At the Hands of Fate: the Political Economy of Islamic Insurance in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Pakistan, C
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Old Dominion University ODU Digital Commons Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations Graduate Program in International Studies Summer 2019 At the Hands of Fate: The Political Economy of Islamic Insurance in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Pakistan, C. 1980 to the Present Muhammad S. Rahman Old Dominion University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/gpis_etds Part of the Asian Studies Commons, International Relations Commons, Near and Middle Eastern Studies Commons, and the Political Economy Commons Recommended Citation Rahman, Muhammad S.. "At the Hands of Fate: The Political Economy of Islamic Insurance in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Pakistan, C. 1980 to the Present" (2019). Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), dissertation, International Studies, Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/391r-ej57 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/gpis_etds/112 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Program in International Studies at ODU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. AT THE HANDS OF FATE: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF ISLAMIC INSURANCE IN INDONESIA, MALAYSIA, AND PAKISTAN, C. 1980 TO THE PRESENT by Muhammad S. Rahman B.A. May 2005, Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia M.A. August 2010, University of Groningen, the Netherlands A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Old Dominion University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY INTERNATIONAL STUDIES OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY August 2019 Approved by: Francis Adams (Director) David Earnest (Member) David Selover (Member) ABSTRACT AT THE HANDS OF FATE: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF ISLAMIC INSURANCE IN INDONESIA, MALAYSIA, AND PAKISTAN, C. 1980 TO THE PRESENT Muhammad S. Rahman Old Dominion University, 2019 Director: Dr. Francis Adams Why have Islamic insurance systems developed well in some countries, but not in others? Malaysia is considered as Islamic insurance elite due to its relatively large number of operators it houses as well as the sustained growth of Islamic insurance sales within the country, while Indonesia and Pakistan are still in early stages of development. Analyzing the political and social history of Islamization of insurance systems in these three Muslim majority countries in Asia since 1980s, this dissertation demonstrates the development gap between these countries on Islamic insurance results from; firstly, complex bargains made between various groups within each country polity, and those bargains are structured by the country’s fundamental political institutions. Secondly, the gap is also an outcome of different societal transformations during the Islamization that ‘produce Islam(s)’ in these countries. The revival of Islamic principles in these countries does not only create Sharia-compliant financial products but produces Islamic norms, identities, ethics, and practices enacted in their risk management. iii Copyright, 2019, by Muhammad S. Rahman, All Rights Reserved. iv This dissertation is dedicated to my beloved wife, Aini. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Throughout the writing of this dissertation I have received a great deal of support from many people and various organizations. I extend my special thanks to my advisor, Dr. Francis Adams for his patience and encouragement that have helped this project to develop in significant ways. Dr. David Earnest also provided invaluable support to me, particularly in the initial phase of this project. I am very appreciative of his thoughtfulness that led me to explore many aspects of the topic. Also, my committee would have been incomplete if it were not for the contribution of Dr. David Selover. A very special gratitude goes out to all down at the Institute of International Education (IIE) and AMINEF for helping and providing the funding of a Fulbright scholarship, the Dean Office of the College of Arts and Letters, ODU for giving assistantship during the dissertation process, and President University, Indonesia for the continuous support throughout my ‘sabbatical’ from the university. Also, my dissertation has been enriched by my participation in training opportunities provided by the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT). Special thanks to Dr. Ermin Sinanovic, for pointing me to a body of scholarship and connecting me to scholar networks outside my discipline that have greatly enhanced my work. Through IIIT, I had the privilege to embark on a novel intellectual journey with great support from the professors, staff and my fellow students of SSP 2016. Finally, I need to thank my fellow GPIS students, the American and International friends of GSF, Indonesian community of Virginia Beach, and brothers and sisters of the Muslim community of Tidewater for their hospitality. Because of that, my family and I always feel that Hampton Roads is our second home. vi GLOSSARY Alim (pl. ulama): religious scholar in Islamic disciplines, gives opinions or issues rulings (fatwa) on religious questions Bancatakaful: combination of Islamic banking with Islamic insurance dawah: propagation of the Islamic faith faqih (pl. fuqaha): a legal expert, jurist in Islamic law fatwa (pl. fatawat): authoritative religious injunction without legal binding fiqh: Islamic jurisprudence based upon the Quran and Sunnah halal: that which is lawful, permitted, good, and praiseworthy in Islam Hanafi school: one of the four religious Sunni Islamic schools of jurisprudence. It is named after the scholar Abu Hanifa an Nu’man ibn Thabit (d.767). haram: actions that are unlawful and forbidden in Islam hijab: clothing for the purposes of modesty and dignity according to Islamic dress code ijtihad: independent reasoning. It is recognized as one of the legal methods of reasoning in Islamic law (Sharia), which is completely independent of any school (madhhab) of jurisprudence (fiqh). madhhab (pl. madhahib): school of legal thought or jurisprudence that interpret the Quran and hadith for followers. There are four main madhahib; Hanafi, Maliki, Shafii, and Hanbali. mudharabah: the commercial profit-sharing contract according to Islamic law qadi: judge in the Islamic court system pesantren: madrasah/traditional Islamic boarding school within Southeast Asian context Shafii: one of the four religious Sunni schools of Islamic law. It was named after Imam al-Shafii who lived in the early 9th century. Sharia: Islamic law vii Sukuk: Islamic bonds tajdid: renewal. In Islamic context, tajdid refers to the revival of Islam in order to purify and reform society. Takaful: mutual guarantee. In the modern context, this term is used to name Islamic alternative for conventional insurance riba: usury ushr: specific type of religious tax implemented on agricultural products wakalah: a principle in Islamic commercial law, which is based on the idea that the operator, acting as an agent of the participants, can charge its management expenses on the Islamic insurance contributions or premium paid. zakat: religious tax, or obligatory distribution to the needy zameen: Pakistani term for land, which along with family (zan) and wealth (zar) are the most important things to be protected according to the tribal law zan: family zar: wealth viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................................. xi Chapter I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 1 Islamic insurance: fate, faith, and good faith ........................................................................... 3 Why is this important? .............................................................................................................. 8 Case studies: three countries, three trajectories ................................................................... 14 ‘Political life’ and ‘social life’ of Islamic insurance .................................................................. 21 Data and methods ................................................................................................................... 24 Dissertation organization ........................................................................................................ 26 II. LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................................. 28 Insurance: an institutional history .......................................................................................... 29 What we know about its determinants .................................................................................. 35 Islamic insurance as a political product .................................................................................. 41 Political coalition formation .............................................................................................. 41 Institutional economics ..................................................................................................... 44 Islamic insurance as a social practice ..................................................................................... 53 Social action ...................................................................................................................... 53 Informal economy ............................................................................................................