Creativity, Innovation and Shariah Compliance by the Malay Middle Class Women Entrepreneurs in Muslimah Fashion Industry in Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract

The element of creativity is a vital and interrelated subject to innovation of a product especially in the context of entrepreneurship and business. It is also mentioned by many Muslim and Western scholars in the development of an excellent civilization. Thus, this chapter discusses the importance of creativity and innovation in the pursuit of Muslimah fashion among the Malay Muslim women entrepreneurs of the middle class in Selangor. This chapter also examines the factors that led to the involvement of women entrepreneurs in the Muslim fashion industry. In addition, this study also analyses the element of creativity and Shariah compliance in innovating Muslimah fashion among Malay women entrepreneurs in Selangor, an urban state of Malaysia. This study employs a qualitative approach by using interview techniques or oral history through purposive sampling. The sample was selected based on the criterion sampling and a total of ten (10) informants were involved in the study. Data were analysed descriptively using content and thematic analysis. In addition, observation methods are also utilised to strengthen data collection of the study. The findings indicated the importance of creativity and innovation in the production of Muslim fashion and design products.

1. Introduction

The creativity and innovation are essential elements which bloom the Muslim and Hijab fashion industry which is becoming a lucrative and a productive industry worldwide, in particular, Malaysia [1]. The emergence of Muslim fashion industry has been a product or outcome of the rise of the Islamic Resurgence in Malaysia since 1970s. The recent growth of the Muslim Hijab fashion industry is fundamentally associated with the rise of Islamic awareness on the Muslim-Shariah compliance in Muslim-majority countries, not the rise of capitalism as claimed by Farhad [2]. Inside the booming of Muslim fashion industry, the global fashion industry is now recognising the credibility of Muslim designers with Islamic faith to reflect the dynamic of Muslim fashion industry.

Such phenomenon can be seen not only in the Muslim countries like Malaysia, but also in Europe. What’s long been referred to as the “modest” fashion of Muslim women has grown into a major industry generating hundreds of billions of dollars annually in the United States of America (US). For the first time, U.S. museum exhibited the Islamic culture within the context of fashion and it was opened in San Francisco’s de Young Museum in 2018. Jeffrey Brown [3] reports on why Muslim fashion that has previously been ignored is now gaining new attention. “It’s a fashion show in a museum, with an unusual focus. This is an exhibition of contemporary Muslim fashion, the first of its kind in the U.S., put together by the de Young Museum in San Francisco”.

The hijab fashion industry can be considered as the fastest growing consumer segment in the world and is viewed by designers and entrepreneurs as a critically significant segment in Malaysia [1]. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the contributing factors which lead to the involvement of the Malay Muslim women entrepreneurs in the Muslim fashion industry within the boundaries of Islamic principles. This paper also discusses the importance of creativity and innovation in the pursuit of the Muslimah fashion industry among the Malay Muslim women entrepreneurs of the middle class in Selangor. Additionally, this study also analyses the element of creativity, innovation and Shariah compliance in the Muslimah and hijab fashion trends among Malay women entrepreneurs in Selangor, an urban state of Malaysia.

2. Literature review

2.1 Relationship between creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship

Creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship are interrelated concept that could be abridged in a well-defined and clear association. Discussions on creativity and innovation are pertinent in research work because they are viewed as key components in the development of competitive advantage [4]. Creativity can be defined in many ways. Some researchers define it as a thought, and some researchers consider it as a process. Thus, creativity is defined as creating new and effective ideas. Being new refers to the purity and originality of an idea ([5], p. 74).

According to Oxford Dictionaries (2012), creativity is the use of imagination or original ideas to create something. Being creative requires constant effort on the part of the individual to refine solutions and ideas [6]. Secondly, creativity requires two basic elements which are originality and effectiveness ([7], p. 92). Originality is crucial for creativity; however, it is not sufficient. Ideas and merchandise that are basically original would possibly be useless very well. So again, originality is no longer by itself to be acceptable for creativity. Original things must be too advantageous to be creative. Like originality, effectiveness takes more than a few forms. Effectiveness may additionally take the structure of value. This label is pretty clear in the economic research on creativity; it is describes how initial and beneficial merchandise and thoughts rely on the current market, and extra clearly on the price and assets [7].

Other than that, creativity is something that happens when an individual creates or produces something that is unique as well as applicable, relevant, imaginative, innovative, or persuasive [8]. According to George and Zhou [9], creativity can be defined as the formation or creation of ideas, clarifications or solutions that are relevant and practical [10].

Creativity is the outcome of an effort when an individual creates or produces something that is unique as well as applicable, relevant, imaginative, innovative, or persuasive [8]. Creativity is also the ability to make or bring into existence something new, whether a new solution to a problem, a new method or device, or a new artistic object or form ([11], p. 721).

According to a humanistic viewpoint, the creative person has the awareness and skills necessary to respond to catastrophe in transforming ways [12, 13]. As a result, the creative person can be seen as someone who is working towards self-actualization and acquiring traits that are connected to mental health, such as subjective well-being, resilience, optimism, quality of life, and other elements stressed by positive psychology [12]. Thus, creativity also can be summarised as the tendency to produce or recognise the ideas, other options, or possible possibilities to solve the problem, communicate and entertain us and other people. For that reason, in order for something to be creative it must meet the initial criteria of novelty and then prove to be appropriate, generative or influential to reach a higher status of creativity ([8], p. 3).

The relationship between creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship has been explained by Muhamad Izzuwan Shah et al. [14], Nakano and Wechsler [12] and Goh [15]. Innovation and creativity are often regarded to as the soul and the heart of a business [4]. The capacity to generate fresh concepts and find novel approaches to issues and opportunities is referred to as creativity ([14] Porter, in [16], p. 12). Innovation, on the other hand, is the capacity to use original approaches to challenges and opportunities in order to improve people’s lives or to benefit society. Innovation is the key challenges to economic growth and prosperity [17], especially in the context of dealing with the post Covid-19 pandemic [6].

