Exploring de-facto accountability regimes in Muslim NGOs

This paper aims to deepen and advance our understanding of the de-facto accountability processes and practices within Muslim non-governmental organisations (NGOs). We employ a three-fold accountability framework of felt, imposed and adaptive accountability, supported by insight from the Islamic perspective to elucidate our empirical findings. We adopt this framework because it enables us to localise the notions of accountability, allowing a more complete understanding of the de-facto nature of Muslim NGO accountability to emerge within the context of religious ideals and between accountabilities that are externally imposed and those that are internally generated.     

Religious obligations to travel: first-generation Pakistani migrants from Newcastle-upon-Tyne

This article analyses the religious travel experiences of members of the first generation of the Muslim Pakistani diaspora living in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK drawing upon qualitative interpretations collected from semi-structured interviews. Religious travel for first-generation Muslim Pakistanis is influenced by Islamic principles and practices associated with obligations to travel to meet with friends and relatives. Religious obligations to travel are considered as a key factor influencing visiting friends and relatives (VFR) mobilities at a local and national level. The religious obligation associated with VFR travel is examined in view of one of the five pillars of Islam, which is salah (prayer), which stimulates various mobilities. Central to the analysis of religious-orientated (VFR) journeys are the conceptual underpinnings of obligations situated in the mobilities paradigm, which give rise to understandings of spiritualities of place. Religious obligations to travel unite the Muslim diaspora in various local (in Newcastle-upon-Tyne) and national (UK) settings. The contribution of this paper is, therefore, to advance the understanding of the relationship between Islam and travel, and add to existing knowledge of the journeys of Muslim travellers in the context of VFR travel. We conclude by suggesting further avenues of research concerning religious obligations to travel.     

Technologies of Translocality: Vegetables,Meat and Dresses in Arab Muslim Detroit

The diversification of US suburbs in terms of race, ethnicity and immigration has created invaluable opportunities for scholars to study technologies of translocality‐in‐the‐making. Translocal landscapes are described as spaces of ‘here' studded with ‘parts of elsewhere' (Allen and Cochrane, 2007 )—but which pieces of the landscape count as meaningfully ‘of elsewhere', how do those parts get there, and what range of meanings can they signify? This article is based on qualitative, in‐depth interviews and explores these questions in the context of an Arab Muslim ethnic enclave and retail district in an inner‐ring suburb of Detroit. The findings indicate that ‘parts of elsewhere' are more internally pluralized, multifunctional, multidirectional and aesthetically diverse than commonly recognized. The implications of these findings challenge scholars to develop more robust frameworks to explain how translocal geographies are produced, why they matter, and how they can be recognized.     

Integrating Factors Influencing Consumers’ Halal Products Purchase: Application of Theory of Reasoned Action

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research is to determine Muslim consumers’ purchase perceptions of Halal products in Pakistan. The research team has integrated different factors such as processing, Halal logo, ingredients, health consciousness, perceived value, food safety concern, and religious factor with Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), and they investigated their influence on consumers’ attitudes and intentions to purchase Halal food products. A survey was conducted in Islamabad and Rawalpindi city, Pakistan. A total of 282 (56.4%) completed questionnaires were received from 500 respondents. Structural equation modeling technique was used to determine consumers’ purchase intention and behavior regarding Halal products. Except for health consciousness and Halal logo, all factors positively influence consumers’ attitude and purchase intention of Halal food products and, subsequently, their purchase behavior.     

The impact of destination attributes on Muslim tourist's choice

The success of marketing destinations for Muslim tourists could be guided by observing Islamic teachings in tourism activities. This study is a trial to explore which Islamic attributes of destinations could be used a base for tailoring Halal tourist packages. Qualitative data were collected by conducting two focus group discussions and fifty three interviews in Malaysia. Two major aspects are identified which may attract Muslim tourists. Some suggestions are also presented to satisfy Muslim tourists. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Halal-friendly hotels: impact of halal-friendly attributes on guest purchase behaviors in the Thailand hotel industry

This study was designed to identify the attributes of a halal-friendly hotel and evaluate the role of these attributes in motivating the behavioral intentions of Muslim customers. Qualitative and quantitative approaches identified 30 validation and reliability items involving five distinctive dimensions, which included halal-friendly service, facilities, foods and beverages, privacy, and customer-service equality. The findings from the structural model indicate that the proposed model sufficiently explains the variance in intentions; three attributes were positively related to cognitive evaluation, and four attributes had significant influence on affective evaluation. In addition, the results indicated that cognitive and affective evaluation worked as mediators.     

A context-specific perspective of equal employment opportunity in Islamic societies

The purpose of the paper is to offer a context-specific perspective of gender equality and its implications for equal employment opportunity in Islamic societies. The paper discusses various discourses on the Islamic perspective of gender and how they might impact female employment in the formal employment sector. The study highlights some major differences among Muslim countries with respect to gender ideology and the corresponding prospects for equal employment opportunity. Furthermore, the paper argues that any attempts to reform the socio-political institutions and labor policies in Islamic societies must be informed by their particular formal and informal institutional features.

Muslim millennials’ attitudes towards fashion advertising

Abstract

Recognizing the rapid growth of fashion marketing efforts in Muslim consumer markets, this article aims to investigate attitudes towards fashion advertising between Muslim millennials from two countries of diverse advertising environments. The conceptual framework used for investigation was adapted from an existing framework for attitudes towards advertising. A sample of young millennials (n?=?1,691) responded to a questionnaire-based survey measuring items related to beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors towards fashion advertising, in addition to religiosity and fashion consciousness. Analysis of hypothesis testing was performed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Findings revealed that beliefs towards fashion advertising may be grouped into positive and negative factors which influence attitudes towards fashion advertising. Additionally, fashion consciousness also influences Muslim millennials’ attitudes towards fashion advertising. This article also examined the diversity of Muslim millennials in terms of religiosity, gender, and advertising environment on beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors towards fashion advertising. Analysis of group comparisons was done after establishing measurement invariance in Multi-group Confirmatory Analysis (CFA). Differences in attitudes towards fashion advertising across religiosity, gender, and cross-national groups illustrate the diversity within Muslim millennials. These differences are explained in terms of differences in antecedent positive and negative beliefs. This article contributes to the literature of attitudes towards advertising by illustrating the influence of gender, religiosity, and advertising environment on attitudes towards fashion advertising in diverse Muslim markets.