Due to chronic financial crises experienced during last several decades repeatedly and a failure to protect investors" rights as a result, the world is looking for an alternative form of stock market for quite some time so that interests of all relevant stakeholders can be safeguarded. At the same time, from the perspectives of devout Muslims, the current form of stock market restricts a Muslim to make investments in the market due to unsatisfying several provisions from the Islamic law, known as shariah. This study provides the criteria under which conditions the Islamic shariah permits making investments in the stock market. Hand in hand with that primary discussion, it has been eluded briefly why the Islamic shariah principles offer a better alternative against conventional practices of the stock market. Design/methodology/approach: This is a descriptive study based on the literature review. Findings: This study explores the basic Islamic principles of investment in stock market by revisiting the norms laid down by shariah and current global practices of Islamic stock market and indexes. Originality/value: This study will work as a guideline for investors and market authorities to understand the original shariah rulings and the benchmark rulings for investment or establishing full-fledged Islamic stock markets, indexes, and mutual funds.

Due to chronic financial crises experienced during last several decades repeatedly and a failure to protect investors‟ rights as a result, the world is looking for an alternative form of stock market for quite some time so that interests of all relevant stakeholders can be safeguarded. At the same time, from the perspectives of devout Muslims, the current form of stock market restricts a Muslim to make investments in the market due to unsatisfying several provisions from the Islamic law, known as shariah. This study provides the criteria under which conditions the Islamic shariah permits making investments in the stock market. Hand in hand with that primary discussion, it has been eluded briefly why the Islamic shariah principles offer a better alternative against conventional practices of the stock market.

Purpose In the current information age, when the attention spans of most people have become very short, marketers are facings serious challenges to grab the attention of their target audience effectively and fruitfully. From street corner to bedroom, virtually every perceivable location of human traces are littered with activity of marketers, whether they are small or large in scale or the recipients of their information understand the message properly. Studying consumers’ acceptance of the main ethical issues in communication, mainly in advertising, has recently been receiving much attention from scholars. Therefore, to grab the attention of people in the increasing competitive environment, advertisers have resorted to using what they feel can quickly attract the audience. For example, the attachment of attractive women with their physical natural endowments presented in explicit sexually appealing postures to products/services that have no linkage with women. These practices have raised some moral and ethical questions within the society. Therefore, this study aims to focus on discussing marketing communication through presenting women as a sexual object from the morality, ethics and religious perspectives. Design/methodology/approach This is a descriptive study based on the systematic literature review. Initially, this paper discusses the ethical issues of using women and sexual appeals in the process of marketing communication, as well as the current level of practices in the industry. Then, it discusses the consequences and dimensions of the issues from different types of ethical grounds. Finally, it provides recommendations with the objective of finding a common ground from business and social perspectives. It also mentions the scopes of further research, which could lead the secular world to modify their moral values and come closer to the norms of other civilized societies. Findings The position of the paper takes is that considering the negative effects of the prevalent advertising in society, the practice falls short of human moral values; as a result, it is considered unethical. Originality/value This review paper examines the ethical implication of using women as marketing tools from the perspectives of morality, business and Islamic principles that will help business groups, as well as the whole religious community, especially Muslims.

Purpose -In the current information age, when the attention spans of most people have become very short, marketers are facings serious challenges to grab the attention of their target audience effectively and fruitfully. From street corner to bedroom, virtually every perceivable location of human traces are littered with activity of marketers, whether they are small or large in scale or the recipients of their information understand the message properly. Studying consumers' acceptance of the main ethical issues in communication, mainly in advertising, has recently been receiving much attention from scholars. Therefore, to grab the attention of people in the increasing competitive environment, advertisers have resorted to using what they feel can quickly attract the audience. For example, the attachment of attractive women with their physical natural endowments presented in explicit sexually appealing postures to products/services that have no linkage with women. These practices have raised some moral and ethical questions within the society. Therefore, this study aims to focus on discussing marketing communication through presenting women as a sexual object from the morality, ethics and religious perspectives.Design/methodology/approach -This is a descriptive study based on the systematic literature review.Initially, this paper discusses the ethical issues of using women and sexual appeals in the process of marketing communication, as well as the current level of practices in the industry. Then, it discusses the consequences and dimensions of the issues from different types of ethical grounds. Finally, it provides recommendations with the objective of finding a common ground from business and social perspectives. It also mentions the scopes of further research, which could lead the secular world to modify their moral values and come closer to the norms of other civilized societies.Findings -The position of the paper takes is that considering the negative effects of the prevalent advertising in society, the practice falls short of human moral values; as a result, it is considered unethical.Originality/value -This review paper examines the ethical implication of using women as marketing tools from the perspectives of morality, business and Islamic principles that will help business groups, as well as the whole religious community, especially Muslims.

