Islamic marketing paradoxes: a way to understand it again …

Purpose This paper aims to provide insights on Islamic marketing (IM) through discussing a number of controversial questions and paradoxes to understand deeply this new wave. Design/methodology/approach The paper is conceptual in nature. It is based on several assumptions of IM concepts and implications that were originated from literature. Couple of arguments were addressed deeply: the contradiction between conventional and IM, and the success of the non-Muslim companies before the emerging of IM, the importance of IM in the current era, the nature of the lens that is used in understanding IM and Islam as marketing tool or IM as a tool to promote Islam. Extensive debates were introduced through critical analysis and comparisons between various perspectives. Findings The paper presents the following key arguments: there is no apparent difference between conventional marketing and IM, as it is built on the core conventional marketing principles besides the Muslim Shariah and practices. Practitioners should focus on understanding the Muslim markets in context to particular practices and perceptions of that specific market. Islam does not need to be promoted by IM as huge sources are available; moreover, Islam is not a mere marketing tool, but a backbone to prevail the IM field. Originality/value The paper contributes to this new trend by introducing and analyzing paradoxes of IM. The discussion of the proposed controversial questions opens the door for new understanding of different perspectives for IM.