Title: The context of Islamic entrepreneurship and business: concept, principles and perspectives

Authors: Veland Ramadani; Léo-Paul Dana; Vanessa Ratten; Sadush Tahiri

Addresses: Faculty of Business and Economics, South-East European University, Tetovo, Macedonia ' Montpellier Business School, Montpellier Research in Management, Montpellier, France ' La Trobe Business School, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia ' Islamic Community of Macedonia, The Mosque of Çair, Skopje, Macedonia

Abstract: Islamic entrepreneurship and business is a topic area of business management study due to the increasingly dynamic international business environment in which culture and religion are important to developing business relationships. The main objective of this paper is to see the approach of Islam as a religion towards entrepreneurship and business. Utilising recent and relevant literature on the topic, this paper is based on the Holy Qur'an verses and the Muhammad's (S.A.W) Hadith (teachings and traditions). In this paper the themes focused on include thee taqwa, halal and haram; knowledge and entrepreneurs; innovativeness and risk-taking, proper usage of resources, financing and Islamic perspectives on ethics and social responsibility. At the end of the paper we provide recommendations for further research and suggestions for how emerging interest in this topic area of business management study might be addressed. We also highlight how the context of Islamic business is an important driver of entrepreneurial activity.

Keywords: Islam; religion; Islamic entrepreneurship; Islamic business; Qur'an; Hadith; Islam; culture; business management; entrepreneurial knowledge; innovativeness; risk taking; resource usage; Islamic finance; ethics; social responsibility.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBG.2015.071906

International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 2015 Vol.15 No.3, pp.244 - 261

Received: 08 Apr 2015
Accepted: 15 Apr 2015
Published online: 23 Sep 2015 *

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