Creative thinking is the cornerstone of innovation. Creativity is necessary for innovation, but it is not always enough. Innovation is the implementation of creative inspiration [4]. Innovation requires the adoption of new technology or management techniques within an organisation to accomplish a specific operational improvement [6, 18].

Many categories of innovation could be traced, such as administrative innovations, incremental products, drastic products, incremental processes, and radical processes [19, 20]. The object, sector, volume, and strength all affect the different types of innovation. They are unconstrained, autonomous, and possess distinguishable characteristics. These are: market innovation, technological innovation, organisational innovation, and product innovation [19, 21].

Although in an entrepreneurial sense there should also be a subsequent link to innovation and profitability in monetary and social terms ([22], p. 50), creativity has also been considered as the production of ideas or things that are fresh and potentially beneficial [23].

Therefore, entrepreneurship is the result of a process that applies both creativity and innovation to capitalise on marketplace opportunities in highly competitive market and global economy [15, 19]. Creating value for business and social communities by combining special public and private resources to take advantage of economic, social, or cross-cultural opportunities in a changing environment is another definition of entrepreneurship [22].

Numerous studies have shown a link between corporate creativity, innovations and survival. The success of any business depends on creativity and innovation [24]. Innovation can be regarded as the primary driver behind the survival and continuation of businesses; it fosters their development and progress and increases their chances of success in the future [25]. In summary, both creativity and innovation skills are essential in particular, to promote human potential by eliciting positive aspects of the individual [12].

2.2 The importance of creativity and innovation in entrepreneurship, business and global market

The importance and the role of creativity and innovation in entrepreneurship and business have been critically discussed by many researchers in the previous studies [5, 6, 14, 22, 26, 27]. In the recent changing global economy, the nature of business is moving from knowledge based to electronic economy or e-economy activities characterized by creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship and imagination [22, 28, 29]. This could lead to increase competition in more business opportunities resulting from the increase impact of globalisation and technology [30].

Entrepreneurs can take advantage of these opportunities by using their creativity in ways that provide their business a competitive edge. It can support innovation and commercial expansion while also having a positive social impact at large ([22, 26, 31], pp. 49–50). It is crucial to emphasise creativity as a tool for future economies since innovation plays a part in successful economies [32]. The importance of creativity and innovation in producing new and innovative business ideas benefits and adds value to companies more. Innovation and creativity are now without a doubt necessary to enable a firm last a long period and remain competitive [14]. Therefore, incorporating creativity and innovation into the agenda for entrepreneurship development is necessary for a nation to succeed and have on-going economic progress ([4], p. 1745).

In 1993, Synetics carried out some research about innovations in major business in the United States of America. Similar findings come out of research by the Department of Trade and Industry in the United Kingdom ([16], pp. 16–17). The findings indicated that the gap between what leading corporations say about innovation and what they did. The gap is large when 80 per cent of US companies said that innovation is very important to their business, but only 4 per cent say that they are good at it. These are clear indications of a consistent connection between a company’s commitment to innovation and its success in the marketplace. The findings that support this contention could be categorised into sales, profits, market share and innovation budget. In order to increase a company’s chances of becoming a high-performing and successful organisation, the research suggests five fundamental techniques. The first is to increase the effectiveness of meetings. Second, launch official innovation initiatives or strengthen those that already exist. Third, look for outside inspiration. Fourth, encourage better communication and teamwork. Fifth, recognise what consumers and clients will request and want in the future ([16], p. 17).

Juliana et al. [4] investigate the impact of creativity and innovation on the growth of entrepreneurship. Prior to doing so, they combine the knowledge from numerous works of literature on creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship that are based on Joseph Schumpeter’s viewpoints, theories, and studies on the growth of innovation and entrepreneurship. Using a survey design and Yemane sample size determination formulas, a valid sample of 257 participants had an impact on the study. Intriguingly, the matrix analysis showed a substantial correlation between innovativeness and creative thinking, as well as a negative correlation between entrepreneurship development and technological advancement. This suggests that the development of technology supports creativity and innovation. Its direct impact on the growth of entrepreneurship, however, was not considered to be very important. To discover the truth, this can be looked into further. As a result, this is a plea for policy framework and support for all nations aspiring to economic achievement, not just Nigeria.

2.3 Muslim and hijab fashion worldwide

The word “hijab” is literally means to veil, to cover or to screen ([1], p. 476). According to Ismail Raji’ al-Faruqi, Hijab means the covering of a Muslim woman or the Islamic style of dressing for women ([33], p. 28). The English word “scarf” and the Arabic term “hijab” have been used interchangeably, but the hijab has cultural connotations in many Muslim countries. Mohamood [34] illustrates that traditional and contemporary Islamic scholars and sociologists consider the veil as an assurance for the integrity of women and a protection from being used as a sexual object by predators. The term “hijab” in this study refers to the headscarf or veil that covers the hair of Muslim women when they are dressed appropriately and modestly. Muslim women show their identity and spiritual faith by donning a headscarf as a cultural and religious ritual [35]. Thus, there are inner and spiritual meanings for wearing the veil in the physical realm. It only portrays physically a lesson that must be understood spiritually [35].

In recent years, the hijab has emerged as a sign of Islamic consciousness, as more women are considering wearing the hijab as a symbolic of their conviction and dedication to be part of an Islamic Resurgence [36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50] especially in countries where wearing it is not compulsory or in non-Muslim countries [51] ([1], p. 477).

It is now possible to redefine the Muslim sign as a result of the hijab’s growing popularity. The popularity of “Muslim women who dress stylish and/or make fashionable garments, while orienting towards what is being proposed by their religion in terms of attire” (hijabists or hijabistas), also known as “Muslim women who wear the hijab,” has contributed to the emergence of the hijab fashion ([52], p. 161).

As a result of the growth of Muslim fashion media, bloggers, designers, and merchants, Muslim women today have more options for Muslim clothes, designs, and styles than ever before [53]. Siti Hasnah and Harmimi [1] summarised Wilson’s [54] conclusion that the hijab fashion trend went as far as offering loose clothing by bridging communities locally through producing hijab fashion that stick with Muslim cultural terms and extending these offerings globally to eagerly awaiting Muslims consumers around the world. The current hijab fashion trends make an effort to update a modest look while preserving the fundamentals of traditional and cultural beliefs. This fashion produces a new style and trend for Muslim women who are fusing fashion with their Islamic faith, giving off a revitalising contemporary feeling of elegance and vigour.

