The Role of Maqasid Shariah and Islamic Religiosity in Tourism Perspectives

Abstract

Conventional tourism had opened a “window” for Islamic tourism to operationalize which at present is expanded throughout the world. As the Muslim population is rising rapidly, Muslim consumer market should be critically concerned by tourism businesses to satisfy the needs and wants of the consumers. This paper attempts to explain the concept of Islamic tourism in the context of maqasid shariah – protection of religion, protection of intellect, protection of life, protection of wealth and protection of offspring; discusses the role of Islamic religiosity in shaping tourists’ behaviour, as well as tourism industry’s role in applying Islamic tourism according to maqasid shariah, from the tourism industry’s perspective and tourists’ perspective. To date, there is still lack of knowledge and related literature review on the implementation of maqasid shariah in the concept of tourism industry. The ultimate goals of shariah are vital as the platform in the development of Islamic tourism as well as Islamic religiosity among Muslim consumers because it resembles the value of Islamic concept in tourism perspectives.