Abbas Arfan

The number of Muslims in Indonesia reaches 85% of the total population of 270 million, but the progress of the Islamic economics in the country is stagnant. This is evidenced by the sharia banking assets, which only reach 5% and never increase every year. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the primary obstacles hindering the development of sharia banking, from the perspective of sharia banking per se, and not from the society, as was the case in most previous studies. Besides, this study offers a strategy through a combination of Ibn Khaldun’s ashabiyyah and social construction theory of Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann to strengthen the public perception toward sharia banking. The method used to reveal the obstacles is a field survey method in the form of an obstacle’s questionnaire with optional answers, which were distributed to several Islamic banks as samples, and then the most selected answers are calculated. Meanwhile, to find a strategic solution, it is necessary to review the literature using a philosophical approach. The results of a questionnaire that was distributed to several Islamic banks indicate three primary obstacles: low level of public awareness about the use of sharia banking (80 %), low level of public understanding and knowledge on sharia banking products (60 %), and low level of government support for sharia banking (40 %). Meanwhile, the theoretical application of asabiyyah theory with the help of the social construction theory can be used to strengthen public perceptions of Islamic banking through a three-stage process: externalization, objectivation and internalization.