The Measurement of Islamic Unit Trust Investment Decision in Malaysia: An Exploratory Factor Analysis

The objective of this study is to develop the constructs in Islamic Unit Trust Investment Decision (IUTID) and examine its determinants. The determinants of Islamic Unit Trust Investment Decision are Islamic Financial Literacy (IFL), Information Sources (IS), Investment Risk (IR), Religiosity (RE) and Product Knowledge (PK). The measurement developed is based on the literature review and has been validated by the construct's experts, and among Islamic Unit Trust Investors. The validity and reliability test have tested to all the constructs. The data have been analyzing using SPSS. Results of the analysis show that Islamic unit trust investment decision can be measured using ten (10) items of investment selection criteria. The others determinants such as Islamic financial literacy construct consists of seven (7) items, information sources construct consists of ten (10) items, investment risk consists of eight (8) items, religiosity consists of eight (8) items and product knowledge consists of seven (7) items. The variance of the construct shows that information sources have the highest variance followed by investment risk, Islamic financial literacy, religiosity and product knowledge. These instruments can be used by unit trust companies, the authorities of Islamic unit trust (FIMM, SC, BNM) and other banking's product to understand the behavior of their clients and later, can implement it to the expected new customers

Information sources and investment decision among Malaysian investors: Clarifying the role of gender and product knowledge

This study explore the moderation effect of gender and product knowledge (PK) on the relationship between information sources (IS) and Islamic unit trust investment decision (IUTID). Muslim investors in Malaysia was chosen as the respondents for this study. The relationship between the variable was tested using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). Our results show that both variables, gender and product knowledge moderate the relationship between information sources and Islamic unit trust investment decision. The result indicate that information sources strongly influence Islamic unit trust investment decision when the Muslim investors have low product knowledge. In addition, the finding also reveal that information sources strongly influence Islamic unit trust investment decision more for female investors than male investors

The Impact of Different Level of Education Towards Acceptance of Islamic House Financing

Home ownerships are a necessity to all Malaysians. A natural sequence in life, after completing their studies and getting their „dream jobs?. Often times, following their nuptials, so that they could focus on raising a family in a proper environment, in their own homes. There are many housing developers offering various types of residential properties to cater to the demands from consumers with diverse economic backgrounds. In order to finance their purchases, these consumers would turn to the banks to choose the suitable house financing products. Competitions among financial institutions seeking to win „good? customers provide an opportunity for the consumers to survey for the best deals in house financing. These competitions pose a challenge to the banks to maintain their profit levels. The introduction of Shariah-compliant Islamic house financing products and services is embraced by many Muslim customers as obligatory and as a duty. Now, many Muslim and non-Muslim consumers are beginning to understand and trust Islamic banks and Islamic house financing products and services. Islamic banks perform the same essential functions as the conventional banks, except that Islamic banks are being guided by Shariah principles in their activities as well as products and services. Past studies found that the reasons for selecting Islamic house financing products from Islamic banks are not solely based on religion, but a combination of religious, demographic, age, gender, attitudes, perception, awareness, understanding and other factors such as promotion and service. This paper had focused on the customers? level of education, and the extent of the impact their education have on their acceptance of Islamic house financing. The finding shall enable banks to better understand and recognize this one aspect of the criteria in choosing Islamic house financing, and how these categories of customers should be pursued. This study revealed that the level of education of the customers was a significant factor influencing their decisions to select Islamic banking products and services. Consumers with high level of education tend to have greater knowledge of Islamic banking and the mechanism of Islamic banking products. At the same time, they also tend to be technologically adept and information savvy, and have the competency to grasp the working mechanism of Islamic house financing, and also have the level of knowledge, understanding and awareness to differentiate between Islamic banking products and conventional banking product

The Effectiveness of Flipped Classroom Strategy on Self-Directed Learning Among Undergraduate Mathematics Students

