Institutional reform of Islamic social finance in Central Asia: a digital governance model based on bayt al-mal principles

The institutional development of Islamic social finance in Central Asia has accelerated during the past decade through the expansion of Islamic banking, zakat initiatives, waqf institutions and charitable organisations. Nevertheless, these institutions continue to operate within fragmented governance structures characterised by limited coordination, inconsistent regulatory arrangements and weak digital integration, thereby reducing their overall socio-economic impact. This study addresses these governance challenges by reconceptualising Bayt al-Mal not as a historical public treasury but as a contemporary institutional governance paradigm for Islamic social finance. Drawing upon classical Islamic governance thought, maqasid al-Shariah, Value-Based Intermediation and contemporary digital governance theory, the study develops a Digital Bayt al-Mal Governance Model designed specifically for the institutional realities of post-Soviet Central Asia. Using qualitative documentary analysis and comparative institutional analysis of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, the study proposes a governance architecture that coordinates zakat, waqf, Islamic financial institutions and charitable organisations while preserving their legal and financial autonomy. Rather than proposing new financial instruments, the study identifies governance quality and institutional coordination as important areas for further institutional reform and empirical investigation. The model offers a context-sensitive conceptual contribution to Islamic social finance governance, although its institutional feasibility and socio-economic effects remain subject to empirical validation.