The popularity of the concept of Islamic tourism has given more focus on providing guides that may suit the needs of the Muslims travelers. This study seeks to establish knowledge on the notion of Muslim tourism, competencies involved in offering Muslim-friendly tour guiding services, and the current competency level of the tour guides in Malaysia in order to come up with a model of core competencies that anticipates the satisfaction of Muslim tourists. The study sets out four primary objectives: For the first study, to understand the idea of Muslim friendly tour guides in Islamic tourism, to establish what competencies are necessary for tour guides to enhance the Muslim friendly experience, to evaluate the existing competency levels of tour guides serving the Muslim tourist, and for the last, to suggest a framework for the core competencies of Muslim friendly tour guides in Malaysia. Hence, a qualitative research design was adopted, accompanied by in-depth interviews with the tour guides, tourism agencies in Malaysia, also academicians who specialized in tourism industry to provide verbal data, giving a vivid and credible account of respondent’s experience/views. The study identified six key elements essential for a competent Muslim-friendly tour guide: culture and religion awareness, destination knowledge, awareness of Halal food, language barriers, respect tourists’ professional handling treating equally and handling of emergencies situations. On the mentioned elements, all of the participants confirmed the awareness but came up with more enhancements for a broader competency model. The study entails the use of these competencies in an effort to enhance a Muslim-friendly experience; and contributes to the formulation of training frameworks for tourist guides of the Malaysian region. The research importance also points to the need for specific competencies among the tour guides with a view of improving the Islamic tourisms and thus the proposed model of core competencies helps as a directory for the tour guides’ training and development since they have to meet the expectation of the Islamic tourists in all aspects. Thus, this research enriches the knowledge about Islamic tourism and the position of the tour guides in this domain. It will also highlight gaps in the preparation of tour guides and also it can be used to chart the training and assessing of tour guides regarding the area. Besides, this research serves the development of Muslim-friendly tourism and is useful for tourism institutions, operators, trainers, and developers of tour guides for Islamic countries.

Unifying Halal certification is essential for regulatory standardizing in Nigeria. However, in Nigeria, the halal industry is still evolving. The certification of halal attracts companies with or without Islam alliance due to growing demand in halal products. This certification is issued by religious certification bodies and standard certification bodies in case of Nigeria. When too many halal certification providers are available without any intervention in supervision of their practices, it may create confusion as to which company certification to rely on. Due to this confusion, this paper is an attempt to explore the possibility of having a unified and standardize halal certification in Nigeria. This paper explores the importance of having unified halal certification frameworks and proposes strategies for achieving unified standards. The study adopts qualitative methodology with the use of interviews and library research to collect data. The data is thematically analysed to answer the research question. The benefits of unification include enhanced consumer trust, simplified market access for businesses, and improved regulatory oversight. The present study proposes a streamlined methodology for Halal certification that fosters global market integrity, transparency, and credibility by means of cooperation between certifying organizations, regulating organizations, and stakeholders. This paper concludes that the unification of halal certification is possible to achieve but it needs the active involvement of government.

Halal industry has flourished in numerous nations, encompassing sectors such as clothes or apparel. There is a scarcity of empirical studies focusing on the buying intention of Shariah-compliant apparel, despite the abundance of literature on purchase intention in the halal market, specifically in relation to food and cosmetic products. This study aims to evaluate the factors that influence the online purchasing intention of Shariah-compliant apparel using a quantitative methodology in order to address the existing gap. The convenience sampling technique is employed to gather data from Generation Z Muslims who are born between the year 1995 to 2009 in Malaysia using an online questionnaire as the research tool. This study utilises the extended Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) as the research framework. The data were analysed using both descriptive statistics and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Hypotheses were tested through structural equation modelling (SEM) using SMART-PLS, and a one-way ANOVA was conducted using SPSS. The results show that attitude, aesthetic components, fashion consciousness, and online consumer reviews have a significant positive (p<0.05) influence on online purchase intention, while social media influencers have a significant (p<0.05) negative impact. Demographically, only the monthly frequency of shopping for apparel significantly affects online purchase intention. This result offers significant knowledge for marketers, designers, and policymakers, empowering them to make well-informed choices and successfully cater to the needs of generation Z consumers in the Halal fashion business, particularly in relation to Shariah-compliant apparel. Through this study too, Generation Z Muslims are indirectly exposed to Shariah-compliant apparel.

The global rise of modest fashion is a great opportunity to increase the revenue of halal industry in Malaysia. Most studies on the halal industry focus on halal food while there are hardly any studies on modest fashion. Non-Muslims make up 11 million of the country's population. Moreover, the demand for modest fashion is increasing among non-Muslims. For this reason, there is a need to cater to the non-Muslim consumer market segment in Malaysia as marketers should not ignore the potential purchasing power of non–Muslims. The purpose of this study is to investigate the purchasing intentions of female non-Muslim consumers for modest fashion products. Using a quantitative method, this study investigates 302 Malaysian non-Muslim women through convenience sampling. The survey was conducted using an online questionnaire distributed through social media and as well as offline interception. Descriptive analysis and multiple regression analysis were conducted using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 25. This study attempts to answer the questions on the influence of product price, product quality, fashion uniqueness and cultural adaptation on female non-Muslim consumers of modest fashion products in Malaysia. The results show that product price, product quality, fashion uniqueness and cultural adaptation have a positive relationship with the purchase intentions of female non-Muslim consumers for modest fashion products in Malaysia. This research benefits the government, fashion industry workers and the researcher by improving the Islamic economy and halal industry revenue, helping fashion designers and marketers to improve their marketing strategies to non-Muslim consumers, and increasing knowledge and research on modest fashion products in Malaysia. Keywords: cultural adaptations, fashion uniqueness, modest fashion, non-Muslim consumers, product price, product quality