The concept of Islamic entrepreneurship centers on ensuring community well-being as the priority, which is one of the important objectives (Maqasid) of the Islamic Shari’ah. Historically, waqf played a significant role in the Islamic economic system, particularly in rendering exemplary welfare services in the areas of healthcare, education, social welfare, environmental, and other community-based programs. However, only a few success stories in recent history have institutionally utilized the properties of waqf under proper management to achieve its substantial objectives. This study uses the literature review as basis to analyze the reasons behind the successful utilization of waqf as an effective tool to ensure social welfare services in the past, as well as how this model can be replicated by considering current contexts. This study will assist Islamic value-centric entrepreneurs, regulatory authorities, investors, and researchers to gain an overall insight into the potentials of waqf as a tool for rendering commendable social welfare services.

Student’s association with politics can be found in Bangladesh before its inception as a nation. While many notable contributions made by student politicians in the history of Bangladesh, the present situation is far away from that glorious past. Now the influence of political parties is criticized heavily by the students. The study analyzes the reasons behind student politics by ranking six major reasons to join student politics according to various student groups. The study concludes with the issue of reformation of the current model of student politics where disconnection of the link between student and national politics is emphasized.

In the contemporary discourse, it is argued that the ultimate objective of rural development is to improve the quality of life for rural people. This makes it essential to go beyond the incomerelated factors of rural development. Inclusive Rural Development, a more specific concept than the concept of conventional rural development, accommodates the variables for the quality of life in rural development. This concept covers three different but interrelated dimensions: economic dimension, social dimension and political dimension. Rural Transformation Centre (RTC), implemented by the government of Malaysia, is among the third generation of the rural development programmes in the country. RTC is a site to implement some integrated initiatives for the rural communities within 100 kilometre radius of the sites. There are eight major initiatives under the RTC implementation programmes, which are: training of rural population; setting up of 1Malaysia information kiosks; high-value agriculture initiatives; agro-food products processing; agricultural produce supply chain management; university cooperation; food safety and pharmaceuticals services; and rural population financial facilities. RTC brings a unique opportunity for members of the rural communities to benefit from a myriad of initiatives and activities related to their livelihood and wellbeing within the same premises. Despite some challenges, this programme has enormous potentials to address many important aspects of rural development. Based on review of relevant literature and field visits, this paper attempts to examine the prospects of the RTC concept of Malaysia in light of the theory of Inclusive Rural Development. The findings of this paper will help relevant governmental and nongovernmental bodies and researchers gain an insight about the potentials and challenges of RTC for further improving the quality of life for the rural communities.

The objective of this study is to analyse the rationales, challenges and prospects of Dhaka City being split up, for the purposes of creating a sustainable city grounded in relevant theories and widely used and accepted standards. An assessment of Dhaka being divided in accordance with the concept of City Development Strategies reveals considerable deficiencies in most aspects of public goods and services provisions. Whilst splitting Dhaka into separate sections supports the "World City Hypothesis" it is not without criticisms, for instance those raised by urban planners, experts and politicians. The lack of resources and oversight to address those deficiencies and problems and the administrative, allocative, economic and social inefficiencies makes it very difficult for Dhaka's authorities to achieve sustainable urbanisation. Therefore, appropriate strategies must be implemented by government to resolve these problems, inefficiencies and mismanagement in order for the city to be liveable sustainable.