Tinjauan Hukum Ekonomi Syariah terhadap Penggunaan Kartu Sicashless sebagai Alat Pembayaran Digital di Pondok Pesantren Al-Amanah Al-Gontory

Abstract

Digital technology has encouraged educational institutions, including Islamic boarding schools, to adopt cashless payment systems. Al-Amanah Al-Gontory Islamic Boarding School uses the SiCashless card to support students’ transactions and financial administration. This study examines the implementation, benefits, and challenges of SiCashless and analyzes its practice from the perspective of Islamic Economic Law. It employs a qualitative descriptive approach with a case-study design. Data were collected through observation, interviews, and documentation involving boarding-school administrators, system managers, students, and parents or guardians. Data analysis consisted of data reduction, presentation, and conclusion drawing, while source and method triangulation were used to assess validity. The findings indicate that balances can be added through transfers by parents to a Bank Muamalat account connected to the system or through cash top-ups under the applicable procedures. Funds are recorded according to their purposes, and transactions can be monitored through an application. The system facilitates daily transactions, reduces the need to carry cash, and supports expenditure monitoring. Challenges include internet disruptions, delayed data synchronization, balances that do not immediately appear, and lost cards. In principle, SiCashless reflects trustworthiness, transaction-record transparency, public benefit, fairness, and protection of wealth. Nevertheless, clearer contractual arrangements, transparent and reasonable administrative fees, and well-defined refund procedures are needed to strengthen sharia compliance and legal certainty.