As a transformational socialisation tool for Malay-Muslims in Malaysia’s heterogeneous society, Nurzihan Hassim [55] explored the hijab, or the act of veiling. Using images of veiled Muslim women who are primarily Malay, the hijab was presented in the media as a progressive life style. Aside from Islamic upheavals and the globalisation of veiling in Muslim-majority nations, local socio-political changes have commodified the hijab as a Malay sovereignty-produced item rather than a representation of religious responsibility. Malay-Muslim women are more likely to be exposed to media messages that challenge traditional Malay-Muslim stereotypes as a result of the fusion of old and new media channels. The study investigates the local hijab phenomenon by analysing media coverage of it and its impact on viewers’ attitudes and behaviours. Findings show that accessibility and diversity of content resonate with acceptance of this dynamic cultural identity.

Siti Hasnah and Harmimi [1] explore the factors influence the fashion consciousness in hijab fashion consumption among Muslims. The predictors of hijab fashion consciousness and consumption has been examined. Muslim women in developing countries, in particular the Muslim countries such as Malaysia whereby the number of educated, employed women has increased, and the country has changed and progressed from a traditional to a modern lifestyle. They have changed into contemporary, affluent Muslim women who adhere to the Shariah’s dress code by dressing modestly and donning the headscarf. Because of this, the hijab fashion among “Muslim women who wear fashionable attire with matching fashionable headscarves” known as “hijabistas” is thriving.

Utilising the convenience sample method, data were collected by distributing questionnaires to Muslim women who attended the 2014 Kuala Lumpur International Hijab Fashion Fair. SmartPLS was utilised to analyse a total of 345 final usable data. The results show that fashion consciousness is positively influenced by dressing style, fashion motivation, fashion uniqueness, and fashion knowledge sources, which in turn adversely impact hijab fashion consumption which in line with the Shariah-compliant dress code [1]. Even though, Siti Hasmah dan Harmimi ([1], p. 490) have revealed their important outcome based on the conceptual framework, but the study should not ignore the important construct for Muslim products consumption, that is religiosity or religious values in the instrument of hijab consumption. This has been realised by both of them in their limitation and suggestion for future research statement: “In terms of construct, future studies must focus on other constructs, such as religious values or religiosity, in the Hijabista market segment”.

Due to pandemic restrictions, foot traffic at retail establishments has decreased, which has negatively impacted modest fashion as well as the rest of the fashion business ([56], p. 5). Sales have been saved, nonetheless, thanks to the shift towards multichannel marketing and e-Commerce. The modest luxury fashion company Elle B Zhou used a 3D virtual representation of a Saudi model for its introduction, and the Turkish modest fashion powerhouse Modanisa introduced a new network in Malaysia with an online fashion show. Regularly through partnerships, mainstream clothing companies have continued to introduce their own lines of modest clothing. Muslim fashion spending expanded by 5.7% in 2021, from USD$279 billion to USD$295 billion, and is projected to expand by 6.0% in 2022 to USD$313 billion and USD$375 billion in 2025, for a 6.1% for a four-year Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) [56].

2.4 Shariah compliance in the Muslim dress

According to Ismail Raji’ al-Faruqi, ([33], pp. 36–37), al-Shari’ah means the collection name for all the laws of Islam, including Islam’s whole religious and liturgical, ethical and jurisprudential systems. Shariah is an Arabic word which means the path that should be followed by Muslims [44]. Moreover, Shariah also means the totality of Allah’s commands which regulate life for every Muslim in all aspects of life [57].

Syariah compliance is a term used to describe the practise of adhering to the laws obtained from the Qur’an, the Prophet Muhammad’s Sunnah, agreement, analogy, and other acceptable and approved sources derived from these beginnings. These sources are used by the legal expert to determine which laws were most likely intended by the lawgiver [58]. In regard to the general guidelines in Islamic fashion for Muslim women, Hanisa et al. [59] describes that there are about 500 verses from the Quran and more in the Hadith regarding women’s dress that should be followed by the Muslim women. Allah SWT mentioned in one of these verses as below.

“O Prophet, enjoin your wives and your daughters and the believing women, to draw a part of their outer coverings around them.¹¹⁰ It is likelier that they will be recognised and not molested.¹¹¹ Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.”

(Al-Quran, Chapter Al-Ahzaab, 33: verse 59).

In general, the regulation written in the Quran and the Hadith, are meant to protect women from harm [59]. Some of the major guidelines can be summarised in Table 1.

Fundamental guidelines	Rationale of the principles
Garment must cover the whole body from unpermitted man (non-mahram)*	In general, every guideline instructs Muslim women to avoid drawing attention to themselves by exposing any part of their bodies. Although not all guys have a bad desire for women, the advice is meant to prevent it.
Dress must not be transparent or semi transparent
Dress must not be tight fitting that will resembles the body shape
Not to use strong perfume until it will draw attention of others
Not to show off their jewellery or even make indication of it (like sound from a bell) as it may led to larceny.
Not to dress like non-believer (by not covering their aurat4. They must not display act to attract men.	A Muslim woman must differentiate themselves from the non-believer by dressing according to the guidelines; but still not losing their grace as woman.
Dress should not resemble as men
Garment must not to be a form of showing honour/ wealth	Men and women should be humble by not showing off their material comfort or being arrogant.

Table 1.

Fundamental guidelines in Islamic fashion for Muslim women.

^*

Non-Mahrams or Ghayr Mahrams are any males that a woman is allowed to marry (such as a cousin or any random Muslim male), as well as any males that are currently prohibited from marriage but may one day be allowed to wed if certain conditions alter. To put it another way, a Muslim woman who is previously married is not allowed to marry another Muslim man while she is still married. She may, however, marry another Muslim man after divorcing her current spouse and completing the “Iddah” (waiting time following divorce). Source: http://www.islamicinformation.net/2008/07/mahram-in-islam-explained.ht ml (29.10.13).

