Sustainability of Islamic Microfinance Institutions: A Systematic Literature Review

The current paradigms of Islamic economics and finance lead to comprehensive sustainability performance that considers Islamic Sharia goals. This paper presents a comprehensive literature review focusing on assessing the sustainability of Islamic Microfinance Institutions (IMFs) through various model measurements from a global perspective published in reputable international journals until 2023. The authors have applied several literature review techniques, including bibliometric citation and content analysis, to review past studies. The collected manuscripts comprise 52 papers published from 2008 to 2023, categorized into various research topics. The results indicate that research on sustainability performance in the Islamic finance sector is still scarce, despite experiencing a fairly fluctuating increase. The highest number of publications was in the year 2023, with a total of 11 papers (19^%) out of the overall publications. The findings from our research show that existing studies have used a variety of techniques to measure the sustainability of Islamic Microfinance Institutions (IMFs). The review highlights that the most frequently utilized models in measuring the sustainability of Islamic microfinance institutions use qualitative approaches. However, 37% of articles within the collection employ quantitative measurements. Previous research generally considers financial and social aspects or spiritual dimensions as separate elements.