A Shariah Compliance Integrated E-Commerce Transaction An Analysis of Shopee.com: A Literature Review

Abstract

A few Shariah concerns may arise from the usage of information and communication technologies for online business transactions. Although numerous studies have touched on the concerns from an Islamic perspective, none of them present an empirical examination on e-commerce transactions in the context of Islamic contract law. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to first assess whether online purchases are permissible from a Shariah viewpoint, particularly in the context of Islamic contract law, and then to examine whether or not e-commerce transactions comply to Shariah standards. In order to achieve the study's first objective, library research is used to examine both classical and contemporary literature. Shopee.com is selected as a case study for the second purpose. This gives us a base for understanding how the Islamic law of contracts may be implemented to digital transactions. Results show that, in general, Shopee's online transactions satisfy the Shariah requirements of a valid contract, with the exception of two situations: (i) transactions involving prohibited goods like alcohol, pork, non-halal food and beverages, and (ii) payment methods using credit cards (interest).