Source: Hanisa et al. ([59], p. 455).

Islam has never prescribed a particular design style for Muslims to obey, despite the rules stated in the holy book of the Quran and illustrated with numerous examples in the Hadith. Despite being very generic, the command contains detailed instructions for Muslims to abide with. Therefore, Muslim women have the option to interpret the guidelines in light of their culture, environment, or activity, as long as it adheres to the instructions provided [59].

Both the Qur’an and the Sunnah place a strong emphasis on maintaining modesty when it comes to attire and style. Many popular aspects of Muslim dress, such as wearing longer-length clothing with more body coverage, opaque fabrics, and looser fits, reflect this ([56], p. 11). These still stand as some of the key characteristics that define what constitutes a garment as “modest” among Muslims around the world, despite the varied definitions of “modesty.” Muslim nations are placing an increased emphasis on employing halal products and sustainable and ethical manufacturing processes [56].

Entrepreneurship within the framework of the Shari’ah compliance presents the impact that the Islamic religion has in the areas of realm of operation, financing, the forms of business, innovation, consumerism, women entrepreneurship, and social interest [60]. In the case of Muslim hijab fashion industry, the element of creativity and innovation in each piece of art and creative design must be complied with the Shariah principles.

2.5 The concept of the middle class

Being affluent, educated and agent of social change, the middle class gain prominence by their income level, and become a pressure group in struggling to the issues pertaining social change and socio-economic development [61], ([62], p. 131), [63]. This study uses a combination of occupational categories and household income to define the middle class based on the most recent measurement of social class status from a Malaysian perspective. According to the Tenth Malaysian Plan 2011–2015 (2010), the middle 40% of Malaysians’ household income in 2009 ranged between RM 2300 to RM 5599, while the top 20% of Malaysians’ household income was greater than or equal to RM 5600.

Wan Nor Azriyati et al. [64], categorise the lower-income category includes individuals who earn less than RM1000, the lower-middle income category includes those who earn between RM1,501 and RM2,000, the middle-middle category includes those who earn between RM2,001 and RM4,000, the upper-middle income category includes those who earn between RM4,001 and RM6,000, and the high income group includes [64]. The household income range outlined in the Government Transformation Plan 2011–2015 document and Wan Nor Azriyati et al. [64], as well as the occupational model of Abdul Rahman Embong [65], are all modified as a guide for this study [61]. Moreover, Malaysia Standard Classification of Occupations 2008 [66] has classified 10 classification of major occupations as follow (Table 2).

Group	Occupations
1	Managers
2	Professionals
3	Technicians And Associate Professionals
4	Clerical Support Workers
5	Service And Sales Workers
6	Skilled Agricultural, Forestry, Livestock And Fishery Workers
7	Craft And Related Trades Workers
8	Plant And Machine Operators And Assemblers
9	Elementary Occupations
0	Armed Forces

Table 2.

Major occupations in Malaysia standard classification of occupations 2008 [66].

Source: Malaysia Standard Classification of Occupations 2008, 2019. Available from: https://www.jobsmalaysia.gov.my/emasco/pengenalan-emasco#home.

From these occupational model and household income range, the middle class can be divided into two groups: those who earn between RM 2301 and RM 5599, and those who earn between RM 5600 and RM 10,000 or more and are considered upper-middle class. According to the aforementioned classification, professionals, technical, administrative, management, clerical, and service sector individuals who earn a minimum monthly household income of RM 2300 to RM 10,000 or more are considered middle class [61]. In the context of the current study, the Malay women entrepreneurs have been categorised with these range of occupation and household income.

3. Methodology

This study employs a qualitative approach by using interview techniques or oral history through purposive sampling. The sample was selected based on the criterion sampling. A total of ten (10) informants who reside and were involved in the study. Data were analysed descriptively using content and thematic analysis. In addition, observation methods are also utilised to strengthen data collection of the study.

3.1 Research design

This study is primarily conducted based on exploratory qualitative methodology for this multidisciplinary of sociology and religious study. Documentation of experiences and knowledge through the semistructured in-depth interviews with 10 informants of the Malay middle income class group of women entrepreneurs was conducted using interview or oral history technique. The informants were chosen from a group individuals who are pioneers, who started their active involvement in Islamic activities in the 1970s in Selangor. Being pioneers in the Muslimah fashion industry, they share common thoughts and experiences with regard to the resurgence of Muslim and hijab fashion industry in Malaysia.

Interview sessions were conducted with selected representatives of the Malay women entrepreneurs in the group of the upper-middle and middle-middle income classes to obtain their insights and opinions on creativity and innovations and its relations to Shariah compliance. A semi-structured interviewing protocol was created to investigate the traits, behaviours and views of the Malay women entrepreneurs in Selangor, Malaysia. Instead of relying on the earlier literature, the semi-structured interview process encouraged the informants to emphasise the topics they thought were most crucial. According to Adams [67], semi-structured interviews are ideal for a variety of useful activities, especially when several of the open-ended questions call for follow-up questions. Adams [67], then proposes to consider using SSIs in the following circumstances in particular:

• If you want to learn about each person’s autonomous opinions in a group and you need to ask probing, open-ended inquiries.

• If you want to use probing, open-ended questions to elicit information on subjects that focus group participants might not be willing to discuss openly.

• If you want to carry out a formative programme evaluation and want private interviews with important programme administrators, employees, and front-line service providers.

• If you are looking at unexplored region with unknown but potentially important issues, and your interviewees require the most freedom to identify and investigate useful leads.

From the transcripts of the interviews, the researcher extracted themes or dimensions. Descriptive and content analysis were used to examine the developed themes and dimensions. Thematic analysis (TA) which is proposed by Braun and Clarke [68], which later revised to their contemporary approach, known as Reflective Thematic Analysis (RTA) [69, 70, 71, 72, 73] was used to guide this study.

