Rethinking Regional Development Policies in Syria: An Islamic Social Finance Framework Based on Comparative Experiences

This study develops the Integrated Islamic Regional Development Model (IIRDM), a conceptual framework for assessing the suitability of Islamic financing arrangements for regional development interventions in Syria. It combines a focused literature review, a comparative analysis of selected policy documents from Türkiye, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, and conceptual synthesis. The framework relates regional development needs, institutional readiness, and the characteristics of financing instruments and channels through Instrument–Context Fit. Five diagnostic dimensions are proposed: Function–Need Fit, Instrument–Beneficiary Fit, Scale and Time-Horizon Fit, Instrument–Institutional Fit, and Delivery and Sustainability Fit. These dimensions inform the design of a financing architecture that may use a single instrument or coordinate multiple instruments where their functions and implementation requirements justify combination. Islamic social finance provides the framework’s principal orientation, while commercial financing channels are considered where relevant to the intervention. Comparative policy documents inform the identification of institutional requirements; they are not treated as evidence of policy effectiveness or direct transferability to Syria.

The framework’s contribution is to make contextual suitability an explicit consideration before financing instruments are selected or combined. IIRDM has not been operationalized or empirically validated, and its proposed sequence does not establish causal effects. Future research should develop diagnostic indicators and assess the framework using regional data and stakeholder evidence.