FUNDAMENTALS OF ISLAMIC MARKETING

DECEPTIVE PACKAGING

▪ Packaging is defined as all products made of any material of any nature to be used
for the containment, protection, handling, delivery, and presentation of goods, from
the raw materials to processed goods, form the producer to the user or consumer
(Prendergast, 1995). It other words, packaging is a material used to contain, protect
and handle goods. According to Prendergast and Pitt (1996), the role of packaging
can be divided into logistics and marketing.

▪ Islamic ethics imply that accurate product information should be provided not only
when a good is sold but also in marketing literature and in advertising (Wilson, 2006).

▪ Packaging must comply with Islamic Shariah. The shape of product should not cause
any offence to Muslims like having seductive packaging as it is for women underwear,
women pads or diapers. They must encourage a social and welfare approach
rather than decision based on the profit maximization.

▪ In deceptive packaging the product is so packed that it misleads the customer on
various fronts (in terms of quantity, size, shapes, content etc.). It is generally used by the
companies to attract the consumers and make them buy their products by giving them
a feeling which is opposed to the real packaging of the products.

REFERENCES

Baker Ahmad Alserhan, (2015), The Principles of Islamic Marketing, 2nd edition. New York:
Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

T. C. Melewar, Sharifah Faridah Syed Alwi & Nor Othman. (2018). Islamic Marketing and
Branding: Theory and Practice. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis Group.

Mohamed Syazwan Ab Talib and Mohd Remie Mohd Johan. (2012). Issues in Halal Packaging:
A Conceptual Paper. International Business and Management, 94-98

JUN JUHAIZI JUHARI 51

CHAPTER EIGHT

Pricing Issues and Its Impact

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1. Discuss the pricing issue on charge of interest
2. Discuss the hoarding and manipulation issues in pricing
3. Discuss the monopoly and predatory pricing issues
4. Explain the issues on switch and bait pricing

▪ According to Saeed et al. (2001, pg. 138), “Islam encourages the self- operating mechanism
of price adjustments because any unethical lapses in pricing are tantamount to injustice
(and are a sin) and all profits that accrue as a result are unethical and unjust.” They further
elaborate that: “The price adjustment mechanism is subject to prohibitions that include
changing the price without altering the quality and/or quantity of the product;
overcharging the customer for illicit gain; practicing price discrimination; charging
excessive prices as a result of scarcity of supply of a given commodity; hoarding; restriction
on trade; unjustified price manipulation; black marketing; and concealment of essential
foodstuffs.” (Saeed et al., 2001).

▪ Islam prohibits getting something too easily without hard labor, or receiving a profit without
working for it.

▪ Furthermore, it is not allowed to change a price without altering the quality or quantity of
the product because this is cheating the easy-going customer for illicit.

▪ Islam also prohibits false propaganda or publicity on the part of marketers regarding the
position of demand and supply through the media.

▪ It should be pointed out that Islam does not prohibit price controls and manipulations to
meet the needs of the market.

▪ It means that the Islamic ethics allows some time in which to charge higher prices as a result
of natural scarcity of supply of a given commodity or setting price ceilings to curb
opportunistic tendencies among merchants.

▪ Islamically, self-operating mechanism of price adjustments and healthy competition are to
be encouraged (al-Qur’an, 83:26).

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CHARGE OF INTEREST (RIBA)

▪ The charge of interest is also forbidden in Islam. God has prohibited riba and made alms-
giving fruitful. Riba means addition of wealth over the principal amount.

▪ The evils of riba include, according to Maududi (1984: 20):
1) Wealth is accumulated from the poor to the rich and it prevents circulation of wealth
in the society. Hence, the welfare of the poor is deprived.
2) It encourages only hoarding of money and gives no economic benefits to the nation.
3) It is an unlawful act of which the lender consumes the illegal wealth of the borrower.
4) It makes the borrowers miserable, and in Malaysia, the hopeless one who could no.

