Islamic Financial Literacy, Gold Installments, and Hajj Payment Readiness: A Systematic Review

Abstract

This study synthesizes empirical evidence on how Islamic financial literacy shapes decisions to use Sharia-compliant gold installment products and strategies for meeting the remaining Hajj payment. A systematic literature review was conducted following PRISMA 2020. Indonesian- and English-language journal articles published from 2016 to 2026 were identified through journal websites, national indexing records, GARUDA, Google Scholar, and supplementary academic searches. From 90 initial records, 72 unique articles were screened, 30 reports were assessed for eligibility, and 17 studies were included in the thematic synthesis. The findings indicate that Islamic financial literacy is consistently associated with stronger interest in gold investment, decisions to use Islamic pawnshop products, and Hajj saving decisions. However, gold installment decisions are also conditioned by trust, risk perception, service quality, promotion, accessibility, financial capacity, and religiosity. Evidence on using accumulated gold to meet Hajj payments remains dominated by qualitative case studies and product-oriented evaluations. No included study tested Islamic financial literacy, gold installment decisions, and Hajj payment readiness within one causal model. The synthesis therefore proposes a conditional mediation framework in which literacy strengthens the capacity to evaluate contracts, margins, price risk, liquidity, and goal suitability; gold installments may then mediate the relationship between literacy and Hajj payment readiness. Longitudinal comparisons with regular Hajj savings are required before stronger effectiveness claims can be made.