Proceedings of Applied International Business Conference 2008
RELIGIOSITY AND PERCEPTION ON ISLAMIC WORK ETHICS (IWE) AMONG MUSLIM
ARMY IN MALAYSIA
Rusnah Muhamad ψ, Mejar Mohd Khairi Yap and Mejar Azmi Mohd Islam
University of Malaya, Malaysia
Abstract
This study investigates the relationship between religiosity and perception on Islamic Work Ethics (IWE)
among Muslim army in Malaysia. Culture is often cited as one of the powerful determinants in shaping the
personality and behavior of individuals. Religion, being an important element of culture, is seen as playing
an important role in determining how people behave in certain situations. The concept of IWE has its origin
in the Qu’ran and the Hadith (the sayings and practice of Prophet Muhammad). IWE views dedication to
work as a virtue. It emphasizes cooperation in work and consultation is seen as a way of overcoming
obstacles and avoiding mistakes. Work is considered to be a source of independence and a means of
fostering personal growth, self-respect, satisfaction and self-fulfillment. IWE stresses creative work as a
source of happiness and accomplishment. Religiosity is found to be positively correlated with perception
on IWE. Furthermore, it was found that there is significant difference on perception of IWE between the
devout group and the casually religious group. The result provides support that religion is an important
dimension in Malaysian ethical behavior studies especially for Malays as recommended by various authors.
Keywords: Religion; religiosity; Islamic Work Ethics (IWE), Muslim personnel; Malaysian Army
Forces(MAF).
JEL Classification Codes: F31; F32.
1. Introduction
The relationship between the cultural environment and ethical perceptions has been widely explored (see
for example Hunt and Vitel, 1986; Choi, 2001; Srnka, 2004). Culture, through its components, elements
and dimensions, is seen to dictate the organizational structures, the micro-organizational behavior, and the
cognitive functioning of individuals, in such a way as to ultimately affect the judgment or decision made
(Choi, 2001).
An increasing amount of internationally conducted research identified the importance of good work ethic
requires of any individual human being working in any organization. Accordingly, there are numerous
definitions of work ethics (see for example Buchholz, 1978; Ford and Herren, 1995; Miller and Coady,
1984). In summary, work ethics can be defined as reliability and trustworthiness, willingness to learn,
responsibility for one’s actions, willingness to work, and willingness to work cooperatively.
In addition, culture is claimed to be the most influential factor towards one’s work ethics (Ali, 1988;
Yousef, 2000). As religion is a subset of culture, virtually all religious systems serve to influence culture by
providing the latent function of strengthening social bonds. Thus, religion is expected to have an impact on
work ethics of an individual. Islam as a religion that transcends national boundaries, with a definitive code
of ethical, commercial and personal behaviour, has the potential to influence the believer’s work ethics. In
Islam, the concept of work ethics has its origin in the Qur’an, the sayings and practice of Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon Him), who preached that hard work caused sins to be absolved and that “no
one eats better food than that which he eats out of his work”. Delener (1994) asserts that religiousness or
religiosity would influence behavior and decision making made by individuals. In addition, Wiebe and
ψ
Corresponding author. Rusnah Muhamad. Department of Financial Accounting and Auditing, Faculty of
Business and Accountancy, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Email:
[email protected].
Proceedings of Applied International Business Conference 2008
Fleck (1980) note that high level of religiosity can be indicative of a stronger sense of community,
belonging and moral standards.
Besides, the recent development of Islamic resurgence throughout the Muslim world has resulted in a
mounting religious commitment among Muslims. The phenomenon, according to Esposito (1991) has
resulted in an increasing emphasis on Islamic law or shariah1 as the main source of guidance in all aspects
of a Muslims life. Thus, the objectives of this paper are to examine the effect of Islamic Religiosity on the
perceived Islamic Work Ethics (IWE) among Malay Muslims in the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF). The
paper is organised as follows. The first section discusses the influence of religion (as an important element
of culture) towards IWE. In the second section, the concept of culture, religion and work ethics are
presented. A brief discussion on the religion of Islam is made in section 3. Section 4 analyses the impact of
the Islamic religion in the Malay society in Malaysia, followed by a brief introduction of MAF in section 5.
In section 6, the research framework and hypotheses of the study is explained. Section 7 provides a brief
explanation on research design, data collection and analysis, followed by findings of the study in section 8.
Finally, Section 9 concludes the paper.