▪ Riba is a concept in Islamic banking that refers to charged interest. It has also been
referred to as usury, or the charging of unreasonably high-interest rates. There is also
another form of riba, according to most Islamic jurists, which refers to the simultaneous
exchange of goods of unequal quantities or qualities. Here, however, we will be referring
to the practice of charged interest.

▪ Riba is prohibited under Sharia law for a couple of reasons. It is meant to ensure equity in
exchange. It is meant to ensure that people can protect their wealth by making unjust
and unequal exchanges illegal.

▪ Islam aims to promote charity and helping others through kindness. To remove
sentiments of selfishness and self-centeredness, which can create social antipathy,
distrust, and resentment.

▪ By making riba illegal, Sharia law creates opportunities and contexts in which people are
encouraged to act charitably loaning money without interest.

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HOARDING AND MANIPULATION PRICING

▪ Manipulating prices and hoarding to create a high price are not in line with Islam.
▪ Hoarding to make huge profit is not allowed, especially for essential food. Hoarding is the

purchase of large quantities of a commodity by a speculator with the intent of benefiting
from future price increases.
▪ Marketers do resort to black marketing essential goods. They do this to create an artificial
demand for such goods. This results in a rise in price. The victim is the innocent buyer. Rice,
sugar, butter, edible oil, onion etc., are the products the supply of which is deliberately
withheld by the seller.
▪ Cheating in the weighting machine to gain more is also forbidden (Quran, 83: 3). Moreover,
speculating to push up the price of certain things is forbidden too. Other common mistakes
are when the marketer tries to overprice his products by increasing the prices. All these are
unethical ways in marketing rejected by Islam.

MONOPOLY AND PREDATORY PRICING ( DUMPING)

▪ Islam also addresses the issue of monopoly and predatory pricing (dumping).
▪ Monopoly is the sole controller of market. This is not allowed as the monopolist can fix any

price that he likes and the objective of making sole profit by a monopolist is totally against
Islam (Al-Buraey, 1983: 42-43).
▪ Predatory pricing, on the other hand, involves pricing a product low enough to dampen
demand. This type of pricing is typically used to end a competitive threat. The company
lowering the price is operating to protect market share from moving to the competition.
▪ Similarly, the dumping of goods at a very low price or predatory price (Schlegelmilch,
1998: 92) to wipe out the competitors are not permitted in Islam. Islam calls for healthy
competition. Once Umar Al-Khattab advised Hatib Abi Bal Balta`ah who was selling raisins
at a very low price than his counterpart, to raise the price or not to sell in the market
(Saeed, Zafar and Masoosa, 2001: 143).

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SWITCH AND BAIT PRICING

▪ Bait and switch is a fraudulent activity whereby a company advertises goods at an
incredibly low price with the aim of substituting for them with inferior or pricier alternatives
at the time of purchase.

▪ Just like the worm at the end of a fishing rod, companies use lower pricing to lure customers
to their offers. However, instead of getting the item initially advertised – the item that
“baited” them to come and shop, the company attempts to do a switch and sell the
consumer an entirely different product.

▪ Bait and switch (B&S) is a fraudulent marketing practice followed by the seller to earn
increased profits. This practice is illegal in almost all countries.

▪ In the Bait and Switch policy, the customer is attracted to an advertised product (bait) and
made to switch to a pricier alternative (switch) with the persuasive skills of the salesperson.

▪ Penetration pricing is a sort of bait-and-switch; it baits new customers in with artificially low
initial prices and then increases prices once consumers are comfortable with the
company's products. If a business purposely under-stocks a low-priced item it knows will sell
out quickly, the company can then try to upsell people who come into the store. This is an
example of bait-and-switch advertising, and is why some states require that companies
offer rain checks when advertised sale items sell out.

Baker Ahmad Alserhan, (2015), The Principles of Islamic Marketing, 2nd edition. New York:
Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

T. C. Melewar, Sharifah Faridah Syed Alwi & Nor Othman. (2018). Islamic Marketing and
Branding: Theory and Practice. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis Group.

