Hadith on wealth distribution and business ethics : a bibliometric analysis of global research trends

Abstract

The research paper is a bibliometric mapping of the world's research on hadith and wealth allocation and the ethics of Islamic business. Using VOSviewer software, the analysis based on the 158 articles indexed by Scopus in the period of 2008-2025 was used to determine the growth of publications, networks of collaboration, institution performance, and development of themes. The findings show that there were six times more publications at the time of study, with Malaysia, Indonesia, and the United States becoming the major contributors. Some of the major institutions, like the Eberly College of Business and Information Technology, Kent Business School, and the International Centre of Education in Islamic Finance, are strategic in promoting this subject. According to keyword mapping, there are five key thematic clusters, which lay stress on a transition between the institutional and financial focus and the philanthropic ones, namely waqf, zakat, and redistribution of wealth. The research provides an immense gap in the literature since it represents the first bibliometric mapping of the scholarship on hadith in both economic and ethical aspects, thus contributing to the theoretical formulation of Islamic economics and giving direction to future cross-disciplinary work.