2. Culture, religion and work ethics
Hofstede (1980) defines culture as the norms, values and beliefs of a particular group or community in a
particular area or geographic location, and shared by its members. According to Gerard (1988), culture
consists of social characteristics, including behaviour, ideas or beliefs that are shared within a group and
transmitted through the socialization process. More importantly, values are viewed as the deepest level of
culture and the most difficult to change, and in turn would affect social systems and institutions in a
particular country. According to Blamey and Braithwaite (1997), value is an enduring belief that a specific
mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse
mode or end-state of existence. Thus, values are the core set of beliefs and principles deemed to be
desirable (by groups) of individuals (Mason, 1992). Moreover, values are considered to be general beliefs
that define right or wrong (Rashid and Ho, 2003). Arguably, therefore, values could affect how individuals
perceive the form of behavior considered appropriate and effective in any given situation.
Religious practices of one type or another are aspects of all cultures (Houmanfar et al., 2001). Religion is
defined as a structure established for the guidance and comfort of persons who lack other means of
escaping from the exigencies of life (Houmanfar et al., 2001). Cloud (2000) describes religion as the
habitual expression of an interpretation of life, which deals with ultimate concerns and values. El-Ashker
(1987) maintains that the main objective of religion is to improve the system of life as a whole, boost the
spiritual development of individuals and rectify the socio-economic structure of society by moving it
towards social justice.
Hofstede (1980) contends that religion is a significant determinant of culture. Delener (1994) maintains
that religion, being an aspect of culture, has considerable influence on people’s values, habits and attitudes,
and it greatly influences lifestyle, which in turn affects individual decision behaviour. Sood and Nasu
(1995) who concur with this argument contend that religion is one of the critical elements in the cultural
environment since religion affects the way in which people behave (Sadler, 1970), and it is perceived that it
may affect an individual’s perception.
According to Delener (1994) religion represents a potentially significant element in many, if not all, the
problem solving and decision-making phases as it may affect how one understands the meaning of many
problems (Gorsuch and Smith, 1983; Spilca and Schmidt, 1983). Similarly, religious belief and practices
may guide individuals in the process of selecting solutions to problems (Delener, 1994). Specifically, the
Islamic religion that is considered as a complete way of life2, (Abdullah, 1999) regulates every aspect of the
life.
1
Shariah literally means “a course to the watering place”, “a resort of drinkers” or “the clear straight path”
(Zaidan, 1999). It implies a path leading to the source of a meaningful life - the Islamic path or way of life.
2
Narayanasamy and Andrew (2000) treated Islam as a living religion as it is a total system of living.
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Proceedings of Applied International Business Conference 2008
Furthermore, it is argued that religiousness (or religiosity), as an important value in the individual’s
cognitive structure, can influence an individual’s behaviour (Delener, 1994). Sociologists use the term
religiosity to describe an individual’s or group’s intensity of commitment to a religious belief system
(Renzetti and Curran, 1998). According to (Delener, 1994) the pro-religious3 individuals are likely to be
more dogmatic and more conservative than the non-religious subjects. Thus, it is expected that a more
religious person is more likely to align their behaviour to be compliant with their religious belief and
practices. It is further suggested that those who are strongly committed to their religion are both
attitudinally and behaviourally capable of making decisions consistent with moral conscience (Delener,
1994; Pargament et al., 1988).
R
E
L
I
G
I
O
N
Highly Religious
• More conservative
• More traditional
• More dependent
High Dogmatic
• Less tolerant
• Less flexible
• More rigid
Least Religious
• Less conservative
• Less traditional
• Less dependent
Low Dogmatic
• More tolerant
• More flexible
• Less rigid
Figure 1: Religiosity and decision-making (Source: Delener, 1994)
A simple paradigm showing the religious variable as a possible factor influencing the decision-makings
process as hypothesized in the study is illustrated in Figure 2.3. With regard to this study, it is expected
that the perception of the highly religious (the devout as used in this paper) respondents would be in
conformance with the ‘desirable’4 as outlined by shariah.
Miller and Coady (1989) define work ethics as reliability and trustworthiness, willingness to learn,
responsibility for one’s actions, willingness to work, and willingness to work cooperatively. Gilbert (1973)
states that the work ethics is the willingness to work that culminates in an application to the job and is
evident through satisfaction with the material rewards of work. Schab (1976) simply states that work ethics
is a willingness to stay employed while Miller and Coady (1989) focus on beliefs, values, and principles.
