Debunking fallacies about Islamic marketing

CONVENTIONALLY, marketing is best described as the art of selling products for an improved demand creation and customer satisfaction. The term marketing is based on the word “market” that is based on the Latin noun, viz. “marcatus”, denoting a place where transactions are taken place for profit. Islamically, the term marketing is the process of exchange of products and services where Shariah principles matter for mardhatillah.

Islamic marketing has Shariah principles that need to follow when a marketer intends to sell products. The first principle is equilibrium requirement. This means that one should opt for a consumption that balances his personal needs with others. This is in line with Al-Faruqi (1982) who asserts that one is expected to consume based on his needs and any extra wealth must be spent in the cause of Allah (SWT).

The second principle is the prohibition of profligate consumption. Consumptions that upsurge social illness and wastage must be curbed. For instance, the approval of personal financing should be confined only to halal consumptions such as visiting parents or sick family members where space and time matter.

The third principle is religious satisfaction. One's consumption must be balanced with his spiritual aspects of life. Every good consumption is in itself a deed of worship but synchronising the good of consumption acts and spiritual acts is explicitly a pure moderation that leads to an enhanced religious satisfaction.

The fourth principle is tutelage. One must grasp that he is merely the trustee of wealth, which belongs to Allah (SWT). In this case, integrity and responsibility (IR) values are therefore key.

This week, I intend to expound on the fallacies of Islamic marketing in the context of Islamic banking but which are not confined to:

Fallacy #1 - It has been argued that Islamic marketing and conventional marketing have a common goal. In essence, conventional marketing is aimed at promoting products for profit while this notion is also found to be extended by laymen to Islamic marketing. The latter captures the significance of balancing private and public needs. Problems arise when Islamic bank branches are found to use conventional tactics to advertise an Islamic personal financing product. For instance, let's say ABC Bank's branch in Labuan advertises a product for the purpose of settling an existing customer's debt, vacation and other luxury purposes. In reality however, the product should be advertised for genuine need only, such as for the down payment of mortgage and marriage purposes.

Fallacy #2 - Islamic marketing is argued to have originated from the mainstream of conventional marketing. Nothing would be different but for the additional term “Islamic”. In fact, Islamic marketing originated from Shariah where the prohibition of certain income and great social responsibility matters. Furthermore, there is an evil perception developed by laymen that the term “Islamic marketing” is similar to the term Islamic banking. Earlier, Islamic banking has been criticised for resembling its conventional peer as the banking “implication” of the former is similar to the latter. Such an “implication” has been extended to Islamic marketing recently. In modern banks, mainly converted banks (i.e. Bank Muallaf ), the product development for Islamic banking and services have borrowed the same basis as what their conventional peers did. The maslahah is more devoted to the banks at the expense of their customers. Limited customer survey is conducted.

Fallacy #3 - The source of knowledge is similar to its conventional counter part. In truth, it is not. Conventional marketing captures the true notion of empirical investigations derived from research done using different types of paradigm of inquiry. In modern society however, more knowledge is generated from post-positivism approach to gain new and enhanced knowledge. Owing to this, laymen assert that the source of knowledge for Islamic marketing is the same as its conventional peer. The reasons are two-fold. Firstly, there are many orientalists out there who examine the acceptance of Islamic banking products using their existing knowledge of conventional marketing. Secondly, those experts involved in Islamic marketing only claim to be an “expert” in this area while in reality, his background of knowledge is on conventional marketing. Because of their ignorance, they have a great tendency to define Islamic marketing according to the context of conventional marketing. Is that sufficient?

Fallacy #4 - Islamic marketing is argued to have a common worldview with its conventional counterpart. Conventional marketing is considered to include religion as part of its programmes as well. Since the knowledge was developed among individuals who claim to be “experts” on Islamic marketing, thus there is an inclination for them to view Islamic marketing as a distinct discipline that is separated from the religion of Islam. Such a notion is now more appealing when the research done on “Islamic banking”, “Islamic insurance” and “Islamic wealth management”, to mention a few, ignore the literature developed by prominent Islamic scholars in the areas concerned. There is a real case when researchers were instructed to add literature from seminal works by Islamic scholars, but the refusal was more appealing.

Fallacy #5 - The curriculum content to teach Islamic marketing in university is argued to be similar to its conventional peer. Truly, it is not. One of the reasons that leads to this fallacy is due to the fact that lecturers consider themselves as followers instead of leaders. All contents introduced by current researchers are taken for granted without making a profound synthesis to explain their applicability to the context of Islamic marketing. Thus, lecturers who teach Islamic marketing extend their “conventional” knowledge to Islamic marketing in which a slight modification is made. Is this adequate? Providing examples from the context of the Quranic verses and the Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) seems to be ignored. According to the Hadith, but which is not solely limited to this verse, it is said, “A man told the Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) that he had been cheated in a deal, at that the Prophet said: ‘When you enter into a deal, say: Let there be no intention of deceit'.” Otherwise, the two resemble each other.

All told, Islamic marketing is not something new but rather, it is an established field of knowledge since the era of the Prophet. The re-advent of Islamic marketing recently is related to the growing Islamic banking industry, which in turn give leeway for halalrelated industries to grow. Further, the current scholars who claim themselves to be pioneers contribute nothing but for personal gain. It is thus of importance for all parties involved to promote a true concept of Islamic marketing where the “Islamic soul” is extended for better marketing of Islamic banking products that help to bridge the gap between the interests of bankers and customers.

*The author is an Associate Professor/Dean at the Labuan Faculty of International Finance, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Labuan International Campus. He has a PhD from the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) in Islamic Banking and Finance (PG310163). He can be contacted at hanudin@ums.edu.my