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REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The 13th Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia Ma'ruf Amin expressed the need for people to make a financial migration to sharia banking as a collective movement to create a sharia economic system. The financial hijra movement is considered not just a trend, but a historical necessity.
“When we talk about financial migration, we are not just talking about the displacement of financial products, we are talking about a shift in outlook, a shift in systems, even a shift in civilization. Hijrah from a system that is not fully equitable to a fairer, more ethical, and more maslahat system,” Ma'ruf said in the “Financial Hijrah” agenda titled “Sharia Banking as an Inclusive and Sustainable Financial Solution” held online by the Indonesian Banking Development Institute (LPPI) on Friday (10/4/2026).
Ma'ruf explained that Indonesia has enormous potential in the economic and financial development of sharia. Because Indonesia is the country with the largest Muslim population in the world and has quite rich and abundant natural resources, be it mineral mines, marine, agriculture, plantations, and many other aspects.
“However, we must also be honest that the level of inclusion and financial penetration of sharia is still not comparable to the potential we have. This shows that there is a distance between normative awareness and practical implementation, whereas the economic issue is not just a matter of numbers, but also a matter of value,” he said.
Furthermore, Ma'ruf spoke of the importance of financial hijra in this era. He said scholars have provided very in-depth guidance on how economic systems are built, and that economic damage is the beginning of social breakdown.
For example, Imam Al-Ghazali explains that usury is not only a violation of the law, but a destroyer of the muamalah system and a destroyer of justice. Al-Ghazali asserts when money is treated as a commodity with no real activity, hard work will lose value, fairness is lost from transactions, and gaps become an inevitability.
“Isn't this what we are witnessing today? The economy is growing high, but inequality is also high. Profits increased, but fortunes declined. So financial migration is an attempt to restore the spirit of justice in the economy,” he stressed.
The scholar Ibn Taimiyyah also asserted that Allah will uphold a just state despite the infidels and will not enforce an unjust state despite the Muslims. It is an important rule in today's social life, that justice is the condition for the survival of a system, while injustice is the cause of destruction.
“We know that usury, gharar, and maysir are forms of injustice in the economy, so we are building sharia finance we are not building symbols of Islam, but are also building the foundations of justice itself,” he explained.
Ma'ruf continued, the scholar Ibn Khaldun also explained value-based economics as the foundation of civilization, whereas tyranny was a sign of civilization's destruction. Ibn Khaldun also asserted that economic activity must be based on real work, and that wealth should not be obtained without productive contributions.
“What Ibn Khaldun said centuries ago, today we know as the real economy or productivity, where all that is already a principle in Sharia finance,” he stressed.
Another Ma'ruf cleric, Wahbah az-Zuhaili, stressed that sharia finance is a global alternative system. The sharia financial system is not just for Muslims, but is a universal solution to the modern economic crisis. Az-Zuhaili believes that the global financial crisis was largely triggered by excessive speculation, derivative instruments with no underlying assets, and unclear contracts.
“Isn't that what happens repeatedly in crisis after crisis? So sharia finance is not simply an ideological choice, but also a rational answer to the failure of the conventional system,” he said.
Ma'ruf explains that in Islam, economics is not merely a worldly activity, but a part of worship. Every transaction will be held accountable later. To quote Imam Al-Qarafi, the basic principle in muamalah is to realize justice and eliminate injustice.
“So when we choose a sharia financial system, we are essentially choosing values, choosing partiality, and choosing whether we want to be fair or just. History has taught us that an unjust system will collapse and a just system will survive,” Ma'ruf said.
“So financial hijra is not just a trend, it is a historical necessity or dharuriyah,” he continued.