These attributes or characteristics guide the way individuals interpret and act upon their rights and
responsibilities within the work context at any given time (Ford & Herren, 1995).
3. Islam: a way of life
Islam literally means commitment, submission, obedience and surrender (Kharofa, 1992; Ahmad, 1977).
Muslims believe in the Unity of God, His Angels, the Holy Books, His Prophets, the Day of Judgement and
Predestination (Qada’ and Qadar). The Islamic concept of religion is unique in the broadest sense of word
(Abdallati, 1998). Islam is not a religion in the common, confining its scope to the private life of man. It is
a complete way of life or “ad-din” (Al-Attas, 1985). Islam encompasses all aspects of the existence of
man. It considers life in its totality – all virtue performed by man, individually and collectively, are
considered religious. Indeed, man is accountable to Allah for all his actions (Holy Qur’an 99:7-8). This
teaching of Islam requires every worker in an organization to perform his responsibility as a religious
requirement. Islam strongly opposes the view that there is a dichotomy between religious virtue and
quality performance of the entire workers in the workplace. Everything that an individual does in his life
must fulfill the religious requirement according to Islam. To strive for excellence is indeed a religious
virtue.
3
Terms used in this paper are devout and casually religious.
According to Hofstede (1980) “the desirables” is related to what is ethically right in accordance to the
ideology of a particular society. Therefore, in Islam, “the desirables” would be as delineated in shariah.
4
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Proceedings of Applied International Business Conference 2008
The Islamic world view provides a guideline for an individual and society to organize their work. Islam is
a network inter-relating the concepts of God, of humanity, of man’s relationship to God, of man’s position
and role in the universe, and of his relationship to his fellow men in all capacities. It prescribes that man,
individually and collectively, should organize themselves on the bases of the values of truth, justice and
brotherhood. This approach of Islam can contribute to lasting success.
The IWE emphasizes cooperation in work, and consultation is seen as a way of overcoming obstacles and
avoiding mistakes (Yousef, 2001). Social relations at work are encouraged in order to meet one’s need and
establish equilibrium in one’s individual and social life. In addition, work is considered to be a source of
independence and a means of fostering personal growth, self-respect, satisfaction and self-fulfillment. The
IWE stresses creative work as a source of happiness and accomplishment. Hard work is seen as a virtue,
and those who work hard are more likely to go ahead in life. Conversely not working hard is seen to cause
failure in life (Ali, 1988). Also, according to Ali (1988) the value of work in IWE is derived from the
accompanying intentions rather than from the results of work. It emphasizes that justice and generosity in
the workplace are necessary conditions for society’s welfare and that no one should be denied his full
wage. Besides constant hard work to meet one’s responsibilities, competition is encouraged in order to
improve quality. In brief, IWE argues that life without work has no meaning and engagement in economic
activities is an obligation (Yousef, 2001).
4. The Malay society and the Islamic religion in Malaysia
In Malaysia, Islam is inextricably bound with Malay identity. In the constitution, being “Malay” means,
among other things, professing the religion of Islam. It is a pervading identity marker that permeates the
day-to-day lives of the majority of the population, especially Malay Muslims.
Malaysia is a multiracial country, comprising three major ethnic groups namely the Malays, Chinese and
Indians. The Malays account for nearly 60 percent of the total population of 22 million peoples (Rashid
and Ho, 2003). The Federal Constitution (Article160 [2], states that one of the main criteria in the
definition of a “Malay” is that he or she must be a Muslim (Mutalib, 1990; Suffian et al., 1978).
Islam is claimed to be the most important factor in Malay identity as a source of solidarity among members
of the community and a form of ethnic differentiation from non-Malays (Gjelsvik, 2001). Accordingly, he
argues that Islam provides the social fabric of Malay society in Malaysia. However, before the spread of
the Islamic religion in Malaysia the Malay society is already embedded in its “traditional” norms, practices
and systems of social law, or adat (Gjelsvik, 2001; Kling, 1995; Mutalib, 1990). The phenomenon,
according to Mutalib (1990) has resulted in a kind of hybrid or variegated Islamic doctrine, consisting of a
heavy mixture of both Islamic and un-Islamic practices.
