Book Description

This study presents a new ethical framework for anti-money laundering (AML) that can be possible by combining Islamic system and experience, that offers a holistic, consistent, and comprehensive framework in the fight against money laundering with the global experience in this field. Although today, there are many standards and units against crimes through the fight against money laundering, this struggle has not been fully integrated with the ontological reality of the human beings and their ethical system. The contemporary world does not say much in the context of the fight against money laundering, whether good and evil are merely epiphenomenal feelings or whether they are strongly tied to a fundamental reality. As a natural consequence of this, contemporary anti-money laundering activities are mainly limited to law enforcement and intelligence activities; and this structure cannot present a holistic framework in terms of combating money laundering and thus crime by using instruments in fields that concern all aspects of life, such as economic policies, moral teaching, and academic studies. This study demonstrates how Islam provides a framework for combating money laundering, integrating the intellectual, economic, financial, ethical, and other related fields, and based on the original and ontological reality of man. To achieve this objective, the study delves into secondary literature, conducts a survey involving professionals in the field of anti-money laundering (AML), and performs a gap analysis comparing the modern AML framework with the Islamic ethical system. It also identifies areas where potential improvements can be made, where both the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries and other countries can support each other in reaching a higher level in the fight against money laundering. Based on these analyses, the study proposes a new framework in the fight against money laundering and concludes that both OIC and non-OIC countries have a lot to learn from each other and from the core teachings of Islam.