Mohamed Syazwan Ab Talib and Mohd Remie Mohd Johan. (2012). Issues in Halal Packaging:
A Conceptual Paper. International Business and Management, 94-98

JUN JUHAIZI JUHARI 55

CHAPTER NINE

Promotion Issues and Its Impact

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1. Discuss the issue on misleading advertising
2. Discuss the issue on deceptive advertising
3. Explain the issue on exaggeration of attribute
4. Discuss the issue on using women in advertising

▪ Saeed et al. (2001) have outlined the principles of promotion from an Islamic perspective
as follows: “There is no room in Islam to justify any cover up in promotional behaviour. In
terms of Islamic marketing ethics, it is unethical to attribute the qualities to the products
which they do not possess. Giving false impression of any kind to sell a product is
completely prohibited in Islam. In addition, it is obligatory for the sellers to reveal all
available and known information of defects to the purchaser which cannot be seen on
the surface and cannot be found out by a cursory glance. Islamic principles dictate that
promotional techniques must not use sexual, emotional, fear or false research appeal to
attract customer and should not encourage extravagance.” (Saeed, 2001, pg. 133).

▪ When incorporating Islam into the contemporary promotional elements, Alserhan (2011)
lays some basic rules, from which those that are relevant specifically to advertising are
described below. Violating these rules is tantamount to transgressing a boundary:
1) There are some desires that can never be fulfilled; provoking such desires and basic
human instincts is not allowed.
2) All product attributes must be revealed with complete honesty.
3) The advertised product (or service) should not be harām (prohibited in Islam). It should
not be harmful (to consume) either, even if it is not harām.
4) Consumption should be portrayed as a form of worship, and not for indulgence. In
addition, the advertisements should promote moderation in consumption.

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MISLEADING ADVERTISING

▪ Under consumer law, an ad is misleading if it has false or deceptive information. Ads can
also be misleading if important information is left out.

▪ Misleading advertising covers claims made to consumers by manufacturers, distributors
and retailers. It can include content in ads, catalogues, websites, social media, etc.

▪ Examples could include:
1) a false claim or impression about the details of a good or service. For example, a
product is a different colour to an ad
2) misrepresenting the price. For example, advertising a product at sale price when it is
not on sale
3) misrepresenting your consumer rights. For example, saying your consumer rights do not
apply when you buy during a sale

▪ Advertisements may mislead as to: the qualities of the product advertised (for example,
its composition, construction, utility or suitability, or its
commercial or geographical origin), the price or
value of the product or the terms of purchase; the
services accompanying purchase (including
delivery, exchange, return, repair and
maintenance); the contents and the value of the
guarantee attached to the product; the existence
of any patent protection or other industrial property
right, or medals, prizes, etc; the qualities, the price, the value or the terms of purchase of
other products on the market and the services accompanying the purchase of such
products; the trustworthiness of statements made by other advertisers.

▪ When you engage in false advertising, your consumers will perceive you as untrustworthy.
Both the customers you already have and any potential new customers will tend to feel
like you betrayed them and take their business elsewhere. Your customers won't be loyal
anymore and that will ruin your business

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DECEPTIVE ADVERTISING

▪ Advertisements or promotional messages are deceptive if they convey to consumers
expressly or by implication that they're independent, impartial, or from a source other than
the sponsoring advertiser – in other words, that they're something other than ads.

▪ Deceptive ads harm consumers by causing them to have false beliefs about the nature
of the products being advertised and thereby causing them to make different purchasing
decisions than they would
have made otherwise
(and purchase things
unsuitable for their needs)

EXAGGERATION OF ATTRIBUTE

▪ Puffing is the advertising technique of using exaggerated adjectives, which may or may
not cause misleading.

▪ This advertising practice is not prohibited in cases where the exaggeration used is evident
and harmless and does not have the animosity or capacity to deceive the consumer.

▪ Puffery refers to the use of exaggeration and hyperbole, sometimes to extreme levels, to
promote a product or service.

