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This study aims to explore the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of the Muslim-friendly homestay business in Malaysia to help identify and recommend practical strategies to capitalize on the strengths and potentials while overcoming the current shortcomings and threats.

The Muslim-friendly business owner and operators in Sabah, Malaysia, were the subject of a series of focus groups and expert opinion interviews. The data was transcribed, and then the variables were categorized into the four SWOT categories using content and thematic analysis. Meanwhile, threats, opportunities, weaknesses and strengths (TOWS) analysis is used to identify the best strategy alternatives.

The SWOT analysis identifies several strengths (e.g. diverse and unique Islamic culture and heritage [S1], iconic Islamic landmarks [S2], rich natural beauty [S3], well-established halal tourism industry [S4]); weaknesses (e.g. limited awareness [W1], limited infrastructure and facilities [W2], limited human resources and trained personnel [W3], lack of Islamic tourism products and experiences [W4]); opportunities (e.g. growing demand for Islamic tourism [O1], increasing disposable income [O2], potential for collaborations [O3], potential for partnerships [O4], potential for expanding Sabah’s halal tourism offerings [O5]); and threats (e.g. competition [T1], political instability [T2], economic downturns [T3] and environmental and social challenges [T4]).

This paper could serve as a guideline and supplementary information for stakeholders in the homestay industry to grasp their business environment better.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of its type to blend SWOT and TOWS analysis with the sector of Muslim-friendly homestays. Hence, the findings might expand understanding of the Muslim-friendly homestays industry and aid businesses in penetrating this growing market.

This study aims to identify the intention to purchase Halal food products amongst non-Muslim consumers in Malaysia, moderated by the acculturation effect.

A structured close-ended questionnaire was used to gather data through the random distribution of 397 non-Muslim consumers from the Alumni network of several private higher education institutions in Malaysia.

The collected data was analyzed through the structural equation modelling technique using partial least squares with SmartPLS 3.0. The result indicated that attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control were positively influenced by the purchase decision of Halal food products amongst non-Muslim consumers in Malaysia. Apart from that, the acculturation effect moderates the relationship between attitude and intention to purchase.

This finding will contribute to academics, Halal food makers and government in understanding the Halal food purchase intention amongst non-Muslim consumers in Malaysia.

The outcome of this study can be used as an input for Halal entrepreneurship in terms of marketing and operation strategy. On the government aspect, this study also provides an implication on national public policy and strategic economic planning in developing overall national Halal policy.

The social harmonization amongst the multiple races in Malaysia is partially contributed through the acculturation effect. The acculturation effect has been reflected through the food choice decision amongst Malaysian, despite of different religious belief and home culture background.

Research in studying Halal food purchase intention amongst non-Muslim consumers are scarce. This research is able to reinforce the theory of planned behavior model in dealing with Halal food choice decisions, taking into consideration of acculturation effect.

A significant dilemma facing humankind in the present time is environmental degradation. To alleviate the pressure on natural resources, green banking (GB) has been acknowledged as an effective solution. However, creating consumer engagement is still challenging for banks. Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of religiosity on GB adoption among Muslim consumers.

The deductive approach was used to explain how GB adoption is affected by the religiosity of the consumer. A total of 332 sample data were collected cross-sectionally from Islamic bank customers in the UAE. Partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) via Smart PLS 4 was used to analyse the data. Five dimensions (i.e. ideological, ritualistic, intellectual, consequential and experimental) were used to measure religiosity which served as the independent variable. Customer intention to adopt GB represents the dependent variable.

The PLS-SEM results revealed that Islamic religiosity affects the adoption of GB among Muslim consumers. Indeed, their religious commitment and beliefs affect the products they intend to adopt and how they intend to do it.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is a pioneering study in the investigation of Islamic religiosity and its influence on the intention to adopt GB. This is a pioneering study in the sense that it proposes a comprehensive religiosity construct using five intertwined dimensions in the literature of GB. This study offers an improved and broader insight assessment of Islamic religiosity, which would help emphasise its significance and utility for business-related decisions by developing an emotionally-driven link between GB practices and the Muslim-oriented consumer market towards increasing the latter’s engagement.

The world after the pandemic of Covid-19 is looking at a different environment in teaching and learning and primarily being influenced by general online learning readiness. Perception towards the measurement of online learning readiness would also need to change. This study seeks to determine whether Malaysian undergraduate students are ready to study online if the Movement Control Order (MCO) is reimposed.

Using an online poll, this study analysed 299 undergraduate students from Malaysia's public and private universities. The collected data were then analysed using SmartPLS software to test the measurement model and structural equation modelling.