5. The Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF)
The MAF today consists of three distinct services, namely the Army, the Royal Malaysian Navy and the
Royal Malaysian Air Force. Most Armed Forces in developed nations such as the United States and Britain
had acknowledged that the spiritual strength is one of the main military qualities that need to be considered
by most commanders. Field Marshal Lord Montegomery had said; “The real strength of one military force
is dependable on the spiritual strength of the soldiers, their fighting spirit, spirit de corps and high military
discipline” (Gunther, 1984). In the Islamic world especially throughout the era of the Caliphs, during the
time when the Arabs was a strong and formidable force, the bravery of the Islamic warriors was attributed
among others to their spiritual strength. It molded them into a highly discipline, loyal and honest soldiers,
not only to their leaders but also to their religion.
Thus, realizing the need and importance of building spiritual strength in soldiers, the MAF Religious Corps
(Kor Agama Angkatan Tentera or better known as KAGAT) was formed on 16 April 1985. The main
objective of the religious activity in the Army is to develop cohesion and sustaining the moral values of its
personnel. Therefore, it is the aim of this study to examine whether or not these activities have successfully
inculcating the work values that are in line with the shariah.
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6. The research framework
The framework for this study is adapted from Delener (1994). As shown in Figure 2, the model indicates
that the level of religiosity has an impact on the perceived IWE. Various studies found out that religiosity
has got an impact on ethical decision making of individuals (see for example, Rusnah, 2007; 2005a; 2005b;
Belal and Rusnah, 2007; Rusnah and Abdul Mumin, 2006; Rusnah and Susela, 2006). In this study, the
perception on IWE of the two distinct groups known as the devout group and the casually religious group is
examined.
Therefore, the hypotheses tested in this study are as follows:
H1 – There is a positive relationship between religiosity and IWE.
H2 –The perception of the Devout Muslims Army Personnel on IWE is significantly difference from
the perception of the Casually Religious Malay Muslims Army Personnel.
The Devout
Islamic
Religiosity
Perception
on
The Casually
Religious
IWE
Figure 2: The research framework (Adapted from Delener, 1994)
7. Research design, data collection and method of analysis
The religious commitment (or religiosity) examined in this study is from the context of the Islamic religion.
Instrument for Islamic religiosity is adopted from Rusnah (2006). Meanwhile, instrument for IWE is
adopted from Ali (2001). The stated hypothesis will be tested using the Pearson correlation and
independent samples t-test analysis by running the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software.
For this purpose, the respondents are categorized into two groups namely the devout group and the casual
religious group.
The questionnaire for this study is divided into three parts. Section A is related to the personal background
of respondents, Section B is related to the IWE based on the IWE scale developed by Ali (2001). Finally,
Section C measures the religiosity score of the respondents adopted from Rusnah (2006). Questions on
IWE (section B) were presented in a 5-point Likert scale, 1 being “unethical” and 5 being “ethical”. As
such the higher the score a respondent gets for this section, the more he is in line with the IWE. The
religious questions (Section C) are presented in a 5-point Likert scale (1 being “less religious” and 5 being
“more religious”) and the behavior question in a semantic differential scale (either in the form of strong
believer – strong disbeliever and very religious – very unreligious). The higher score indicates that a
respondent has stronger adherence to the Islamic religion.
A total of 500 Muslim personnels from various unit of Malaysian Army throughout Peninsular Malaysia
took part in the survey. Once gathered, the data were tested for normality and reliability. An examination of
the values of skewness and kurtosis indicate that all items are reasonably normally distributed. The
Cronbach alpha coefficient for the IWE and religiosity factors ranging from 0.938 and 0.674.
8. Results and discussion
Table I presents the demographic profiles of respondents. The majority are from non-officers ranking and
more than 50% are from the central and southern zone. Nearly 70% of respondents belong to either combat
or training establishment unit and almost 80% of respondents are between 18 to 35 years old. More than
80% of respondents have academic qualification in either SRP or SPM. Nearly 70% of them have served
the army between 5 to 15 years and more than half of respondents are married.
