Over the past decade, issues concerning Islam and Muslims have featured prominently in public and media discourse. Much of this discourse is stereotypical, anecdotal and often unsubstantiated. Indeed, relative to the extent of comment on Islam and Muslims, few factual data exist on what Muslims really think. This article presents the views and opinions of the Queensland Muslim community based on the findings of a survey conducted at the 2009 Muslim Eid Festival in Brisbane. The findings of this research contradict many of the assumptions made about Australia’s Muslims concerning their views and opinions on a range of social and political issues. The research shows that Muslims highly value Australia’s key social and political institutions, including its democracy, judiciary, education and health-care systems. However, Muslims do express a lack of trust in certain institutions, namely the mass media. Also, consistent with the views of people globally, Muslims are deeply concerned about conflicts in the Middle East as well as the environmental crisis. This article suggests the need for a shift in public discourse to more accurately reflect the commonality, rather than incongruity, between Muslim views, opinions and concerns and those of the wider society.
Recent turmoil in financial markets has once again emphasised the need for regulatory vigilance–especially in relation to banks in distress and those experiencing a run on depositors’ funds. The Islamic Bank Ltd of South Africa collapsed in 1997, and its failure exposed the cost of bad credit risk management, operational dysfunction and regulatory breaches. This study finds early regulatory intervention may have addressed major liquidity shortcomings and perhaps even forestalled the bank’s collapse. Despite effective intervention measures, the evidence shows a run on funds fuelled by noise and loss of confidence is difficult to reverse without direct and significant central bank liquidity infusion and deposit guarantees. Evidence of poor management and dereliction of duty by external auditors to report on material irregularities reinforces the need for a new whole- of-regulatory approach. Further, Shari’ah compliance is found to be ineffectual without substantive legal support.
For Islamic investors, sequencing risk is an omnipresent factor for retirement outcomes. This study shows that simple diversification can provide benefits to reducing the impact of sequencing risk. However, the results from the accumulation and distribution phases suggest that retirement products need to consider approaches that go beyond the received set-andforget approach. The findings point rather to a more dynamic, whole-of-life approach to be adopted by Islamic retirement products.
Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine whether Australian Islamic schools, by dint of their unique status within Australian private schooling, may be construed as elitist or exclusivist premised on markers such as religious affiliation, school age, history, location, reputation and non-curricular excellences such as affluence and alumni. This issue has not been examined empirically hitherto. This study addresses this absence, as these markers, when used selectively, may make student entry restrictive by virtue of enrolment criteria that is either hyper selective or exclusivist that is often administered through costly tuition fees. Design/methodology/approach Quantitative analysis is used to examine four distinct elitist markers associated with Islamic schools, as they appeal to a market prescribed by faith, preference and demand. Data is sourced from selected government and independent school databases including the index of community socio-educational advantage (ICSEA) database. Findings The findings indicate that Islamic schools do not fit any of these markers partly because these schools are positioned predominantly in middle to lower socio-economic communities and areas where the measure of educationally advantaged backgrounds is only marginally above the ICSEA threshold of 1,000. Further, their enrolment criteria are not premised on high fee-based structures nor on exclusivist selection and enrolment practices that would tag them as elitist. Research limitations/implications It is quite possible that parental and community perceptions of Islamic schools using qualitative measures may identify some schools as elitist. This, however, has yet to be tested empirically in further studies relying on surveys, interviews and focus group sessions. Practical implications Islamic schools should not market nor portray themselves as elitist or exclusivist for that may undermine the very purpose of their function as faith-based institutions. Social implications Perceptions of elitism levelled against some Islamic schools must be weighed against a number of distinct social markers. The examination of four markers in this study does not support such perceptions. Elitist perceptions may abound within communities and amongst parents when vying for student placements in these schools. The basis for such observations, however, is at best anecdotal or outright conjectural in the absence of empirical evidence. Originality/value This is the first and only study that examines the issue of elitism amongst Islamic schools in Australia and elsewhere.
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