Is Halal Certification Process “Green”?

These days, the environmental perspective on operations is becoming more common. In fact, any effort in improving efficiency in the organization is closely related to sustainability of our environment. The Environmental Management System (EMS) certification such as ISO 14001 has been accepted as the world standard. In addition to these ISO standards, there are other certifications such as Halal certification. There is no research that investigates the relationship between Halal Certification process and its effect on our environment. Hence, our main research question is that is Halal Certification process can be considered as environmental friendly? In this paper, we argue that Halal Certification also contributes towards green initiatives. We used EDC-UUM as our case study. EDC-UUM is actively seeking the Halal certification from Malaysian authority agency or JAKIM. In this study, we assessed the perception of the EDC-UUM staff on the issue of going green. The findings and implications are discussed in the paper

Islamic legal methodologies and Shariah screening standards: application in the Indonesian stock market

This article provides a framework for applying the principles of Islamic legal methodology to determine the optimal Shariah screening standards for Islamic equity markets. It is argued that using maslahah mursalah (unrestricted benefit) is an appropriate method for identifying appropriate financial standards and its principles stipulate that the benchmark that yields the best economic returns to investors should be chosen. The methodological framework is applied to the Indonesia equity market where the economic implications of the Islamic stock screening standards of the Indonesian Islamic Shariah Stock Index and four global indices are assessed. Portfolios are constructed by applying Islamic stock screening standards for each of the indices by using data on 377 stocks listed in the Indonesian stock market for 5 years. The performances measured by the Sharpe ratio, Treynor index, and Jensen alpha reveal that the Dow Jones Islamic Index screening criteria performs the best. Based on the method of maslahah mursalah, the article recommends using the screening standard of this index in the Indonesian stock market to maximize benefits to investors. While the approach used in this article is applied to Islamic equity markets, the methodological framework can also be used for other similar cases in Islamic finance

We can have the cake and eat it too: leisure and spirituality at ‘veiled’ hotels in Turkey

This paper uses ethnographic methods to inquire how new forms of consumption arise as a result of bridging Islamic spirituality with leisure in the newly growing tesettür hotels in Turkey, which have become a magnet of popular and academic attention. We aim to offer a multi-layered analysis of the leisure and consumption practices of Muslim women in the context of the new Islamic hospitality industry by looking at the interactions between spiritual Islam and modern capitalism. We focus on the consumption process of the female customers of these hotels as part of defining and redefining their newly developing identity that is Islamic and spiritual; as well as modern and luxurious. The study responds to the call of Gökarıksel and Secor to analyse new Islamic patterns of consumption and leisure by building on their perspectives bridging neoliberal capitalism and resurgence of Islamic identities. We call for a critical and contextual perspective to understand the dynamic emergence of new forms of Islamic lifestyles and capitalism; emphasising a future agenda of further research that is sensitive to the complexities of desires and leisure activities of veiled Muslim women in diverse countries