Purpose This study aims to analyze and develop a conceptual and practical framework to enhance the independence, competence and professional credibility of the Shariah Supervisory Board (SSB) in Indonesian Islamic financial institutions (IFIs). This research addresses the persistent issues of conflicts of interest stemming from remuneration by supervised institutions and the skills gap between Shariah and technical financial expertise. Design/methodology/approach Adopting a qualitative-interpretive research strategy, this study is based on a two-stage design: a desk-based review of relevant documents and in-depth, semi-structured interviews with nine key informants from the field. The informants were purposively selected from a diverse pool of academics, Shariah experts, SSB members, Islamic bank executives and regulators with expertise in Indonesia’s shariah governance ecosystem. The data were transcribed, coded and analyzed using NVivo to identify and interpret the core themes and subthemes. Findings The findings reveal a significant gap between the formal regulatory intent for SSB independence and its practical implementation. Although regulations exist, the current decentralized model of institutional appointments and remuneration creates perceived and actual conflicts of interest. This study identifies a critical imbalance between religious and technical financial expertise among SSB members, which leads to superficial oversight. It also highlights the broad consensus among stakeholders regarding the shift toward a more centralized governance framework to enhance transparency and oversight. Research limitations/implications The primary limitation is the small, purposively selected sample, which may not be generalizable to the population at large. However, a qualitative approach provides deep contextual insights. The practical implications of this research are significant, offering a concrete roadmap for policymakers and regulators to professionalize SSB and move toward a more centralized governance model. Originality/value This study fills a critical gap in the existing literature by providing a comprehensive analytical framework that integrates the complex interplay of SSB remuneration, duality of positions and qualifications within a single integrated model for the Indonesian context. This is one of the few studies to propose and analyze the practicalities of centralized regulatory solutions as a mechanism to enhance SSB credibility.
Faizi et al. (Tue,) studied this question.