ISLAMIC MANAGEMENT

MAQASID AL SHARIAH IN THE GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT STRATEGY OF ISLAMIC TOURISM BUSINESSES 

Nor’ain Othman, PhD, & Rozian Mohd Taha
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
&
Shaya’a Othman
Universal Crescent Standard Center

 ABSTRACT

 Islamic tourism can be seen from a different perspective as compared to the conventional tourism such as economic, cultural and religious perspectives. Travelling and exploring for the purpose of seeking knowledge, enriching one’s experience and improve one’s character has been encouraged by Islam. The development of Islamic tourism give rise to the various business components within the tourism industry which include tour operators, hotels, airlines and restaurants to restructure their products and services towards halal or shariah compliance or Muslim friendly to meet the demand of the growing market segment. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), international tourism continued its momentum with a 5% growth, or an additional 52 million international tourists, recorded a world total of 1.087 billion arrivals in 2013. The management of tourism businesses should look beyond profit and should adopt good governance from the Islamic perspectives to meet the demand of the Muslim travelers. This paper attempts to examine the management strategy of current tourism business such as hotels and tour operators in the light of their moving towards Maqasid al-Syariah or, in other words, ‘the spirit of the Islamic Syariat’. Muslim scholars are of the opinion that the ultimate objectives [maqasid al-Syariah] which are a necessity [al-daruriyyah] for mankind to be able to live peacefully in this world, according to al-Quran and al-Sunnah, include five main areas – [1] protection of life, [2] protection of al-Din [Islam], [3] protection of human generation, [4] protection of intellect, and, lastly, [5] protection of wealth or resources. From a review of the related literature, little is mentioned or discussed about tourism businesses working towards achieving these ultimate objectives or Maqasid al-Syariah.


FULL TEXT [ Please click the link to website below]:

http://www.iais.org.my/e/attach/2015/maqasid2015/pdf/s3s4_paper.pdf