3.2 The selection of informants

Sample in this qualitative research was selected purposefully guided by a set of criteria. This research employed purposeful sampling for the reason that it would be able to understand the phenomenon of Muslim fashion industry and how it could influence on the Malay women entrepreneurs in Selangor to participate in this industry. The strategy for purposeful selection of information-rich cases is based on a specific type of purposeful sampling, that is criterion sampling proposed by Patton [74]; [61, 74]. According to Patton [74], the purpose of criterion sampling is to pick all cases that meet some criteria. Selecting examples with lots of information allows for deeper analysis, which is the rationale and power of deliberate sampling. The term “purposeful sampling” refers to selecting examples with the intention of learning as much as possible about topics that are essential to the investigation’s goal. Instead of producing empirical generalisations, studying “information-rich cases” or situations which produces insights and thorough knowledge ([74], p. 169). In the context of the current study, the samples chosen fit the set of criteria.

Three criteria were used to justify the sampling strategy used in this study. First, a sample was picked using a categorical selection method, with Malay women entrepreneurs from the middle class as the representative group. Second, Selangor is home to many successful Malay women business owners. Third, the Malay women business owners chosen for the study are those who worked in Selangor’s Islamic and Muslimah fashion industries.

In order to calculate the sample size, the principle of data saturation was applied, and new participants were added until further data stopped to provide fundamentally novel and unique insights. According to Mwita [75], when a researcher realises that they have gathered all the necessary data and that there is no longer any fresh, pertinent information or data that can be obtained from the study’s respondents or subjects, this is referred to as saturation [75, 76]. Saturation typically means that a researcher needs to stop gathering new data for a certain topic. Data saturation has been widely employed in social science research and has emerged as one of the key components of the qualitative approach, which has its origins in the Glaser and Strauss grounded theory (1967) ([75], p. 414). Therefore, in the context of the current study, at a sample size of 10, data saturation occurred.

3.3 Data analysis

Meaning data was collected through the interviews. The average duration of each interview session was two and a half hours, and with the informants’ consent, the interview sessions were audio-taped in their entirety and transcribed verbatim resulting in 345 pages of data. The transcription of the interviews was then converted into a Microsoft Word document.

The transcripts were analysed by categorising the text according to a six-phase process proposed by Braun and Clarke [69], which are described in Table 3. Thematic Analysis (TA) is utilised to analyse and combine massive amounts of data from naturalistic settings into insightful descriptions [68]. TA provides a technique for finding patterns or themes of meaning in a dataset and for interpreting and understanding their significance [69].

Phase	Examples of procedure for each step
1. Familiarising oneself with the data	Transcribing data; reading and re-reading; noting down initial codes
2. Generating initial codes	Coding interesting features of the data in a systematic fashion across the data-set, collating data relevant to each code
3. Searching for the themes	Collating codes into potential themes, gathering all data relevant to each potential theme
4. Involved reviewing the themes	Checking if the themes work in relation to the coded extracts and the entire data-set: generate a thematic ‘map’
5. Defining and naming themes	On-going analysis to refine the specifics of each theme; generation of clear names for each theme
6. Producing the report	Final opportunity for analysis selecting appropriate extracts; discussion of the analysis; relate back to research question or literature: produce report

Table 3.

Six-phase thematic analysis procedures by Braun and Clake [68].

Source: Szedlak et al. [77].

Thematic Analysis (TA) principles were manually applied to the data in order to find patterns of meaning that underlay the transcripts. Before categories were created and given names, this included a very iterative process including comparative analysis of patterns that emerged from the data.

4. Findings and analysis

This study involves 10 Malaysian Malay women entrepreneurs as the informants. A brief background of the informants is as follows:

As stated in Table 4, that the Malay women entrepreneurs from the group of upper-middle and middle-middle income class informants who were involved in the Muslim fashion industry are the adults between the ages of 20 to 45 years old. This means that the informants’ year of birth is between 1973 and 1998. The informants also lived in main urban cities of Selangor, namely Shah Alam, Bangi, Klang, Kajang, Selayang and Puchong, Petaling Jaya.

Identity	Position in the Muslim fashion company	Level of education	Age	Place of living
Informant 1 – I1	Manager	Degree	41	Shah Alam
Informant 2 – I2	Supervisor	Diploma	28	Kajang
Informant 3 – I3	Founder	Degree	30	Shah Alam
Informant 4 – I4	Founder	Degree	27	Shah Alam
Informant 5 – I5	Co-founder	Diploma	20	Puchong, Petaling Jaya
Informant 6 – I6	Founder and Manager	Diploma	22	Selayang
Informant 7 – I7	Co-founder	UPSR	30	Klang
Informant 8 – I8	Supervisor	SPM	45	Shah Alam
Informant 9 – I9	Founder	Degree	29	Bangi
Informant 10 – I10	Founder	Degree	29	Bangi

Table 4.

The background of the Malay middle income class informants.

The Malay women middle income class entrepreneurs were chosen from diverse background of education. Albeit having considerably good academic qualifications in different disciplines, they have shown relatively similar convictions to religious commitment in implementing Shariah principles in their dress and fashion designs. In fact, their educational background does not limit their quest to exhibit significant manifestations of their faith in thoughts and practices as well as demonstrate their religious responsibility through the Shariah-compliant products. Most of the informants demonstrated significant adherence to the religion of Islam and thus resulting in high commitment to religious obligation in which their prepare more choices in the Islamic dressing design and fashion for Muslims either in the national and global market.

The following discussion is divided into several sub-themes, as to highlight the elements of creativity, innovation and the Shariah compliance in the Muslim fashion industry and how Islam has impacted the lives of the Malaysian Malay women entrepreneurs in their profession as key players of Islamic fashion industry in Malaysia.

4.1 The factors that led to the involvement of women entrepreneurs in the Muslim fashion industry

Various factors have been contributed to the involvement of the Malay Muslim women entrepreneurs in the urban state of Selangor in the Muslim and hijab fashion industry. Based on the transcriptions of the interview sessions with the informants, five thematic factors have been grounded and emerged. The factors are religious responsibility for the sake of the Ummah; self interest in entrepreneurship, family support, positive attitude towards success and improving soft skills for survival. The emerging factors could be described as the followings:

4.1.1 Religious responsibility for the sake of the Ummah

The conviction towards religious responsibility has been the driving force of their career undertakings. Some of Malay women entrepreneurs put preference on their convictions before their career. This has been due to many reasons, such as the serve Muslim with wudu’-friendly and maternity designs which has led to religious commitments. Such religious awareness is intrinsic in nature.