▪ Puffery advertising examples in common marketing and sales phrases include:
1) The best product for the job
2) Tastes or looks the best
3) Lasts longer than other brands
4) Best in the world
5) The last product you’ll need
6) Never go back to other brands

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USE WOMEN IN ADVERTISING

▪ Women's involvement in commercial activities is never restricted in Islam, but is subject to
certain rules (Rice and Al-Mossawi, 2002; Bari and Abbas, 2011). For example, women
should not be used in advertisements for emotional stimulation (Bari and Abbas, 2011).

▪ For example, women should not be used in advertisements for emotional stimulation (Bari
and Abbas, 2011).

▪ Anwar and Saeed (1996, p.25), Abuznaid (2012), Alserhan (2011), Bari and Abbas (2011),
Hassan et al. (2008), Haque et al. (2017) and Shimp (2010) lamented that “displaying
beauty, sexuality, nudity, body contours, and the free mingling of men and women in…
advertisements, irrespective of their relevance to the advertised products or brands” are
common ways of attracting audience’s attention which are exactly against what Allah
Almighty has said in the Holy Qur’an (an-Nūr: 31–32):

“Say to the believing men that they restrain their looks and guard their private parts. This is
purer for them and say to the believing women to restrain their looks and to guard their
private parts.”

Baker Ahmad Alserhan, (2015), The Principles of Islamic Marketing, 2nd edition. New York:
Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

T. C. Melewar, Sharifah Faridah Syed Alwi & Nor Othman. (2018). Islamic Marketing and
Branding: Theory and Practice. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis Group.

Mohamed Syazwan Ab Talib and Mohd Remie Mohd Johan. (2012). Issues in Halal Packaging:
A Conceptual Paper. International Business and Management, 94-98

JUN JUHAIZI JUHARI 59

CHAPTER TEN

Logistic Issues and Its Impact

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1. Explain the issue on the use of packaging without adequate security
2. Discuss the issue on an inadequate packaging
3. Discuss the issue on overloaded cargoes
4. Describe the issue on unnecessary delays of delivery

▪ With regards to the “place,” the focus of Saeed et al. (2001) has been the distribution,
transportation, and packaging of physical goods. Saeed et al. (2001) mentioned that,
according to Islamic principles, in distributing the goods and services, the end customer
should not be burden with various issues such as price hikes or delays in product/service
delivery. In addition, Hasan et al. (2008) contend that Islamic institutions adopt various
startegies in their products distribution.

▪ Among the strategies are; avoiding product manipulation and exploitation, as well as
appropriately design their marketing channel by eliminating coercion and harmful
activities.

▪ Halal logistics could be referred to the application of the halalan toyyiban principles along
the supply chain activities, which means that all the activities ranging from the source of
supply, storage, transportation, manufacturing,
handling, and distributing should adhere to the
concept of halalan toyyiban as underlined by
Islamic law.

▪ The concept of halalan toyyiban along the
supply chain will begin from the sourcing aspect
to the point of consumption.

▪ In the halalan toyyiban supply chain activities,
all aspect of halal and toyyib must be
deliberated (everything must be halal and toyyib) in order to ensure final consumers will be
getting halalan toyyiban products.

▪ The marketing process of distribution from the producer to the consumer must be ethical.
▪ The people, equipment, and organization of a business entity with various process starting

with providing for customers to place their order and ending with them getting the goods
must be transparent and satisfactory to the customers.
▪ If transport is used to deliver the goods, then environmental impact must be taken into
consideration (Bovee & Thill, 1992: 10). An example is the spill of oil by Exxon in 1989 in Alaska.

JUN JUHAIZI JUHARI 60

There is also unsecure use of package designs. This is unfair to buyers and consumers.
According to Islam, distribution channels must add value to its goods, not make it a burden
for the buyers (Diya’ al-Din, 1983:15).
▪ The distribution from place to place should not cause harm to others but increase value of
its product.
▪ In the context of distribution mechanism, there are several ethical issues from the Islamic
perspective which include the use of packages without adequate security, inadequate
packaging, overloaded cargoes, and transportation of goods which may cause danger to
the public, unnecessary delays of delivery and inadequate control which compel
customers to return goods.
▪ Thus, the role of distribution mechanism is to create value and uplift the standard of living
by providing ethical services.

