Big Data from a Sharīʿah Lens addresses a critical issue of the modern era: rapid technological advancement and the increasing reliance on big data in Islamic digital banking. This book reflects AEON Bank (M) Berhad’s commitment to ensuring that digital innovation and data-driven practices remain firmly grounded in Sharīʿah principles.
With the widespread use of the internet and the growing demand for faster, simpler, and real-time banking services, Islamic digital banks now collect, store, and analyse vast volumes of information. These developments raise important jurisprudential and ethical questions concerning permissibility, ownership, privacy, governance, and the responsible commercial use of data.
Structured into four chapters, the book begins by outlining the foundations of big data, clarifying its key concepts, characteristics, and significance for public institutions and Islamic digital banks in enhancing service quality, operational efficiency, and customer insight. The second chapter examines data from a Sharīʿah perspective, addressing its legal status, rights, and its recognition as a form of property or wealth (māl) accorded legal value under fiqh, while emphasising the obligation to source and manage data through lawful and ethical means. The third chapter explores Sharīʿah-compliant contractual frameworks governing data exchange, identifying the rights and responsibilities of providers and users, and underscoring transparency, consent, and fairness in all data-related transactions. The final chapter considers the operational dimensions of data analytics, from acquisition and storage to processing, modelling, and decision-making, and demonstrates how these principles are applied in practice within the Bank.
The research was conducted by AEON Bank (M) Berhad, with constructive review and editorial refinement provided by researchers and editors from ISRA Institute of INCEIF University, strengthening both its scholarly rigour and practical relevance. As a result, this book stands as a timely and authoritative reference for practitioners, Sharīʿah scholars, regulators, policymakers, researchers, and students navigating the evolving intersection of big data and Islamic finance.