“The products supplied and produced must be coincided with the Islamic law. For me, the Muslimah fashion products must comply with the Shariah compliance itself in order to avoid defamation from God” (I1).

“As a Muslimah fashion designer and entrepreneur, the element of creativity and innovation should be harmonized with the Shariah-compliant…. We try to convince our customers that we will always produce the best for the adherents of the Muslimah fashion who always put their confident on our collections” (I2).

“I produce the designs that the Arabic-style robe (jubah) that are wudhu’-friendly and I do not use materials that could expose and fit tightly to human body, like lycra fabric. And other products that I have produced are for example, the “A-cut Muslimah t-shirt”. This design would be loose and comfortable for big size individuals” (I6).

“Actually, at the beginning, I am really not interested to start a business, but the world has changed. I am now happy and very grateful to thank Allah SWT [syukur], and Alhamdulillah, because now, I really love, admire and happy and even deeply interest in my own business that promotes the Muslim fashion products to serve for the sake of Ummah. This is my jihad and da’wah in economics” (I7).

“Our designs are produced on the costumer design basis. They may suggest their own design exclusively and we offer an advice to the designs that still preserve the Shariah principles, especially covering the aurah of the customer” (I9).

“As an entrepreneur, this is my responsibility to offer a collection of garments that certified with the Shariah-compliant verification as well as stylish recent fashion. I think that the basic aspect of the Shariah such as covering aurah must be considered in advance” (I9).

“Any creativity effort in designing a product need to put a priority on the aspect of aurah which should be covered properly. For that reason, I choose fabrics that do not cling to the customers’ body as well as offers the best design for the customers” (I10).

4.1.2 Self interest in entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurial interest or inclination is described as motivating factor that affects the individual to pursue in an entrepreneurial venture [78]. According to Bardai [79], the absence of deep interest for running a business will lead to the failure in entrepreneurship. This is proven by the description given by Arifin and Sabaruddin [80], who emphasised that a high interest can encourage and inspire someone to be persistent when dealing with risk.

Moreover, positive interest in a particular field of endeavour is the key to one’s success. Individual interest enable someone strives towards something desirable. Otherwise, lack of interest would influence the determination of a person and thus would degrade the performance of its achievements in a particular field. The results showed that all informants have deep interest in entrepreneurship and business.

“Most people who start a business in order to seek the money. Money is a leading motivating factor to start a business, but I did a business due to my personal interest. Self-interest has motivated me to continue studying in this field to ensure that my business could be succeeded and lead to the progress in the coming years” (I6).

“Actually, at the beginning, I am really not interested to start a business, but the world has changed. I am now happy and very grateful to thank Allah SWT [syukur], and Alhamdulillah, because now, I really love, admire and happy and even deeply interest in my own business that promotes the Muslim fashion products to serve for the sake of Ummah. This is my jihad and da’wah in economics” (I7).

“I have intensely interested in business since primary school to find my own pocket money for the reason that my family who lived in a simple life request e to work hard for survival” (I3).

“I really have a deep interest in the Muslim cloth design, so I do not really look for the profit solely, because I am more concern about customer satisfaction and acceptance” (I4).

“A deep interest and dedication in the world of business had been contributed to my serious involvement in this arena despite many challenges that I faced” (I5).

4.1.3 Family support

Some informants describe that family support and encouragement help them to develop their interest in business. Family is not just a focal factor of their success in business, but also become a backbone that always back them up when they face tribulations and problems in business.

“My husband is a very supportive mate of my life. He continues to support me at home with my children. We do many activities together, playing and studying with children. My husband helped me to create an online business and manage to run online marketing to increase sales and purchases” (I1).

“My father and my sister also had involved in business. I have experienced and started to study business since my childhood because I always follow my father in managing our family business” (I2).

“I manage to begin my business since I was studying at the university. At that time, I did not have enough capital and investment to start the business. Fortunately, I have my family that had provided me motivational and financial supports to start my new business and starting from that I managed to involve in entrepreneurship of the Muslim fashion” (I4).

The informants’ convictions about the role of the family which contribute to their involvement in business have been explained by many researchers. Parents have crucial and significant roles to generate and inculcate interest in their children based on their free wills and choices. The previous studies show that parental influence on learning helps to encourage and inculcate good values and even this interest in individuals did not exist at the first place [81]. Moreover, Desforges and Abouchaar [82], also suggests that positive attitudes of parents and their encouragement would help to increase interest in children and improve their achievement, particularly in academic and school performance.

4.1.4 Positive attitude towards success

Most of the informants also show their positive attitude and enthusiasm towards success in business as well as throughout their life at the first place. Such positive attitudes for example, responsibility, positive thinking, put an effort to help the family in term of finance, improve social mobility and standard of living, working independently without hoping for others’ assistance, being self-confident and self-reliant. These were shown through some of their confessions as follows:

“As the eldest in the family, I feel responsible to help my family as well as this could increase our social mobility and standards of living in term of economic. For example, we need to have a high income and to have a big car and big house” (I3).

“I prefer to carry out my works without depending on other assistance. This is because I feel free to make any decision by myself” (I4).

“Not everyone likes to be instructed by someone else and that is why I decided to stop working in the previous company. I’m a person that do not like to work under an authoritarian leadership and I want to do work that I really love. In other words, I want a freedom to do things that I like and do not involve other people who could give the instruction on me” (I5).

Attitude is an abstract value that shape in the mind of the individual. It can create the perception in the individual [83]. To develop the interest of the individual in entrepreneurship and business, Mohammed Idris [84] advocates that a person’s beliefs must build his or confident that he or she could succeed in this field. This optimistic attitude towards success is a very significant step that determine the future prospect of someone’s life.

