. As climate change accelerates across Southeast Asia, the financial sector bears an ethical imperative to channel capital toward environmentally sustainable outcomes. Islamic banking, with its inherent moral foundations, is uniquely positioned to pioneer green financial instruments, yet the operationalization of green Murābaḥah remains critically underexplored. Employing a qualitative research design, this study draws upon semi-structured interviews with 28 senior Sharia scholars, Islamic banking practitioners, and environmental policy experts across six Indonesian provinces, supplemented by documentary analysis of 42 fatwas, policy circulars, and annual reports from Bank Indonesia, the Financial Services Authority (OJK), and the National Sharia Board (DSN-MUI). The analysis reveals three principal findings. First, contemporary Murābaḥah contracts in Indonesian Islamic banks lack explicit ecological conditionality, representing a significant departure from the holistic objectives of Maqāṣid al-Sharī’ah, particularly the preservation of life (ḥifẓ al-nasl) and the preservation of the environment (ḥifẓ al-bī'ah). Second, eco-theological narratives embedded in Qur'ānic exegesis and Prophetic traditions provide a robust jurisprudential basis for reconceptualizing Murābaḥah as a green financing mechanism. Third, institutional, regulatory, and epistemic barriers impede the adoption of green Murābaḥah, including the absence of standardized green criteria in Sharia compliance audits and the predominance of profit-centric risk assessment models. The findings contribute to the growing discourse on Islamic green finance by proposing a Maqāṣid-based analytical framework that bridges eco-theological principles with practical banking operations. The study offers actionable recommendations for regulators, Sharia supervisory boards, and policymakers. This study is among the first to systematically examine green Murābaḥah financing through a Maqāṣid al-Sharī’ah framework in the Indonesian context, offering original theoretical and empirical contributions to the intersection of Islamic jurisprudence, ecological ethics, and sustainable banking.

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