Islamic financial literacy is increasingly recognized as a crucial component of financial well-being, particularly in countries with significant Muslim populations. However, there is limited research on the level of Islamic financial literacy within the academic community in Malaysia. This preliminary study seeks to fill that gap by assessing the Islamic financial literacy of university lecturers in Malaysia, with a focus on their knowledge of money basics, Islamic banking, Takaful, and Shariah-compliant investment. The study also investigates variations in literacy levels across different demographic groups, including gender, educational backgrounds, and fields of study. To achieve this objective, a self-developed questionnaire was designed to measure key components of Islamic financial literacy. Data were collected from a representative sample of university lecturers and analyzed using SPSS 23.0. Descriptive statistics and inferential analyses were employed to explore trends and significant differences within the data. The findings indicate that the overall level of Islamic financial literacy among the lecturers is moderate. Additionally, the analysis identified statistically significant differences in literacy levels based on gender, educational attainment, and field of study, with some groups outperforming others in specific aspects of Islamic finance. This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on financial literacy in Malaysia and offers a robust methodology for measuring and analyzing Islamic financial literacy, which can be a valuable resource for other researchers exploring similar topics.
Abdullah, M. A., & Anderson, A. (2015). Islamic Financial Literacy among bankers in Kuala Lumpur. Journal of Emerging Economies and Islamic Research, 3(2), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.24191/jeeir.v3i2.9061
Abdullah, M. A., Wahab, S. N. A., Sabar, S., & Abu, F. (2017). Factors determining Islamic financial literacy among undergraduates. Journal of Emerging Economies & Islamic Research. https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-8984/15/4/201
Abdullah, R., & Razak, L. A. (2016). Exploratory research into Islamic financial literacy in Brunei Darussalam. In A. G. Ismail, R. Abdullah, & K. M. Ali (Eds.), Islamic Financial Literacy(pp. 59–83). https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.4815. 1765.
Alhabshi, S. O. (2012). Wealth planning and management (2nd ed.). Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: INCEIF.
Ali, A., Rahman, M. S. A., & Bakar, A. (2015). Financial satisfaction and the influence of financial literacy in Malaysia. Social Indicators Research, 120, 137-156.
Alshammari, A. A., Syed Jaafar Alhabshi, S. M., & Saiti, B. (2018). A comparative study of the historical and current development of the GCC insurance and takaful industry. Journal of Islamic Marketing, 9(2), 356-369.
Azman, N.H. (2020, August 3). More than 15,000 new registrations for AKPK’s Debt Management Programme. The Malaysian Reserve. https://themalaysianreserve.com/2020/08/03/more-than-15000-new-registrations-for-akpks-debt-management-programme/#google_vignette
Ezeh, P. C., & Nkamnebe, A. D. (2022). Determinants of Islamic banking adoption among non-Muslim customers in a Muslim zone. Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, 13(4), 666-683.
Fatmawati, D., Ariffin, N. M., Abidin, N. H. Z., & Osman, A. Z. (2022). Shariah governance in Islamic banks: Practices, practitioners and praxis. Global Finance Journal, 51, 100555.
Financial Education Network. (2019). Malaysia National Strategy for financial literacy 2019-2023.
Hassan, H. A. (2020). Takaful models: origin, progression and future. Journal of Islamic Marketing, 11(6), 1801-1819.
Hassan, M. K., Aliyu, S., Paltrinieri, A., & Khan, A. (2019). A review of Islamic investment literature. Economic Papers: A journal of applied economics and policy, 38(4), 345-380.
Hidajat, T., & Hamdani, M. (2017). Measuring Islamic financial literacy. Advanced Science Letters, 23(8), 7173-7176.
Hussain, M., Shahmoradi, A. and Turk, R. (2015). An Overview of Islamic Finance. IMF Working Paper, WP/15/120. Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund
Huston, S. J. (2010). Measuring financial literacy. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 44(2), 296-316. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6606.2010.01170.x
ISRA. (2023). Islamic financial system: Principles and operations (3rd ed.). International Shariah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA).
Khan, M. M., & Bhatti, M. I. (2008). Islamic banking and finance: on its way to globalization. Managerial finance, 34(10), 708-725.
Kimiyaghalam, F., & Yap, S. (2017). Level of financial literacy in Malaysia. International Journal of Research, 4(7), 1065-1074.
Kirsch, I., Yamamoto,K., Norris, N., et al. (2001). Technical report and data file user’s manual for the 1992 national adult literacy survey. NCES 2001-457. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.
Isra. (2016). Islamic financial system: Principles and operations (2nd ed.). International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA).
Lahsasna, A. (2016). Framework of Islamic financial education and literacy. Journal of Wealth Management and Financial Planning, 3.
Lusardi, A., & Mitchell, O. S. (2014). The economic importance of financial literacy: Theory and evidence. American Economic Journal: Journal of Economic Literature, 52(1), 5-44.
Mahdzan, N. S., Zainudin, R., Wan Ahmad, W. M., & Hanifa, M. H. (2024). Does Islamic financial literacy and motives influence the holdings of Islamic financial products? A study on bank customers in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Journal of Islamic Marketing.
Malaysian Department of Insolvency. (2023). Bankruptcy statistic 2023. http://www.mdi.gov.my/index.php/about-us/resources/statistics/bankrupt cy/1548-
Md. Sapir@ Md. Shafik, A. S., & Wan Ahmad, W. M. (2020). Financial literacy among Malaysian Muslim undergraduates. Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, 11(8), 1515-1529.
Meera, A. K. M. (2002). The Islamic gold dinar. Subang Jaya, Malaysia: Pelanduk Publications.
Morgan, P. J., & Trinh, L. Q. (2019). Determinants and impacts of financial literacy in Cambodia and Viet Nam. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 12(1), 19.
Nawi, F. A. M., Ab Aziz, M. R., & Shahwan, S. (2022). Conceptualizing and operationalizing Islamic financial literacy: A multidimensional framework. Advanced International Journal of Banking, Accounting and Finance (AIJBAF), 4(11).
Lubza Nihar, K., & Modekurti, K. R. V. S. (2021). On being Shar??ah compliant in equity investments: impact of investment horizon and market volatility. Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, 12(5), 680-706.
Oecd. (2011). Measuring financial literacy: Questionnaire and guidance notes for conducting an internationally comparable survey of financial literacy. International Network on Financial Education.
Rahim, S. H. A., Rashid, R. A., & Hamed, A. B. (2016). Islamic financial literacy and its determinants among university students: An exploratory factor analysis. International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, 6(7), 32-35.
Razak, A. L. H. A., & Abdullah, H. R. (2015). Exploratory research into Islamic financial literacy in Brunei Darussalam.
Remund, D. L. (2010). Financial literacy explicated: The case for a clearer definition in an increasingly complex economy. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 44(2), 276-295.
Nawi, F. A. M., Ghazali, P. L., Daud, W. M. N. W., & Poziah, N. H. M. (2024). Islamic Financial Literacy among Malaysian Lecturers: A Preliminary Study. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 14(10), 2805–2819.
Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s)
Published by Knowledge Words Publications (www.kwpublications.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
