Between Accreditation and Amanah: Institutional Isomorphism and Governance Reform in Contemporary Islamic Higher Education Systems Globally
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Previous research explained institutional convergence under accreditation and discussed amanah as an ethical value, but rarely examined how both shaped governance reform across Islamic higher education systems. This study examined how accreditation affected governance and when amanah mediated conformity, adaptation, or ceremonial compliance. It used qualitative document analysis and compared official accreditation rules, governance policies, strategic plans, and evaluation reports from Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. The findings showed that accreditation increased institutional legibility by requiring educational activity to be translated into targets, reports, and reviewable evidence. Similar pressures produced different governance responses because institutions assigned responsibility, linked mission to evaluation, and followed up weaknesses in different ways. Amanah became institutionally meaningful when it entered procedures that required identifiable actors to explain decisions and address documented failures. The study developed amanah-mediated institutional isomorphism to explain why comparable accreditation structures generated different governance outcomes. It also proposed mission-sensitive governance, under which external standards remained connected to the educational purpose of Islamic universities. Accreditation strengthened accountability when evidence supported explanation and correction, but its contribution remained limited when institutional visibility developed faster than responsibility to mission.
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