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This study focusses on the underlying needs of Muslims to adhere to the tenets of their religion and to guide their behaviours accordingly. These requirements, for the purpose of travelling, constitute halal tourism. As Muslim-minority nations, such as Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, began to market their own brands of halal tourism, there are concerns of whether their current practices are able to meet the requirements of Muslim travellers. Thus, this study aims to understand the main needs and concerns of Muslim travellers when they visit Muslim-minority countries.

Interviews were conducted on selected Muslim travellers who recently visited one of the following destinations, Japan, South Korea or Taiwan. Applying the process theory of travel, service marketing perspective and Muslim religious needs, the study’s conceptual framework served as the basis for crafting interview questions, selecting the participants and explaining the findings.

Muslim travellers are mostly concerned with the need to perform daily prayers and to find halal food at the point of need, and willing to conduct extensive research on the destination prior to their visit. Muslim travellers’ experiences in these Muslim-minority countries are generally met with their expectations, although further socialisation with the locals is needed to induce greater overall satisfaction with the destinations.

Understanding the current practices of halal tourism is critical so that improvements can be implemented in the industry.

Key preparations, expectations, actual experiences in the destinations and reflections of Muslim travellers provide in-depth insights into their needs and concerns when travelling in Muslim-minority countries. The emergent religion-based dimensions in service experience, such as availability of social agents and halal food at the point of need, extend the conceptualisation of perishability and heterogeneity in service marketing literature.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the poverty rates of Indonesia, Malaysia and Pakistan, representing majority Muslim populations, and of India as a minority Muslim population, according to Ibn Khaldun's dynamic model on poverty.

According to Ibn Khaldun, poverty is not merely influenced by economic dimension. He initiated fundamental factors as mentioned in his formula P=f(W,G,N,S,g,J ) where P is a function of Wealth of the Nation (W ), Government (G ), Human Resource (N ), Sharia (S ), Growth ( g) and Justice ( J ). This study generates secondary data covering from 2000‐2010 or after financial crisis of 1997. These data employed using Panel method.

The study's findings reveal that the variable of Dynamic model of Ibn Khaldun influenced significantly the level of poverty in Indonesia as a Muslim majority population, whereas in Pakistan only the HDI variable has significant influence. Meanwhile (like Malaysia) in India, the variable of Dynamic model of Ibn Khaldun does not influence significantly.

Each country has certain characteristics and background with respect to economic growth, government policy and population that might influence poverty. As a result, the application of Ibn Khaldun model varies accordingly.

The findings reveal that quite a few challenges lie ahead in applying Ibn Khaldun model in these countries. This needs to be taken on promptly by each country, especially Muslim countries.

This paper is one of few studies which employ Ibn Khaldun theory on poverty, using panel data to investigate the appropriateness of the model.

This study aims to investigate the drivers of halal-certified firms in Taiwan, a Muslim minority country, to provide halal products or services.

This study used a quantitative method by spreading offline and online surveys toward halal-certified firms in Taiwan. Data were obtained from 41 responses and were analyzed using partial least square structural equation modeling.

This study discovers that firms in Taiwan practice halal business as they possess halal perceived value and innovation orientation. In addition, the interplays of the antecedents, the internal and external drivers, also play an excellent role in shaping the firms’ practices on halal business.

Despite the implications, this study was built under several limitations that are potentially addressed by future research. The limitations lay in the low response rate, indistinctive analysis based on the firms’ market orientations (domestic or international) and the exclusion of other relevant variables to the conceptual model.

Practically, this study clarifies that firms in a Muslim minority country can be encouraged to engage in halal business in several ways. Those with a good understanding of halal usefulness are oriented to innovation, exposed to external pressures about halal business and equipped with specific internal settings that can translate the halal business phenomenon as an opportunity, not a threat.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to unveil the drivers of halal business practices of firms in a Muslim minority country.

The paper aims to explore the development of the halal industry in Thailand. It endeavours to investigate the main factors behind the country’s success as one of the largest exporters of halal-certified foods and products in the Southeast Asian region, in spite of the fact that Thailand is a non-Muslim-majority country. Only 4.3 per cent of the 69-million population of Thailand is Muslims.

In articulating the issue objectively, qualitative research method was adopted. This paper used structured literature study by analysing various subjects of halal pertaining to Thailand’s halal sector. At the same time, several in-depth interviews with the corresponding halal authorities in Thailand, as well as site visits, were also conducted. We also undertook observations in several sites in Thailand to analyse the issue further.

Findings from the research show that the strong presence of Thailand in the global halal industry is because of its bustling tourism industry that helps to bolster the country’s halal branding, its uniformity of halal definition and standards and effective support to the local SMEs.

This research implies that the standardisation of halal in a country is imperative in the Muslim-majority or Muslim-minority countries. This study gives a benchmark for the non-Muslim-majority countries which endeavour to embark on the halal industry. Muslim-minority counties that envision to succeed in the global halal market could emulate Thailand’s approach in branding itself as a recognised non-Muslim-majority country in producing certified halal foods and products.

The paper provides guidelines and standards for Muslim-minority countries that envision success in the global halal market.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the process of interaction with the Muslim customers in developing new Islamic financial services in a secular and non-Muslim majority emerging country, India.

Data were collected using a multiple case study methodology in which the service managers of 23 financial service firms and their customers were interviewed. A total of 46 managers and 31 Muslim customers provided data for this paper.

A service firm must interact with its Muslim customers to obtain key input and information for developing new Islamic financial services, particularly in a Muslim minority country. The Muslim customers are willing to work with the financial service firms for the purpose of new service development and are a good source of information for new Islamic financial services.

The paper has implications for the financial service firms interested in achieving growth and prosperity by developing and marketing new services to the growing population of Muslim customers in the emerging markets, particularly India.

