Exploring Religious Meaning in Economic Decision-Making among Faith-Based Entrepreneurs in the Islamic Finance Industry

Abstract

Religion has long been recognized as a moral and cultural framework that shapes economic behavior and ethical orientation within social and market systems. In recent scholarship on religion and economic systems, attention has increasingly focused on how religious values interact with profit-oriented economic practices in contemporary, market-driven contexts. However, existing studies largely rely on normative or quantitative approaches, leaving limited understanding of how religious economic actors subjectively experience and interpret the negotiation between faith-based values and market demands in everyday economic life. This study employs a hermeneutic phenomenological approach with a sample size of [specific number] participants to examine how religious economic actors experience, interpret, and give meaning to economic decision-making within profit-oriented environments. Data were generated through in-depth, semi-structured interviews, and analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The findings reveal that economic decision-making is experienced as a moral and spiritual practice characterized by persistent tension, ethical reflection, and interpretative negotiation rather than as a purely rational activity. Religious values function as dynamic interpretative frameworks through which participants cope with uncertainty, reconcile moral dilemmas, and redefine success beyond financial outcomes. These findings advance understanding of religion–economy relations by foregrounding lived experience and highlighting the value of phenomenological inquiry for future research on moral economy and faith-based economic practices.