In addition, Mohd Osman [83] had listed some attitudes that are needed to be a successful entrepreneur. These are self-reliance, perseverance, creativity, innovation, receiving the challenges, hope and ambition, to see and grasp the opportunities, self-confident in individual’s ability, energetic, enthusiasm, hardworking and good effort.

Even in the case of disabilities students, the parents and school should educate their students to build their positive attitude. For example, U.S. Department of Education [85] had addressed that the attitude and self-advocacy skills of students with disabilities may be two of the most important factors in determining their success or failure in postsecondary education. To ensure that students with disabilities possess the desired levels of self-advocacy to succeed in postsecondary education, high school educators may want to encourage the students to: First, understand their disabilities. Second, accepting responsibility for success, Third, take an appropriate preparatory curriculum. Fourth, acquire computer skills. Fifth, consider supplemental postsecondary education preparatory programs. Sixth, research postsecondary education programs. Seventh, get involved on campus.

4.1.5 Improving soft skills for survival

In addition to the previous factors, the informants’ involvement in entrepreneurship has been triggered by their effort to improve the soft skills for survival. The followings are some of the informants’ reasons for conducting business in the Muslim fashion industry.

“I have sewing skills and I realize that these skills can help me to earn more money and gain more profits. At first, I just sewed clothes as free time activities. Furthermore, I began to receive customers’ orders for tailoring from nearest neighbors and friends. From there, I started to seriously involve in business, and I had decided to lunch a Muslim dressing and gauze boutique” (I2).

“At the beginning, I manage a business through social media, such as blog. From there, I managed to develop social relationship with other people who eventually become customers, agents and suppliers via online business without physical face to face communication” (I4).

“I am a friendly and verbose person. I like to ask other opinions, so that I can practice effective communication when dealing with the customers, the competitors and suppliers. Such skills are significant in business for the purpose of improving the quality of the products, as well as to gain better profits for both parties, the owner and the customers” (I5).

The ability to use the internet and social media is the pre-requisite soft skills to market goods or product worldwide. Local entrepreneurs also need to think and act creatively in generating and stimulating unique ideas for their product. This includes to demonstrate the physical and non-physical products which could be the assets for business [86]. For example, the physical product can be viewed from the production, packaging, and branding, whereas the non-physical aspects can be viewed as managing a network of social communication with customers, family, followers and society in general. Thus, someone who has knowledge, the ability and expert in designing a business via social media communication has advantage to market their products very fast through this medium.

The findings of the previous studies also demonstrated the similar results that network relationships are important to entrepreneurs as they provide access to resources that are an important component in the entrepreneurial process [87]. In addition, seizing information is a very important skill for entrepreneurs in generating a market, making decisions, or solving problems [88]. The benefits of networking will engage these women entrepreneurs in entrepreneurial activities such as scanning, for, recognising and exploiting business opportunities [89]. This networking as the acquired soft skills could motivate Malay Muslim women entrepreneurs to involve in the Muslim fashion industry worldwide.

4.2 The importance of creativity and innovation in the production of the Muslimah fashion among the Malay Muslim women entrepreneurs of the middle class in Selangor

Most of the informants viewed that creativity and innovation are significant aspects in the production of any design of the Muslim fashion. These two elements are interconnected and crucial to attract customers and publicise the products either at the national and global market.

“Creativity and innovation in fashion are the factors that could attract customers to buy our products. If there are no such both creativity and innovation, the collection is not in line with the trendy fashion that being implemented by other competitors. Both are important in Muslim fashion due to customers’ demand, and they always request the different and unique designs for daily and occasion dress” (I1).

“The creativity and innovation are interrelated elements. Creativity can be described as a simple thing that attract others. Creativity also should be applied by fashion designers or people who involve in the Muslim fashion industry. They always have ideas in producing a product. So, from such creation and unique ideas it could improve the innovation of the product to be accepted in the market. The element of creativity and innovation are important in the creation of dressing and hijab designs” (I2).

“Both creativity and innovation are the most important elements in the production of fashion design. The creativity in the collection could help to increase selling and retail in which these are very much dependent on the design that has been produced” (I3).

“The creativity is an important part of fashion. Innovation is a process of implementing creativity in the different way in line with the latest design and trends. With the creative design, it could attract customers to buy the product” (I4).

“Creativity is a talent that has been given by Allah SWT. It can also be learnt. I have no basic knowledge about fashion and have never studied in the university or any other learning institution. But I have learnt Muslim fashion from personal experiences. This element is very important in the Muslim collection, and this could be the reason why we promoted our products” (I5).

4.3 The implementation of the Shariah compliance in designing creative and innovation Muslimah fashion design

Almost all informants understand their obligation to apply the Shariah-compliant aspects in designing any creative and innovative design for Muslim customers. This indicates that they realise on their religious responsibility to provide and promote a proper Shariah-compliant design for the Muslim fashion such as in dress, garments and head scarf. There are significant relationship between creativity, innovation and the Shariah-compliance in designing the Muslim fashion that can be proved through the informants’ convictions.

“Shariah compliance is an Islamic principle of law. The Islamic law is primarily based on The Quran and as-Sunnah. The products supplied and produced must be coincided with the Islamic law. For me, the Muslimah fashion products must comply with the Shariah compliance itself in order to avoid defamation from God” (I1).

“As a Muslimah fashion designer and entrepreneur, the element of creativity and innovation should be harmonized with the Shariah-compliant. These are imperative pre-requisite to our products in order to avoid any perception that the product is contradicted to the Islamic principles and is an obsoleted design. We try to convince our customers that we will always produce the best for the adherents of the Muslimah fashion who always put their confident on our collections” (I2).

“Cover the aurah is the most important thing of Shariah compliance in Muslimah fashion design, which is not too excessive to the principle of Shariah” (I3).

“Shariah compliance in Muslimah fashion is about covering the aurah that includes the private parts of women’s body, lowering the hijab or head scarf until it cover the chest. Shariah compliance is a vital aspect in the Muslimah fashion” (I4).

“The Shariah-compliant designs were characterized by covering the aurah of man and woman, the cloth must be loosed and not very tight or body-hugging until it would reveal someone’s skin, and the dress is suitable to be wore by all people” (I5).

