Murābaḥah in Indonesia’s Sharia People’s Business Credit Program

Assessing DSN-MUI Fatwa No. 04/2000 at BSI KCP Ladang Rimba

Abstract

This article examines the use of murābaḥah in the Sharia-compliant People’s Business Credit (Kredit Usaha Rakyat, KUR) program at Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI) KCP Ladang Rimba and evaluates the practice against the Fatwa of the National Sharia Board–Indonesian Ulema Council (DSN-MUI) No. 04/DSN-MUI/IV/2000 on murābaḥah. Using a qualitative socio-legal approach, the study combines normative analysis of the Fatwa with field evidence derived principally from interviews, observation, and documentation at the branch. The findings indicate that the branch structures KUR through an asset-based sale: the customer applies for financing, the bank assesses eligibility, the required goods are purchased, the acquisition cost and profit margin are disclosed, a murābaḥah contract is executed, the goods are delivered, and the customer repays the deferred sale price by instalments. On the evidence reported, these procedural features broadly correspond to the core requirements of Fatwa No. 04/2000. The more difficult issue is not formal validity but contractual suitability. Murābaḥah provides price certainty and predictable instalments, yet after completion of the sale the entrepreneur remains obliged to pay the fixed deferred price even if the financed business performs poorly. The article therefore distinguishes Sharia compliance from development-policy fit: compliance with the Fatwa does not by itself establish that murābaḥah is always the optimal structure for every KUR financing need. Profit-and-loss sharing contracts may provide stronger risk-sharing characteristics in some cases, but they also require different monitoring, information, and governance arrangements. The study concludes that contract choice within Sharia KUR should be purpose-sensitive rather than based on a categorical preference for a single contract form.