DEVELOPMENT OF A SHARIAH GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK FOR MUSLIM INFLUENCER MARKETING

Author: Malaysia

Abstract

Muslim influencers now shape how halal products, modest fashion and Islamic lifestyle services are promoted, yet their commercial activity sits outside any structured Shariah oversight. Existing guidance is scattered across fatwas, advertising codes and general Islamic marketing ethics, and none of it specifies who reviews influencer campaigns, against which criteria, or how followers can seek redress. This study develops a Shariah governance framework for Muslim influencer marketing and validates it through expert consensus. A 25-item instrument covering five constructs was derived from the literature and rated by seven experts on a seven-point linguistic scale. Data were analysed with the Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) using the FUDELO application, applying three acceptance conditions: threshold value d ≤ 0.2, expert consensus ≥ 75%, and defuzzified score (A) ≥ 0.5. Twenty-three items met all three conditions, with threshold values between 0.000 and 0.085, consensus of 100%, and defuzzified scores between 0.795 and 0.967. Two items were rejected: restricting endorsements to Muslim-owned brands (d = 0.268, consensus 28.6%) and compulsory allocation of endorsement income to charity (d = 0.283, consensus 28.6%). Clear disclosure of paid partnerships received the highest score (A = 0.967). At construct level, Shariah-compliant content and conduct ranked first (mean A = 0.928), followed by maqasid and social responsibility (0.920), product and contract compliance (0.914), oversight and accountability (0.913), and transparency and disclosure (0.896). The validated framework gives regulators, brands, agencies and influencers a structured reference for governing influencer marketing in line with Shariah principles.