The purpose of this study is to measure the effectiveness of the flipped classroom strategy for self-directed learning among undergraduate students in Mathematics courses. A forty-six (46) students of Actuarial Mathematics course from one university were participated to measure their academic performance during-the-class. A six number of students were randomly selected for a survey with open-ended questions via google form to explore their experiences using this approach. For this study, there was a pre-experimental research design with a group of students in one class. There were two ways of teaching techniques to make a comparison in this study. First, the undergraduate students were taught using a traditional teaching method to provide a baseline, where the instructor showed and explained all the steps to solve mathematical problems, and the understanding of the students will be assessed by conducting a pre-assessment quiz. Second, the students were taught using flipped classroom strategy, where the students were given the solutions including all the steps to solve mathematical problems without guidance or explanation from the instructor, then the students were given similar mathematical problems to be solved by themselves by referring to the example given, then the understandings of students will be assessed by conducting a post-assessment quiz. Third, reimplementing the flipped classroom strategy by conducting the third quiz. Finally, the effectiveness of the flipped classroom strategy is measured by comparing the results from all assessment performance. Also, teacher reflection and students’ feedback were gathered to access self-directed learning effectiveness. The result showed that the post-assessment performance from a flipped classroom strategy was significantly higher than the pre-assessment performance from traditional teaching methods. The lowest score of the pre-assessment using the traditional teaching method was less than one (1) score. On the contrary, the lowest score of the post-assessment performance using the flipped classroom strategy was five (5) scores. Moreover, the majority of the respondents achieved eight to ten scores. From the result, it was found that both teaching methodologies produced different results in students’ performance for this study. Besides, the students also provided good feedback from the strategy based on the result of the interview: (a) fun and interesting, (b) curiosity, (c) providing students’ autonomy, (d) initiating communication, (e) integrating the use of technology in learning mathematics, (f) preparing for the final exam. Overall, the students found that the flipped classroom strategy is potentially enhancing student’s engagement and performance in mathematics education. The findings have implications for the instructors to implement the flipped classroom strategy for mathematics subjects to acquire better performance among undergraduate students. The flipped classroom requires self-directed learning among students that can be more interesting learning experiences among the student

Islamic unit trust investment decision making: An empirical study of Muslim investors in Malaysia / Noraini Yusuff

Investment decision making process is an important concept within consumer behaviour and behavioural finance discipline. The term ‘investment decision making’ has come to the attention of the general public for the past 50 years that acts as a guide in making decisions related to business investment. Moreover, investment decision making has received considerable attention from scholars and investment managers, but its complex concepts are yet to be understood and explored especially in Shariah perspective. Hence, the main purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of investment decision making in Islamic unit trust (IUT) among Muslim investors in Malaysia. More importantly, this study also investigated several factors which include demographic characteristics, Islamic financial literacy (IFL), information sources (IS), religiosity (RE), and investment risk (IR) which can influence the Muslim investors in Islamic unit trust investment decision making (IUTID). In addition, this study also examined the role of product knowledge (PK) in the model of IUTID. The novelty of this study was to determine the mediating effects (intervening effects) of product knowledge on the relationship between Islamic financial literacy and information sources with IUTID. The second uniqueness of this study was to identify the moderation effects (interaction effects) of product knowledge on the relationship between information sources and religiosity with IUTID. The present study adopted the quantitative method research approach to conduct a survey using questionnaire. A total of 1000 questionnaires were distributed to Muslim investors in Islamic unit trust in Malaysia. In relation to this, descriptive analysis, Mann-Whitney U Test, Kruskal-Wallis H Test, and Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) were employed for analysis purposes. The results obtained from Mann-Whitney U Test and Kruskal-Wallis H Test revealed that age and income significantly influence IUTID. Moreover, PLS-SEM results showed the positive relationship between Islamic financial literacy, information sources, religiosity, investment risk, and product knowledge with IUTID. The results are consistent with the Engel, Blackwell, and Miniard Decision Making Model. Furthermore, the PLS-SEM results showed that product knowledge partially mediates the relationship between Islamic financial literacy and information sources with IUTID. Meanwhile, the PLS-SEM results also proved the moderate relationship between information sources and religiosity towards IUTID by product knowledge. This study presented three contributions to the behavioural decision research which are described as follows: (1) the scope of the relationship between Islamic financial literacy, information sources, religiosity, and investment risk among Muslim investors considering that it is new to the Islamic context and act as additional literature in that particular area, (2) the mediation and moderation effect of product knowledge in the model of decision making, and (3) a new model in investment decision making which can be tested in other area of financial decision making