The issue of customer interaction in new service development is a key concept in the extant literature, yet no study has explored this concept for the Islamic banking and financial products in a non-Muslim majority emerging market. This is the first paper that has applied the customer interaction in new service development theory to the interaction process of Muslim customers in a non-Muslim majority country and, thus, addressed a worthwhile research gap.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse three drivers of the Islamic economy: global Muslim demography; operational sectors and demand; and faith-based consumerism.

This paper follows a constructivist approach to the Islamic economy, undertaken through an exploratory study of global Muslim population, the growth in opportunities in the Islamic economy and plurality of religious thought across the diaspora.

The research finds four trends (t) positively impacting the growth of the Islamic economy: (t1) above-nominal increase in global Muslim population, with greater intra-religious interactions of varying Muslim cultures; (t2) an increasing demand for a diversity of Shari’ah-compliant and halal products and services; (t3) improving socio-economic status of Muslims in developed and emerging countries; and (t4) a widening perspective of faith understanding and rising interest in religious literacy.

This research serves to inform global businesses of opportunities in Islamic economy sectors, highlighting global demographic change and informing how business is impacted through the plurality of Muslim faith interpretation.

Based on this research, businesses can better align their services with the socio-economic environment and faith sensibilities of Muslim consumers.

The paper provides a first look at the activity across Islamic economic sectors and disaggregates their activity and potential for growth across Muslim-majority and Muslim-minority markets. In particular, three areas were examined – demography, emergent Muslim lifestyles and religiosity.

This paper aims to investigate potential Muslim tourists’ visit intentions to halal tourism destinations in Japan.

Data were acquired from 397 respondents of potential Muslim tourists in Indonesia. These data were analyzed with variance-based structural modeling to assess the relationships between religiosity, halal awareness, destination image, destination trust and visit intention.

This study disclosed that halal awareness and destination trust could directly affect visit intention. Meanwhile, destination image could influence visit intention after mediated by destination trust. Religiosity was proven to be the antecedent of halal awareness and destination image.

This study exhibits the ways to optimize the development of halal tourism, especially in Muslim minority countries, by shaping the visit intention of potential Muslim tourists. The providers should concentrate on building the destination trust of potential Muslim tourists. They should innovatively exhibit their sincere commitment to fulfilling halal needs of potential tourists, and having a favorable destination image is only one of the ways. Besides that, the providers can promote halal tourism to potential Muslim tourists with more vital halal awareness.

This is an initial study to examine the visit intention of potential Muslim tourist for halal tourism destination in a Muslim minority country.

The purpose of this research study is to explore and analyze the factors that will favour or constrain the introduction of an Islamic Retail bank in a Muslim-minority country such as Mauritius. This research attempts to fill the gap in the empirical literature on the setting up of an Islamic Retail bank in a Muslim-minority country. It recognizes upfront that Islamic banking offers an alternative banking system that is attractive to both Muslims and non-Muslims.

The research adopts a mixed approach to address the prospects and challenges of establishing an Islamic Retail bank in Mauritius.

The research finds that there are various prospects for an Islamic retail bank in Mauritius for Muslims and non-Muslims, including enabling legal, fiscal and regulatory framework, the financing of small- and medium-sized enterprises and the issuance of ṣukūk (Islamic investment certificates). The research also finds that the development of an Islamic retail bank in Mauritius face various challenges. Some of these challenges are lack of Sharīʿah-compliant liquidity instruments and inter-bank deposits, lack of knowledge and understanding of Sharīʿah-compliant products and the enforcement of Islamic contracts in court.

This in-depth study appears to be comprehensive and will help in developing a solid foundation for establishing an Islamic retail bank in Mauritius.

Recently the revival of the institution of waqf took a movable form especially in terms of the creation of cash waqf which found its ways as one of the financial institutions financing different goods and services in the different countries. In an attempt to enrich the literature on this area, this study is an extension to the authors' work, focusing mainly on the different goods and services provided by different cash waqf schemes in Muslim and Muslim minority countries without depending on the government to provide their needs. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This study uses data collected from primary sources including text from the Hadith, while data collected from secondary sources include books, articles, journals besides web sites and e-books.

The findings show the potential of cash waqf in financing not only religious areas but also financing different goods and services needed globally, such as education, health, social care and commercial activates, basic infrastructures, besides opening jobs for the majority of people.

The expected outcome of this research is to open the door wider for more researchers to explore the potential of cash waqf as one of the instruments to finance all sectors in Muslim and Muslim minority countries without exhausting government budget.

A revitalization of an old Islamic financial product to meet the different needs.

This study aims to examine differences in the perceived value of luxury as drivers of luxury purchase intentions between individualist and collectivist cultures (at a country level) and consumers of Muslim versus Christian religious backgrounds. Moreover, this study investigates how consumers’ acculturation to the global consumer culture (AGCC) impacts their perceived luxury values.

The authors conducted two online survey studies. The first study compares Muslim consumers in Kuwait versus Muslims consumers in the UK. The second study compares the UK Muslim sample to a UK Christian sample. The authors collected data from 600 and 601 respondents, respectively. Partial least square structural equation modeling was used to test this study’s research hypotheses.

The perceived personal values of luxury primarily drive consumers’ luxury purchase intentions. The hedonic value of luxury impacts luxury purchase intentions significantly more for Muslims in the UK than in Kuwait. No significant differences were observed between religions. Consumers’ AGCC exerts a positive impact on all included perceived luxury values and more strongly impacts perceived uniqueness for Muslims than for Christians.

The paper builds on an integrative luxury values framework to examine the impact of luxury values on consumers’ purchasing intentions by studying the moderating effect of culture and religion on these relationships. The study is partly set in Kuwait, an understudied country, and investigates a Muslim minority in the UK.