Sharia financial technology organizations and ethical responsibility for sustainable development: a moral economy perspective

Purpose This paper aims to examine whether the ethical responsibility of Sharia financial technology (Sharia fintech) can be normatively justified rather than assumed on the basis of its religious identity or developmental claims. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a normative–conceptual ethical analysis that evaluates Sharia fintech as a morally accountable financial system using two normative benchmarks: the objectives of Sharia (maqasid al-Sharia) and the ethical vision embedded in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Findings The analysis develops a conceptual evaluation framework structured around four ethical tension fields: inclusion versus digital exclusion, social objectives versus profit orientation, technological efficiency versus data ethics and accountability and sustainability commitments versus symbolic alignment. These tensions show that ethical legitimacy in Sharia fintech is neither inherent nor guaranteed by formal compliance, but conditionally achieved through continuous moral negotiation between innovation, market pressures and social responsibility. Research limitations/implications This study is conceptual in nature and does not empirically assess specific fintech platforms or governance practices. Future research may operationalise the proposed framework through qualitative case studies or institutional analysis to examine how Sharia fintech organisations manage the identified ethical tensions in practice. Practical implications The proposed framework provides regulators, Sharia supervisory boards and fintech governance bodies with a structured ethical lens for evaluating Sharia fintech beyond formal compliance. It highlights the need to institutionalise accountability mechanisms in areas such as data governance, inclusion strategies and sustainability alignment within digitally mediated Sharia finance. Originality/value Rather than treating Sharia compliance or alignment with the SDGs as proxies for ethical legitimacy, this study develops a normative framework that evaluates where such claims become contested. The framework combines maqasid al-Sharia and the SDGs as complementary normative reference points and identifies four ethical tension fields through which the legitimacy of Sharia fintech can be critically assessed.