Proposed Model for The Factors Influencing Muslim Investors in Choosing Islamic Unit Trust Funds

The purpose of this study is to identify the factors which are influencing Muslims investor in choosing Islamic unit trust funds as one of their saving alternatives. The connections among the factors have not been fully established in decision making area. We developed a model and testable propositions of the relationships between religiosity, Islamic financial literacy and product knowledge with the dependent variable, decision making in Islamic unit trust funds. The target respondents for this study will be the Muslim investors in Islamic unit trust funds in Malaysi

Pengurusan kewangan dana masjid: satu kajian di Daerah Kubang Pasu, Kedah

Purpose – To review the fund management of the mosques in the district of Kubang Pasu, Kedah. The research shall provide in terms of income been collected (donation from jemaah or fund been provided by Islamic Religious Council of Kedah) and also asset management.Methodology – This study employs 2 methods; the document analysis and the field research where the document analysis is used to study the roles of mosque institution in Islam and the mosque management. The information is collected from books, conference papers and article journals.This study also employs field research, where interviews were conducted with 26 respondents that have been appointed as mosque committees such as the chairman, secretary and treasurer.Findings – This study finds that the income of mosques at Kubang Pasu, Kedah is mainly derived from the fundraising (almost 80% of the income) and the average monthly collection from the fundraising is more than RM 3,700 monthly.In addition, some mosques in Kubang Pasu have additional income to cover their operational expenses such as shop and house rental and agricultural activities.Originality/Value – This study proves that the mosque financial management in the Kubang Pasu area has specific patterns of revenue and expense management.In term of the revenue management, the mosque divided their revenue into two categories, namely general fund and special fund.Meanwhile, the expense management is categorized into three categories namely idariyah, ijtimaiyah and tijariyyah.This information is very important for the policy-makers such as Islamic Religious Council to draw up some guidelines that can strengthen the mosque activities

The Usage of Islamic Financial Services in Zanzibar: The Influence of Accessibility, Relevancy and Expected Benefits

Aim: The study investigated the relationship between accessibility, relevance, expected benefits, and usage of Islamic financial services among Zanzibar residents. Method: This study was based on a quantitative approach. A multistage sampling process was used to obtain questionnaire responses across all five regions of Zanzibar. A total of 400 questionnaires were used for the analysis. Findings: The results indicate a significant influence of accessibility, relevancy, and expected benefits on the usage of Islamic financial services in Zanzibar. Limitation of the study: This study focuses on only three (supply-side) determinants of the use of Islamic financial services in Zanzibar. Practical Implication: This study provides empirical evidence in the new environment of Zanzibar, where Islamic finance is growing steadily. These findings will be useful for future researchers studying Islamic finance and financial inclusion. In addition, the study's findings provide research inputs to financial service providers and policymakers toward enhancing their reach to customers. Originality: This study is the first to assess the relationship between accessibility, relevance, expected benefits, and usage of Islamic financial services. In addition, the current study provides the evidence about usage of Islamic financial services in new environment; Zanzibar, the emerging Islamic financial market in East Afric

Dataset on the acceptance of islamic microfinance in Kano State, Nigeria

The present data from 194 customers of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is about their acceptance of Islamic microfinance in Kano State, Nigeria. The dataset includes variables such as gender, age, marital status, duration as customer, account operate, annual income, type of business, service quality, perceived value, corporate image and religiosity of customers in Kano State. A survey from March to June 2019, self-administered questionnaires were used for data collection. This data may help scholars to understand how people of Kano State accept Islamic microfinance interacted with service quality, customer perceived value, corporate image and religiosity

Dataset on the Acceptance of Islamic Microfinance in Kano State, Nigeria

The present data from 194 customers of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is about their acceptance of Islamic microfinance in Kano State, Nigeria. The dataset includes variables such as gender, age, marital status, duration as customer, account operate, annual income, type of business, service quality, perceived value, corporate image and religiosity of customers in Kano State. A survey from March to June 2019, self-administered questionnaires were used for data collection. This data may help scholars to understand how people of Kano State accept Islamic microfinance interacted with service quality, customer perceived value, corporate image and religiosit