Browsing by Author "Mansur Aliyu"

THE PROBLEM: The problem addressed by this study was the lack of suitable evaluation method and definition for Islamic websites. The main purpose of this study was to identify and examine both design and content features that relates to Islamic websites. The study evaluated 50 selected Islamic websites based on nine (9) identified design features (i.e. navigation, interactivity, and attractiveness) and content features (i.e. legitimacy, objectivity, authority, relevance, credibility, and reliability). METHOD: In this study, heuristic evaluation method involving single-user was used to evaluate top 50 selected Islamic websites. The websites were selected from google.com on 8th December 2009 using the keyword “islamic websites” as the search keywords. Data was collected using an evaluation instrument adapted from selected studies on Islamic websites. The evaluation measures were carefully examined and thereafter modified to suite the objectives of this study. The data collected were analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2007 to obtain descriptive statistics. Each item was rated either positive or negative and the rating scores were converted into net positive values (NPV). RESULTS: The results revealed that Islamic websites demonstrates significant quality improvements on their design & content features over time. That was observed mostly on the large Islamic websites like the islamonline.net, islamicweb.net, 2muslims.com, and islamicity.com. The results also indicated that the overall Islamic website’s quality varied significantly between different Islamic websites. Some websites were categorized as top-rated while others as least-rated. Based upon individual design and content features, each Islamic website was ranked as either best or bad quality website. In addition, the results suggested that new additional features influence the overall quality of Islamic websites. Thus, we propose a new model for evaluating the quality of Islamic websites base on design & content features.

Islam makes seeking for knowledge and practice compulsory upon both male and female, young and old, far and near. This has resulted in many Islamic organizations, governments, scholars, and individuals establishing an online presence to assist Muslims in fulfilling this obligation. Thousands of Islamic websites have been developed, making it possible for Muslims to learn and practise Islam and to interact with scholars from different parts of the world without having to travel. Nowadays, traditional face-to-face knowledge transfer is becoming increasingly less attractive. This has led to the creation of Islamic websites for knowledge transfer and other related activities, thus boosting Islamic activities and practices through online-Islam and Islam-online. Thus, the goal of this thesis is to identify the most important website features that influence Muslims to use Islamic websites’ religious activities as an alternative to visiting scholars at madrasah/masjid. It also investigates whether using Islamic websites has a positive impact on Muslim users’ religious obligations. Previous studies on Islamic websites focused on the dimensions of design and content in isolation. This study aggregates these dimensions with the religious dimension, their associated factors and features, website use and perceived positive impact. It proposes a model of Islamic Website Use (IWU). The model was analysed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), partial least squares (PLS), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modelling (SEM). The data was collected through two-stage questionnaire-based surveys at the International Islamic University Malaysia. The two surveys were conducted in November-December 2012 and January-February 2013 with a total of 313 and 212 responses respectively. The results of the IWU model suggest that design, content, and religion are the major dimensions that influence the use of Islamic websites. The design dimension is measured by website attractiveness, interactivity, navigation, and security/privacy factors. The content dimension is measured by authorship, objectivity, reliability, and sources. The religious dimension is measured by religious beliefs, ethics, services, symbols, and values. Emphasizing these dimensions would increase the use of Islamic websites, which would consequently have a positive impact on users’ faith, knowledge, practice, actions, and closeness to Allah, which will ultimately make them better Muslims. Theoretically, this study provides a novel contribution in understanding Muslim users’ perceptions toward Islamic websites and their positive impact, and fills a gap in the literature. In addition, this research could be used as a basis to understand Islamic websites’ categorization, evaluation, and use. Empirically, it extends the use of multiple surveys and statistical analyses (EFA, PLS, CFA, and SEM) to develop new instruments and test a model to evaluate the features influencing the use of Islamic websites from Muslim users’ perspective. In practice, the findings of this research could assist Islamic website designers and developers to enhance their websites with the most significant design, content, and religious features in order to meet both the owners’ and users’ requirements and expectations.