Mapping waqfresearch: a thirty-year bibliometric analysis

Purpose: Waqfplayed a powerful Islamic social finance instrument throughout Islamic history. However, the popularity of waqfdeclined in recent years. It is essential to understand the past research, the research gaps and the waqf’s ignorant research areas within the existing literature to enhance the waqfsystem. Therefore, this study aims to carry a detailed analysis of waqfresearch development with a careful evaluation of the scientific panorama’s different aspects inherent in Islamic business and social finance. Design/methodology/approach: Scientometrics is a discipline that studies the quantitative characteristics and characteristics of science and technological research, technology and innovation. This research’s string includes waqfas a reference in the “Article title, Abstract and Keywords” based on Scopus from 1990 to 2020. The analysis was conducted in December 2020. The Bibliometrix R Package, VOSviewer and Excel’s software are used to analyse the collected data and apply the bibliometric analysis. Findings: The findings derive that waqfresearch can be categorized into three sub-areas, such as the research on waqffundamentals, analysis on cash waqfand research on various waqfapplications in Islamic social finance. Even though there is some essential or fundamental research in waqf, these are not good enough for such a powerful Islamic social finance instrument. This study finds research gaps in the existing waqfliterature and presents nine future research directions. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to examine waqf’s existing literature with bibliometric analysis. The results and the recommended possible research areas can help scholars and researchers to carry future research to enhance the scientific development of Islamic social finance and provide alternative instruments to eradicate poverty in societies.