“These three elements [creativity, innovation and Shariah Compliance should always be related one another. For example, how the producing ideas can be stimulated? Does it is aligned with what Islam teach? This means that when we produce a product, the material and design must be in line with the Islamic teaching” (I6).

“Using the creative thinking, it can inculcate and instill the Islamic values in Muslim fashion” (I7).

“From my understanding, they [creativity, innovation] are very closely interrelated to each other. Actually, most of our collection are abide by the Islamic principles. The products can be wore and suited to all level of society, elegant to the current trends and style with the sophisticated multi-cultural Islamic creative designs” (I8).

“Our designs are produced on the costumer design basis. They may suggest their own design exclusively and we offer an advice to the designs that still preserve the Shariah principles, especially covering the aurah of the customer” (I9).

“We combined the element of creativity, innovation and Shariah compliant in our collections and designs. For instance, we managed to use the up-to-date design, suggesting the new trend and at the same time we also emphasize the elements that are complied to the Shariah” (I10).

5. Discussion

This study analyses the element of creativity, innovation and Shariah compliance in Muslimah fashion among Malay women entrepreneurs in Selangor, an urban state of Malaysia. The findings were categorised by the three themes that emerged during the interviews. Each of the findings justified the contributing factors to the Malay entrepreneurs involvement in the Muslim fashion; the importance of creativity and innovation in the Muslim fashion; and the implementation of the Shariah compliance in the Muslim fashion among the Malay entrepreneurs in Selangor.

The findings indicate that five thematic emerging factors have contributed to the participation of the Malay women entrepreneurs in the Muslim fashion industry in Selangor. The study shows that the majority of the Malay entrepreneurs venture into entrepreneurship due to first, religious responsibility for the sake of the Ummah; second, self interest in entrepreneurship; third, family support; fourth, positive attitude towards success; fifth, improving soft skills for survival. These findings are in accordance to the previous studies that revealed on the various factors that lead to the involvement of women entrepreneurs in business [90, 91, 92]. The factors are for example, interest, ambition to become an entrepreneur, seeks for job satisfaction and desire to create a working environment suite to their personality. The finding of the study is also consistent with the previous studies that reveal that the combination of entrepreneurial factors has a significant relationship with the success of an entrepreneur. Skill, knowledge, and adaptability in business are the main reasons for women to emerge into business ventures [93].

The findings also indicated that the role of family in particular, the parents are important social segment to inculcate good values and interest in children. The parents are responsible to provide not just the basic physical needs of their children, such as clothing, food and shelter, but most importantly, they need to give more attention to spiritual and religious needs in which these are the crucial facets in the individual development. Many studies have also proved that parental involvement and engagement in the early childhood, education and in making the decision, gave the positive impacts to their children’ success in life that shapes their children future prospect [94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101].

According to the report conducted by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2015, the involvement of women in entrepreneurship area are not only contribute for the development of country, but also reduce the level of poverty all over the world [102]. In fact, the involvement of women in entrepreneurship is very important in order to mobilise the economic model whereby it creates more opportunities which is more competitive and profitable [103]. In the Malaysian context, women entrepreneurs enter the business world due family commitment (for rural women & single mothers), personal achievement, independency, and autonomy (for corporate women) which are parallel to the pull theory [89].

All informants of the Malaysian Malay women entrepreneurs understand the concept of creativity, innovation and perceive the Shariah compliance in their designs and collections. They considered and took into account the Shariah compliant as the priority in their designs which signify and reflect their religious obligation and commitment. The conviction to Islam has been the driving force of their career undertakings. Some of Malay women entrepreneurs put preference on their convictions before their profession in business.

Today, creativity and innovation appear more significant than ever before, with these being seen as critical success factors for organisations and companies [104]. For every modern business to succeed in a world marked by competition, technological change, and recurrent crises of post COVID-19 outbreak, innovation has become essential [6]. The understanding of attitudes towards creativity and innovation and promoting of creative thinking within the organisation are pre-requisites to facilitate creativity in all employees [105, 106]. To increase the value of entrepreneurship, for example, creativity and innovation have become essential. In order to improve current business practices, creativity is a great asset. Making a procedure that can turn an idea into a more saleable product or service is referred to innovation [14]. Therefore, the need and requirement for creativity and innovation are a key approach in entrepreneurship.

The Muslim fashion industry is rapidly growing worldwide. The sales volumes are raising, and the Muslim fashion companies have been significantly expanded their business empire to the Southeast East Asia, the United States, the Middle East and North Africa regions. Today, Muslim consumers spend a lot of money on dressing as a symbol of faith. The State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2015/16 conveyed that in comparison to the current combined textile markets of the UK (USD$107 billion), Germany (USD$99 billion), and India (USD$96 billion), Muslim consumers are forecasted to spend USD$230 billion on clothes, with a projected increase to USD$327 billion by 2019 [107].

Muslim fashion consumers’ and designers’ decisions about clothing or other fashion products are influenced by religion [108] and culture [109, 110, 111]. While young Muslim women in Malaysia are currently expressing interest in Western design trends, they must also uphold Muslim principles about suitable wear. Therefore, they require reliable resources for fashion tips that reduce the social danger of consuming something illegal or for guidance on this new trend among Muslim consumers.

Based on the findings revealed by Aliman et al. [108], despite the hijab fashion culture being quite widespread in multicultural countries like Malaysia, the majority of Malay Muslim women who wear them do not consider them to be fashionable. They view wearing the hijab as a religious obligation rather than a fashion choice. In order to further strengthen Muslim religious identity and cultural diversity, the hijab is thus used as a powerful tool.

6. Conclusion

The Malay urban women entrepreneurs in the study show their dedicated religious commitment through Islamic branding of Muslim fashion. As described by Nurzihan ([112]: 428) that the role of Malay-Muslim women in creating a renewed perception upon the hijab in the Malaysian public, pursuing a more liberated, Islamic identity whilst offering a renewed social construction of the Malay society. This renewed social construction could be viewed from the glance of media through the evolution of mass communication such as in print, broadcast and social networking channels.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank The Ministry of Higher Education, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia for the financial support provided for this research.