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Table 1: Demographic profiles of respondents
Demographic variables (N=470)
Rank
Officer
Non-officers
Zone of Unit
North Zone
Eastern Zone
Central Zone
Southern Zone
Type of Unit
Combat Unit
Combat Support Unit
Service Support Unit
Training Establishment
Age
18 To 25 Years Old
26 To 30 Years Old
31 To 35 Years Old
36 To 40 Years Old
41 Years And Above
Academic Qualification
SRP and Equivalent
SPM and Equivalent
STPM and Equivalent
Diploma and Equivalent
Others
Duration of Service
Less Than 5 Years
Between 5 To 10 Years
Between 11 To 15 Years
Between 16 To 20 Years
More Than 21 Years
Marital Status
Bachelor
Married
Divorcee
Frequency
Percent
67
403
14.3
85.7
81
91
115
183
17.2
19.4
24.5
38.9
200
82
84
104
42.6
17.4
17.8
22.2
136
129
84
95
26
28.9
27.4
17.9
20.2
5.5
149
260
9
32
20
31.7
55.4
1.9
6.8
4.2
111
127
86
120
26
23.6
27.0
18.3
25.5
5.5
155
311
4
33.0
66.2
0.9
The level of religiosity and the level of IWE of respondents were determined by using percentile (Rusnah,
2006) whereby the upper and the lower thirds of the distribution are identified as the devout/high IWE and
casually religious/low IWE. As for religiosity, respondents with scores of 106 and above were labeled as
devout and those with score of 95 and less were considered as casually religious. 31.7% (149 respondents)
of respondents belong to the devout group while 33.6% (158 respondents) belong to the casual religious
group. Meanwhile for IWE, respondents with scores of 215 and above were labeled as high IWE and those
with score of 194 and less were considered as low IWE. Both groups, high IWE and low IWE are equally
represented by 29% (137 respondents respectively for each group) of the total respondents. Only these two
extreme groups of respondents will be considered for further analysis.
The result of the chi-square analysis in Table 2 comparing between the devout group and the casually
religious group shows that there are significant difference in all variables except for the academic
qualification. More officers are found to be more religious as compare to non-officers while army
personnel from the Eastern and Southern zones are more religious as compare to the other two zones. Army
personnel from service support and training establishment units are more committed to the teaching of
Islam as compared to personnel from the other two units. In terms of age group, personnel with the age
ranging from 31 to 40 years old are found to be more religious, while those who have served between 16 to
20 years are found to be more religious. Those who are married are also found to be more religious as
compare to bachelors and divorcees.
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Table 2: Devout and casually religious–a demographic comparison
Demographic Variables
Rank (χ2 significant, p = 0.032)
Officer (N=67)
Non-officer (N=403)
Zone of Unit (χ2 significant, p = 0.000)
Northern Zone (N=81)
Eastern Zone (N=91)
Central Zone (N=115)
Southern Zone (N=183)
Type of Unit (χ2 significant, p = 0.001)
Combat Unit (N=200)
Combat Support Unit (N=82)
Service Support Unit (N=84)
Training Establishment (N=104)
Age (χ2 significant, p = 0.007)
18 To 25 Years Old (N=136)
26 To 30 Years Old (N=129)
31 To 35 Years Old (N=84)
36 To 40 Years Old (N=95)
41 Years And Above (N=26)
Academic Qualification (χ2 not significant, p = 0.099)
SRP and Equivalent (N=149)
SPM and Equivalent (N=260)
STPM and Equivalent (N=9)
Diploma and Equivalent (N=32)
Others (N=20)
Years of Service (χ2 significant, p = 0.038)
Less Than 5 Years (N=111)
Between 5 To 10 Years (N=127)
Between 11 To 15 Years (N=86)
Between 16 To 20 Years (N=120)
More Than 21 Years (N=26)
Marital Status (χ2 significant, p = 0.004)
Bachelor (N=155)
Married (N=311)
Divorcee (N=4)
Casually Religious
Freq
%
Devout
Freq
%
15
134
22.4 (3.4)
33.3 (28.5)
30
128
44.8 (6.4)
3183 (27.2)
39
27
44
39
48.1 (8.3)
29.7 (5.7)
38.3 (9.4)
21.3 (8.3)
13
33
31
81
16.0 (2.8)
36.3 (7.0)
30.0 (6.6)
44.3 (17.2)
76
34
16
23
38.0 (16.2)
41.5 (7.2)
19.0 (3.4)
22.1 (4.9)
60
22
39
37
30.0 (12.8)
26.8 (4.7)
46.4 (8.3)
35.6 (7.9)
48
46
28
20
7
35.3 (10.2)
35.7 (9.8)
33.3 (6.0)
21.1(4.3)
26.9 (1.5)
39
38
29
47
3
28.7 (8.3)
29.5 (1.7)
34.5 (6.2)
49.5 (10.0)
11.5 (0.006)
57
79
1
5
6
38.3 (12.1)
30.4 (16.8)
11.1 (0.001)
15.6 (0.01)
0.3 (0.01)
42
94
5
10
5
28.2 (8.9)
36.1 (20.0)
55.6 (0.01)
31.3 (0.2)
25.0 (0.01)
40
44
32
23
10
36.0 (0.9)
34.6 (9.4)
37.2 (6.8)
19.2 (4.9)
38.5 (0.02)
26
46
29
45
10
23.4 (0.55)
36.2 (9.8)
33.7 (6.2)
37.5 (9.6)
38.5 (0.02)
66
82
1
42.6 (0.14)
26.4 (17.4)
25.0 (0.001)
41
113
2
26.5 (0.9)
36.3 (24.0)
50.0 (0.004)
Note: Percentages given in the bracket are percentage within the respective demographic variables.