USE OF PACKAGES WITHOUT ADEQUATE SECURITY

▪ Halal packaging can involve the workers or human resource as well. This will ensure
that the workers know what to do in order to avoid any Halal contamination.

▪ Riaz and Chaudry (2004) states that there should be at least one Muslim worker present
during the preparation and packaging process in order to ensure maximum protection
from non-Halal elements.

▪ According to Jaafar (2011), to reduce and minimizes the possibility of cross
contamination between Halal and non-Halal product and avoid any human mistakes,
a specialized and dedicated group of workers should handle the Halal food
production.

▪ In addition, this will add more confidence to the consumer and protect the Halal
integrity of the Halal food product.

▪ Halal traceability and tracking are commonly mentioned in the context of food
product and ingredients.

▪ Halal food product and ingredient alone does not guarantee the product is Halal if the
source of packaging is doubted or contains non-Halal substance. Therefore, tracking
and tracing Halal packaging either upstream or downstream in the supply chain,
specializing on packaging should gain more attention.

▪ Traceability in packaging perspective, according to Meuwissen et al. (2003) definition
is the ability to trace or/and track packaging flow in both fresh production and
industrial distribution.

▪ Traceability indicates that the packaging is uniquely identified at critical points in the
production and distribution process.
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▪ The information of product flow is than systematically collected, processed and stored.
▪ The issue with Halal traceability and tracking in the context of Halal packaging, in a

study done by Anir et al.(2008) are:

a. there is no real time Halal tracking. Limited number of countries provides web-based
Halal information services that largely concentrating on the list of companies and
food product that has valid Halal certification but none about the source of
packaging.

b. The use of Halal certification logo on food packaging is violated as there are reports
of fraud and misused Halal logo in the market. The fake Halal logo certification is
provided by non-certified Halal certification authority, or it is sold at a price.

c. There is no method to determine whether the packaging came from the country of
origin or otherwise as only the origin of the content of the product is mentioned.

INADEQUATE PACKAGING

▪ The role of packaging in logistics is to contain and protect the goods during delivery
and distribution.

▪ It is also practiced to protect workers during handling goods such as chemical, liquid
or loose products.

▪ In addition, packaging will eliminate or minimize the chances for damages, spoilage,
misplacement or theft throughout the logistics activities.

▪ In the context of Halal, packaging will protect goods from any cross-contamination
between Halal and non-Halal substance.

▪ Besides that, packaging also acts as a protection from any damages to the Halal
product so that the Halal status is still intact.

▪ During transportation and distribution, packaging is used for segregating between
Halal and non-Halal product either by using different carrier or different compartment
in a same carrier.

▪ In terms of Halal packaging, Halal logo is doubted as there are reports that non-Halal
product (pork) is packaged and labeled as Halal (Hong, 2007).

▪ Furthermore, it had been found out that consumers are not very confident and in doubt
with the Halal logo on food packaging although it is accredited by renowned
accreditation authority such as from Department of Islamic Development Malaysia
(JAKIM) (Mohamed et al., 2008).

▪ As was reported in The Malay Mail on 14th September 2006, a famous bread producer
in Malaysia was found guilty of using suspected ingredient in the baking process

