Ending Indonesia's Islamic Finance Talent Paradox
The commencement of the drafting of the Islamic Finance Development Blueprint by the Financial Services Authority (OJK) Task Force marks a significant momentum for reviewing strategies to strengthen industry human resources.
Indonesia’s Islamic finance has passed its phase of proving its existence: regulations are increasingly complete, institutions are strengthening, and assets continue to grow. However, this progress has not yet fully translated into market share expansion, differentiating innovation, and global competitiveness.
Behind this paradox lies a problem more fundamental than a shortage of workers, namely the misalignment between the talent produced, the competencies possessed, and the transformational capabilities required by the industry.
By the end of 2025, national Islamic financial industry assets reached Rp3,131.02 trillion, growing by 8.56 per cent annually. Within this, Islamic banking assets stood at Rp1,067.73 trillion, while Islamic capital market assets outside of equity capitalisation reached Rp1,875.25 trillion.
The scale of these assets confirms that Islamic finance is no longer a peripheral industry. However, the market share of Islamic banking still hovers around 7 per cent. Nominal growth does not automatically result in a strengthened structural position within the national financial system.
A similar paradox is visible in society. The 2025 National Survey of Financial Literacy and Inclusion recorded Islamic financial literacy at 43.42 per cent, while inclusion was only 13.41 per cent. This 30.01 percentage point gap shows that knowledge has not yet successfully converted into usage and loyalty. More people are becoming aware of Islamic finance, but far fewer are making it part of their economic lives.
This gap is not merely a matter of demand. It also reflects the industry’s limitations in translating Sharia principles into relevant products, competitive pricing, easy services, and superior digital experiences.
Research by Ali, Devi, Furqani, and Hamzah (2020) places human capital as the most important supply-side determinant for Islamic financial inclusion in Indonesia, with a weight of 0.32, surpassing products and services, infrastructure, and policy. This means the quality of talent is not just an internal organisational matter, but a determinant of the industry’s ability to expand markets and benefits.
Not Merely a Shortage of Graduates
The issue of Islamic finance human resources is often simplified as a shortage of graduates or certified personnel. This diagnosis is not entirely incorrect, but it is too narrow. Indonesia faces four layers of problems simultaneously: a shortage of talent in specific fields, uneven depth of competence, a mismatch between skills and job requirements, and a lag in capabilities regarding technological changes and business models.
Moosa and Haji (2026), through a Scopus-indexed literature review, found a disconnection between higher education and the needs of the Islamic financial services industry, particularly regarding curriculum relevance, learning quality, job readiness, and the use of technology. Research by Rahmawati, Bonang, and Ismail (2025) also identified curriculum misalignment, limited industry involvement, weak internship programmes, and insufficient technology integration.
This is ‘talent lag’: industry needs are moving faster than the ability of education and professional development to update competencies. Regulation, artificial intelligence, data analytics, cybersecurity, sustainable finance, and consumer behaviour are evolving rapidly, while much of the curriculum and certification remains centred on normative Sharia knowledge.
The problem is not that Sharia competence is too dominant. Sharia depth remains a non-negotiable foundation. The problem arises when this competence is not connected to business, risk, technology, and consumer problem-solving. The industry is trapped between Sharia experts who may not understand the complexities of modern business and business professionals who lack sufficient Sharia depth.
This situation forms a ‘Sharia Talent Transformation Gap’: the distance between the number of graduates, training, and certification and the actual ability to generate innovation, productivity, inclusion, and market expansion. Degrees and certificates are merely inputs. The ultimate measure is the talent’s ability to transform knowledge into solutions and added value.
A systematic study by Zafar and Jafar shows that Islamic finance human capital is still often measured through accounting approaches and intellectual capital efficiency. However, the characteristics of the industry require a more comprehensive measure. Therefore, the success of human resource development should not be calculated merely by the number of participants or training hours, but should be assessed through productivity, innovation, service quality, Sharia integrity, and market impact.
Learning from Malaysia
Malaysia demonstrates that talent competitiveness does not arise from a single educational institution, but from an ecosystem. Bank Negara Malaysia has built a network connecting INCEIF, ISRA, IBFIM, the Chartered Institute of Islamic Finance Professionals, Sharia advisory bodies, regulators, and the industry.
This network serves competency development from the graduate level to senior management and boards, while simultaneously integrating education, applied research, certification, and industry needs.
That model continues to evolve. The Shariah Mentorship Programme in the Malaysian capital market, for example, combines three months of intensive learning with five months of industry placement and mentorship for members of Sharia advisory boards.
Meanwhile, the i-Connect Fintech in Islamic Finance consortium brings together industry, academia, government, and society to link research with the commercialisation of innovation. The lesson is not that Indonesia must copy Malaysia, but that superior talent requires a pathway that connects…