The findings of this study indicate that computer self-efficacy and self-directed learning have a substantially positive link with online learning preparedness among Malaysian undergraduate students.

Findings in this study indicate that universities should draw comprehensive plans to enhance students' readiness in terms of indicators such as technology usage, technology availability, computer and internet efficacy, self-directed learning and attitude. One of the aspects that require change is online communication self-efficacy. Thus, there is a need for improvement, or this would affect undergraduates adversely, especially in the event of future MCO.

The originality of this article lies in the time frame this study was conducted, where cases of coronavirus infection are seen to increase around the world and there is a possibility that movement restrictions will be re-enforced. The findings in this study are expected to give insight to the government in the effort of the national higher education plan. By not undervaluing previous research models, this research model should give a new perspective to the academic literature on online learning among undergraduate students.

Within a few days, the National Disaster Management Agency’s COVID-19 Fund (NADMA) has collected RM 5.5 m in donations from individuals and companies. These data shows that voluminous Malaysians are willing to help although they are in a difficult situation. Grounded in the Social Responsibility theory, this paper aims to examine the factors that motivate infaq (donation) behaviour in Malaysia during Movement Control Order (MCO).

The quantitative questionnaire survey method was used to obtain the data. This research’s unit analysis was of individuals who had done any help during COVID-19 MCO in Malaysia. The respondents were from all states in Malaysia, 20 years old and above and constituted of all races.

Although the religiosity factor did not play a significant role as a moderator, the results of the study found that all factors from the social responsibility theory had a significant positive relationship to Infaq behaviour during an emergency.

Identifying the vital driving factors that determine the infaq offer makes it possible for fundraisers to entirely focus on developing better approaches that can increase the role that these driving factors can play and possibly improve the impact on those previously unaffected factors.

From the authors’ knowledge, the research paper on helping effort during an emergency is minimal, let alone the research on infaq behaviour. This paper’s originality lies in the relationship between infaq behaviour, emergency and social responsibility theory which has never been explored before by other researchers.

The purpose of this paper is to indicate the current state of studies on Islamic finance and management through a bibliometric analysis of the only social science citation index (SSCI)-indexed journal in this field.

The paper uses a bibliometric analysis, collecting data from the 319 papers published in the International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management (IMEFM) from 2008 to 2019. Moreover, VOSviewer software has been used to illustrate the citation analysis (including most cited papers, most cited authors and authors’ affiliated institutions and countries) and the keyword map.

The number of papers published in each issue of the IMEFM is found to have significantly increased owing to its unique situation being the only SSCI-indexed journal in this domain. The share of the empirical researches in total papers published annually has steadily risen, reaching 95% in 2019. In terms of case countries, although Malaysia is the most examined country in the papers, other countries such as Indonesia and Turkey are found to have been used as a case country by researchers recently. Islamic banking-related papers are the most prevalent studies, as expected, with mainly their performance being examined. Meanwhile, the number of papers about Islamic social financial institutions has notably grown in recent years. Finally, technology-based initiatives such as crowdfunding and cryptocurrencies are noted to have not yet been the subject of any paper.

The main contribution of this study is its analysis of the only SSCI-indexed journal on Islamic finance and management using bibliometrics. Also, all the papers published in the journal have been reviewed in terms of methodology, case country/country groups and topics/subtopics to lead the way for future research.

Emphasis on the importance of halal products is now growing. It is fast becoming a new market force and brand identifier and is now moving into the mainstream market, affecting and changing perception on how business should be conducted, including from a marketing point of view. The purpose of this paper is to test the applicability of the theory of reasoned action (TRA) in predicting the intention to choose halal product among Malaysian consumers.

A structured questionnaire was used to elicit responses from consumers using a convenience sampling technique. A total of 485 responses were received. Needless to say, this study extends the applicability of the TRA to study halal product usage among consumers in Malaysia.

The findings indicated that the TRA is a valid model in the prediction of the intention to choose halal products. Attitude (β=0.288, p<0.001) and subjective norm (β=0.814, p<0.001) were found to be positively related to intention, with subjective norm being the more influential predictor. Subjective norm was also positively related to the attitude (β=0.336, p<0.001) to choose halal products.

The study contains a limited number of measures in the model. Nevertheless, it provides new information on the emerging issue of halal products.

The results will be primarily beneficial to restaurants, fast food restaurants and small and medium enterprises in Malaysia by offering an insight into the intentions of consumers to choose halal products.

