Bringing the full spectrum and spirit of Muslim culture into scholarship

Citation

Wilson, J.A.J. (2013), "Bringing the full spectrum and spirit of Muslim culture into scholarship", Journal of Islamic Marketing, Vol. 4 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/jima.2013.43204aaa.001

Bringing the full spectrum and spirit of Muslim culture into scholarship

Article Type: Editorial From: Journal of Islamic Marketing, Volume 4, Issue 1

Assalaamu ‘alaikum (Muslim greeting translated as, “Peace be with you” from Arabic), and welcome to Volume 4 of JIMA. It has been just over a year now since I took over as Editor and it is proving to be an amazingly rich experience. A close friend who is also an editor of a journal said to me:

[…] there are really two key things that you need in order to be a good editor: (1) being good at admin; and (2) a large network of contacts, who are willing to do favours for you.

That is turned out to be a fair approximation. “Favours” in this context boil down to two things: submissions and peer reviews. The hardest part for me is widening participation, through encouraging academics to spend some of their time peer reviewing manuscripts; or by taking a break from the pursuit of submitting to higher-ranking journals. So take this as a hint: we need reviewers and more manuscripts! Of course it is clear that the intention and support from many is there and there are legitimate reasons for why there are obstacles. However, I am a product of the underground, subcultures, independent record labels, the quirky, and championing the underdog (or should that be undercat, as Muslims are cat rather than dog people).

Journals become stronger over time with quality submissions, cutting edge research, rigorous peer review, and citations inside and outside of the journal. So for those of you that have published in JIMA, please share your papers with others and encourage citations. Take advantage of social media, engage with the academic and practitioner community, and share your successes with us at JIMA and your institutions. Our strapline is, “Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society”, and we truly believe in this. We have been successful in publishing timely publications, which have subsequently attracted media attention. It is worth considering that because of the title of the journal, we are gifted a natural competitive advantage and an attractive name, which acts as a focal point for interested parties. Having raised the flag, we need to ensure that submissions collectively embody the full Muslim experience.

This year we have had a healthy number of submissions – perhaps more “meat and money” topics in comparison to other areas; and so I would like to encourage submissions, which unpack and unveil a wider spectrum of Muslim experiences. As a starting point here are some suggestions:

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  Arab Spring.

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  Futurist perspectives as conceptual or viewpoint papers.

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  Reflections on classical Islamic texts, of value to an audience of marketers.

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  Branding.

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  Halal food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and other emerging areas.

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  Comparisons between Halal and Kosher.

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  Neuromarketing.

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  Education.

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  Youth culture.

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  Sports.

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  Music and entertainment.

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  Tourism and travel.

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  Social media usage, identity formation, and communications.

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  Citizen journalism and user generated content.

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  Investigating concepts such as modesty and conspicuousness.

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  Gender – e.g. feminist issues, “metrosexuals”, “herbivore men” in a Muslim context.

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  Race and ethnicity.

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  Muslim minority markets.

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  Online matrimony web sites.

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  The views and experiences of second and third generation economic migrants and converts (reverts).

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  Qualitative oral history perspectives from the older population reflecting on developments.

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  Reflective viewpoint pieces on practitioner’s experiences working in marketing. What is it like being a Muslim working in industry; or a non-Muslim marketing to Muslims?

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  Muslim practices particular to specific regions. For example, there are few submissions that have studied Islam in Central Asia, China, France, Germany, Latin America, and the USA.

The list is not exhaustive and there are plenty of other worthy topics. What you will see from this list is my encouragement of more submissions that point towards the appropriateness of qualitative, or Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) methods. I do concede that in some business schools, more quantitative methods are seen as king. However, I would like to highlight the fact that insight into the technique used and how results are interpreted are crucial, especially for practitioners. The rationale being that for many of us we are restricted by resource issues and access to key sensitive market data, or participants – which organisations may have better access to. Therefore, if we are to produce “research you can use”, outside of academia and the classroom, and into industry; then it needs to be founded on strong conceptual arguments and innovative new methods, observations, and conceptual ideas. In this issue we have two viewpoint papers that follow a similar thread. Furthermore, I would welcome more book reviews and case study submissions. It would be great to publish case studies, which raise questions that can be discussed further in the classroom or the boardroom.

Finally, I would like to draw your attention to the creation of a new Senior Editorial Advisory Board of passionate experts, listed here:

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  Professor Pervaiz K. Ahmed, Monash University, Sunway Campus, Malaysia.

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  Professor Gary J. Bamossy, Georgetown University, USA.

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  Professor Russell Belk, York University, Canada.

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  Dr Aisha Wood Boulanouar, University of Otago, New Zealand.

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  Dr Noha M.H. El-Bassiouny, The German University in Cairo, Egypt.

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  Professor Ying Fan, University of Northampton, UK.

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  Darhim D. Hashim, International Halal Integrity Alliance Ltd, Malaysia.

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  Professor Svend Hollensen, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark.

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  Dr Aliakbar Jafari, University of Strathclyde, UK.

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  Dr Hermawan Kartajaya, Markplus Inc, Indonesia.

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  Professor Philip Kotler, J.L. Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, USA.

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  Professor Jonathan Liu, Regent’s College, UK.

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  Professor Cedomir Nestorovic, ESSEC Management School, France.

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  Dr Özlem Sandikci, Bilkent University, Turkey.

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  Professor Linda Scott, Oxford Saïd Business School, UK.

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  Rafi-uddin Shikoh, Dinar Standard, USA.

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  Dr Rana Sobh, Qatar University, Qatar.

Also, please join me in extending the warmest of welcomes and gratitude to all of the Advisory Board – old and new. Without you, your support and contributions, my job (and the journal’s) would be lonely, boring and frustrating.

Jonathan A.J. Wilson