Islamic accounting, neo-imperialism and identity staging: The Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions

This study locates Islamic accounting within the wider context of globalisation and imperialism. It elaborates on the role played by AAOIFI (Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions) in sustaining the imperialism-accounting nexus in key Islamic finance markets. Building on the “collaborative theory of imperialism”, we specifically highlight the role of internal collaborators associated with AAOIFI like Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs), regulatory bodies and Muslim elites, including ulama (Sharia scholars), in the process of aligning AAOIFI with the international accounting harmonisation (IAH) project. Relatedly, we expound on tensions faced by AAOIFI as it attempts to integrate into the IAH project but meanwhile retain its Islamic character and appeal to the Muslim populace. Here, we demonstrate how AAOIFI, like IFIs, engages in an “identity staging” exercise to appear Islamic, while retaining and protecting the interests of Muslim and western elites through the continued support of the accounting-imperialism nexus.