The paper extends the understanding of TRA to newly emerging contexts such as halal products usage intentions.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the reasons behind customers' selection of Islamic mortgage in Sabah, Malaysia and present factor and cluster analyses to identify the importance of choice criteria for Islamic mortgage selection. The choice criteria among Sabahans are investigated along with their gender, age group, religion, monthly income, and ethnicity.

A total of 250 bank customers responded to a survey addressing the choice criteria for Islamic mortgage providers. It is important to address the criteria in order to make sure the service providers are able to come up with attractive package of Islamic home financing to their prospective customers. Of these, only 211 questionnaires are usable, which gives us a response rate of 84.4 percent. No extra efforts are conducted in order to increase the number of respondents. Non‐probability, convenience sampling is implemented. This paper uses a quantitative study similar to what employed by Lymperopoulos et al. and by Devlin. Frequencies, descriptive, factor and cluster analyses are used to analyze the data.

A cluster analysis indicates that bank customers can be divided into three clusters. Members of cluster 1 reported a tendency to select mortgage bank on the basis of “service provisions” while the members of cluster 2 reported a tendency to select mortgage bank on the basis of “elements of Shariah and Islamic principles.” While those of members in the cluster 3, almost entirely had lower mean scores as compared to other clusters. Nevertheless, the members of this cluster reported a greatest tendency to choose Islamic mortgage provider on the basis of “pricing.”

The paper has addressed three limitations that provide opportunities for other researchers to explore them in depth in the future in the similar field of Islamic home financing. The limitations are presented in the conclusion's part.

With regard to implications, this paper offers inputs for management decision among Islamic mortgage providers (i.e. Islamic banking institutions such as full‐fledged Islamic banks, conventional banks with Islamic windows and conventional banks with Islamic subsidiaries). In addition, this paper adds to the literature in the area of home loans/financing.

This paper offers the choice criteria for Islamic mortgage providers provides useful information on the Islamic mortgage providers' selection among Sabahans. This paper indeed provides useful information on the main choice criteria that affect why Sabahan choose Islamic mortgage providers.

The purpose of this paper is to address the confusing use of terminology associated with tourism undertaken by Muslims and to identify key concerns associated with this type of tourism.

This is an exploratory study and adopts a critical review of literature following the evolutionary concept analysis method. Content analysis of popular UK media, UK-based tour operators’ websites and tourism strategies of destinations popular with Muslim tourists were conducted to examine the use of terminology.

There is no clear difference between the various terms (halal, Muslim friendly, Islamic, etc.) used. Overall, academia uses the term Islamic tourism, while the industry and media use various terms. Among destinations, however, there is no clear and consistent use of terminology. A key concern of Islamic tourism is the role of certification in assuring travellers and the lack of standardisation of halal certification.

The paper is based on literature review and secondary data analysis. It lacks primary research.

This study highlights the need for consistent use of terminology across industry. Another implication is the issue surrounding halal certification of food and the importance of trust in the seller/service provide. Another trend that industry providers need to consider is the growth of the Muslim millennial traveller and the needs of this market segment.

The paper highlights the importance of studying the Muslim tourist market and provides a starting point for further research. It highlights several issues such as the need to develop a typology of Muslim tourists. Of particular interest is the concern whether halal values in danger of being commodified in the absence of a universal agreed criterion for halal certification.

The purpose of this study is to apply the theory of planned behavior (TPB) in predicting the intention to participate in family takaful schemes (FTSs) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). One area of concern for takaful operators is their untapped market and lower market share compared to those of their conventional insurance counterparts. It is possible that the investigation of direct and indirect (belief based) measures of TPB could shed some light on these concerns and possibly offer some assistance to takaful operators.

Interrelationships among attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral controls (PBCs) and intention to participate in FTSs were examined. The relationships between behavioral beliefs on attitudes, normative beliefs on subjective norm and control beliefs on PBC were also assessed to fully identify the structures underlying factors measuring intentions. The respondents consisted of 175 Muslims in the UAE. Data were collected using an online survey and analyzed using SPSS.

This study found that attitudes, subjective norms and PBCs contribute to the prediction of the intention to participate in FTSs. This study used standard multiple regressions to identify an extensive set of specific belief composites this can be used in the prediction of direct measures of TPB and the intention to participate in FTS.

The findings of this study provide useful information to takaful marketers on how to develop marketing strategies to increase FTS participation. This study suggests that informative and persuasive promotions can be used to improve the penetration rate of FTSs in the UAE.

This study provides insights into previously unaddressed FTS participation in the UAE. Prior work on determining FTS participation has not been applied to both direct and indirect measures of TPB to understand the phenomenon.