Islamic marketing

The history of business in Islam begins with Prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadijah who were merchants. The Prophet himself is known as a trader, and as truthful. The Sharia law that has derived particularly from the Quran and Hadith, deals with a lot of things like banking, business, economics, politics, contracts etc.[5] Since early days of Islamic History, Muslim business producers had to follow the rules and requirements of Islamic Sharia when conducting production and marketing activities.[6] The focus on ethics in Islamic Marketing resulted in early Arabian merchants converting into Islam.[7] Since 2000, the importance of the Muslim market began to appear in consultancy reports. The majority of the 1.6 billion Muslim population are quite poor, but the number of consumers with purchasing power is significant enough for Islamic Marketing to be discussed. The goal of these reports are to educate Western multinationals about Islam and Muslim lifestyles. After this attention, research has intensified. Some research has been done on consumption practices of Muslims as well as implications of Islamic ethics on marketing practices, however there is still missing scholarly literature on the subject.[8] On the 29th to 30 November in 2010, practitioners like scholars, academics, policy makers and managers met in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to discuss Islamic Marketing and branding at the "1st International Conference"[9] The Journal of Islamic marketing was launched in 2010, and it lays the foundation of Islamic Marketing as a new discipline.

Islamic marketing can be defined as a process of value creation.[4] He argues that value can be created in many ways including transforming product/services to make them more attractive for customers and buyers, socially interacting with stakeholders to increase a product’s valuation, adding symbolic meanings, and improving access to supply chains. Value creation targets not only customers or consumers, but also general public, communities, society, and the natural/living environment. Value creation happens at three levels: transactions, multi-level exchanges, marketing-systems. Such value creation must be in accord with the principles of Islamic transaction (e.g. harm minimization). There are five principles of Islamic transaction:[4]

-       P1. Harm minimization and benefit maximization

-       P2. Riba is a non-transaction.

-       P3. Value is to be created through tangible effort.

-       P4. Mutual consent is the main condition of trade.

-       P5. Marketing activity must minimize the likelihood of post-transaction dispute.

Islam has four sources for their ethical system, and these are the Quran, the sayings and behaviours of Prophet Mohammad, the example set by his companions, and the interpretations of Muslim scholars of these sources. These sources emphasize the importance of human well-being and good life, religious brotherhood and sisterhood, socioeconomic justice, and a balanced satisfaction of both the material and the spiritual.[10] Islamic marketing ethics aims at maximizing equity and justice for the welfare of the society. It does this by inhibiting customer exploitation, and avoiding dishonesty, fraud and deceit in business. Any unethical actions will do injustice and go against brotherhood and equality of humanity which form the core of Islamic vision.[11] In today's society, business often relies on free market economy where firms experience the pressure of competition and seek profit maximization. This may lead to Islamic ethics being overlooked, which makes the application of ihsan impossible. In an Islamic setting, the application of ihsan can strengthen relationships with customers and communities, which will again improve a firm's public image and make it more competitive.[12]

To understand Islamic Marketing, it is important to remember that there are religious factors that define it. Islamic Marketing follows certain sets of rules.

• Production and sales that are considered unclean is forbidden. Examples include activities that are related to marketing of alcohol, gambling etc.
• Adulteration with something concealed in the sale and purchase is forbidden. This means it is forbidden to omit and fabricate the quality and quantity of products.
• Sales and marketing of all the instruments meant for prohibited acts are forbidden, for example instruments meant for entertainment like lyre, flutes, harps etc., as well as gambling instruments like backgammon.
• Sales and marketing of weapons to the enemies of Islamic faith, or any faith, are forbidden when used for war against Muslims.
• Drawing pictures in stone, wood, metal, or any other concrete forms, of living beings from among human beings and animals is forbidden.
• Performance of magic, as well as learning and teaching it is forbidden.

Islamic macromarketing focuses on reformed marketing systems which represent societal provisioning mechanisms designed based on Islamic values and principles and with a view to minimise long-term harm and maximise welfare for both Muslim and non-Muslim populations.[13] Islamic macromarketing is a societal technology for provisioning a broad range of necessities supporting comfortable life directed to success in this worldly life and the hereafter. Islamic macromarketing must enable the individual lifestyle that is beneficial rather than promoting lifestyles that might involve long-term harm such as material pursuit or excessive consumption. Islamic macromarketing focuses on the question: “how well are marketing practices and thoughts serving societal purposes?”. Muslims, through engaging in marketing practices, should be able to help to improve living standards, community well-being, healthcare outcomes, educational institutions and societal justice.[13]

There are several issues that arise when Islamic Marketing is introduced to Western countries. The first is the conceptualisation of "Islam" and "Islamic societies". The Western often has a set view of ideas, beliefs and practices called "theoretical structures", which makes it difficult for the Muslim world to define their own theories and philosophies. Secondly, it is easy to oversimplify and reduce the meaning of Islam to something that is purely a marketing tool. Thirdly, sacralisation of Islam can occur which will reduce tolerance and hamper the acceptance and growth of critique.[14]

• Oxford Global Islamic Branding and Marketing Forum