The result of Pearson correlation analysis as given in Table 3 reveals that there is a positive relationship
between the level of religiosity and IWE, thus supporting H1. This findings is consistence with result
obtained in various ethical decision making conducted on Muslims in Malaysia scenario (e.g., Rusnah,
2007; 2005a; 2005b; Belal and Rusnah, 2007; Rusnah and Abdul Mumin, 2006; Rusnah and Susela, 2006).
Table 3: Pearson correlation analysis
TOTMARS
Sig. (2-tailed)
TOTIWE
.000
N
354
Pearson Correlation
.556(**)
Sig. (2-tailed)
.000
N
383
Sig. (2-tailed)
N
Note: ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
104
Mean
100.5104
SD (+)
10.02176
Proceedings of Applied International Business Conference 2008
Table 4 presents the result of the independent sample t-test between the devout and the casually religious
group in terms of their perception on IWE. This finding provides support for H2. It was found that the mean
score for the devout group is higher than the casually religious group, thus reflecting that the devout is
more committed towards IWE as compared to the casually religious group. In the other words, the devout
Muslim respondents are more likely to behave in line with the shariah, and thus, provide support for the
Delener’s model.
Table 4: Independent sample T-test analysis
t
P
Mean
Islamic
Religiosity/Islamic
Work Ethic (TOTMARS2/
TOTIWE2)
12.597
0.000
Casually religious =
1.33;
Devout = 2.67
Eta square
0.455
Table 5: Simple regression analysis
Model Summary
R Square
R
.597(a) .357
Coefficients
Adjusted R Square
.355
Unstandardized
Coefficients
Std. Error of the Estimate
13.92850
Standardized
Coefficients
t
B
Std. Error
Beta
(Constant)
83.840
7.860
10.575
TOTMARS
1.046
0.078
0.597
13.452
Note: Predictors (Constant), TOTMARS. Dependent variable: TOTIWE.
Sig.
.000
.000
The result of simple regression analysis is depicted in Table 5. The regression coefficient for religious
commitment (83.83) indicates that Muslim army personnel who are more religious are more committed
towards IWE than did those with lower levels of religiosity score. In other words, a positive relationship
exists between religiosity score and perceived IWE. The adjusted R 2 value is 0.355, indicating that the
independent variables, i.e. the Islamic Religiosity explained 35.5% of the variances in the dependent
variable, i.e. perceived IWE. The other 64.5% is unexplained due to other unknown factors. The linear
regression model is given as follows:
Y = 83.840 + 1.046 (Islamic Religiosity)
9. Conclusion
The study suggests that the degree of religiosity has significant influence on the perception on IWE among
the MAF Muslim personnels, whereby the devout personnels are found to be committed to IWE as
compared to the casually religious personnel. However, it only explains 35.5% of the variation in the
perception of IWE among Muslim army personnels. There are other factors which are not examined in this
study that possibly affect the variation in the perception of IWE. As noted by Jamal Uddin (2003) it is not
easy to locate societies where the Islamic values, moral and ethical principles are truly implemented in
every sphere of life. The findings reported in this study are consistent with Hassan’s (1986) observation of
Malaysian Muslims. According to him, Islam does not influence all aspects of the behavior of Malay
Muslims in Malaysia.
According to Alhabsyi (1993) the majority of Malaysian Muslims would abide by most of the dictates of
their religion in so far as their consumption goes. According to him, they are very particular as far as
consuming the lawful items are concerned. For example, the recent issue of two factories in Selayang
producing sausages using pig intestines has witnessed mounting dissatisfaction and retaliation from
Muslims.
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Future research may be extended to Malaysian Muslims in other sectors so that comparative analysis could
be conducted. It will be useful to conduct a comparative study on Muslim societies from different parts of
the world.
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