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although the bakery had claimed that it uses 100% Halal oil and the product
packaging was labeled with JAKIM’s Halal logo. This shows that although the product
packaging is labeled Halal, the legitimacy of Halal logo is still questionable.
▪ Apart from Halal logo, product handling is also an issue for Halal packaging.
▪ The Halal status does not only consider the product ingredient, it also takes into
account the supply chain and logistics aspects of Halal food products.
▪ For instance, during transportation and storage in warehouses, segregation between
Halal and non-Halal food product must be highly practiced (Riaz & Chaudry, 2004).
▪ Furthermore, the tools to handled packaged food products must not be mixed
together with the one used for non-Halal products. This is done in order to avoid cross
contamination (Talib et al., 2010).
▪ Food packaging must not be made from nonHalal substance as it is considered najis
(Soong, 2007). Although food packaging such as plastics, carton boxes or
microwaveable containers seems to be safe from non Halal substance, the origin of
materials used to produce the packaging are sometimes questionable.
▪ Animal-origin such as animal fats or gelatins are commonly found in the production of
plastic packaging and the Halal status is dubious because there are no scientific ways
to know whether the animal was slaughtered according to Shariah law.
▪ In the case of metal cans production, oils are used to assist in formation and cutting
process. This oil can be derived from animals which again the Halal status is in doubt
(Talib et al., 2010). During packaging foods into plastics or containers, workers will use
disposable glove to ensure good sanitation. However, the gloves’ sources of origin at
times are doubted as the gloves are made from animal substance that will lead to
uncertain Halal status.
▪ Example in Fig 1, there are many versions of halal logo
available in the market. The question is how far, the halal
logo being printed on food are permitted, permissible
and lawful. The process of determining the sources of
halal cannot be done by each individual. Therefore,
respective bodies like Department of Islamic
Development Malaysia (JAKIM) should be place at every
port or spot to check on every imported goods into Malaysia to verify the halal logo
and the content. This move is seen as a practical solution to the issue of halal logo
printed in most of the imported product into Malaysia.

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OVERLOADED CARGOES

▪ Transportation is referred to the movement of cargo or container of goods from one
place to another by using many types of specified during a period of time.

▪ An international logistics field around d the world faces a number of challenges.
▪ Some of the examples are extending lead times, multiple consolidations and break

points, multiple freight modes, cost options, long and unreliable transit times.
▪ Such challenges will be more severe if a halal compliant application is required for

every activity in the transportation.
▪ In details, the halal logistics, including the transportation must accomplish the

movement of products across the supply chain by preventing from any potential of
cross-contamination.
▪ Overloaded vehicles, especially freight vehicles, are destroying our roads, impacting
negatively on economic growth – the damage caused grows exponentially as the load
increases.
▪ Damage to roads because of overloading leads
to higher maintenance and repair costs and
shortens the life of a road which in turn places an
additional burden on the state as well as law-
abiding road users who ultimately carry the costs
of careless and inconsiderate overloading.
▪ If the problem of overloading is not controlled, this
cost has to be carried by the road user, which will require significant increases in road
user charges such as the fuel levy, vehicles license fees, and overloading fees to
mention just a few.
▪ Overloading is a safety hazard that leads to unnecessary loss of life, and also the rapid
deterioration of our roads, resulting in increased maintenance and transportation costs.

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UNNECESSARY DELAYS OF DELIVERY

▪ Delay in delivery means failure to make delivery (or partial delivery) on time, provided
that such failure is not due to any act or omission on the part of the Buyer and that
the Supplier is not entitled.

▪ Ensuring clear visibility throughout the supply chain is vital for assuring a safe and
timely shipment from one end to another. Without it, organizations may become
victim to countless inefficiencies, which can lead to delays, damage or losing
shipments.

Baker Ahmad Alserhan, (2015), The Principles of Islamic Marketing, 2nd edition. New York:
Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

T. C. Melewar, Sharifah Faridah Syed Alwi & Nor Othman. (2018). Islamic Marketing and
Branding: Theory and Practice. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis Group.

Mohd. Shuhaimi bin Haji Ishak & Osman Chuah Abdullah. (2012). Islamic Perspective on
Marketing Mix. International Journal Of Business And Management Studies, 126.

Mohamed Syazwan Ab Talib and Mohd Remie Mohd Johan. (2012). Issues in Halal Packaging:
A Conceptual Paper. International Business and Management, 94-98

Rohana .S,Raja Zuraidah R,Noranita .A,Suhana .M & Thahira Bibi TKM. (2017). Halal Logistics
Implementation in Malaysia: A. International Research and Innovation Summit
(IRIS2017), 4-6.

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