Muslim-friendly cruise leisure in the Global South: toward a decolonial framework

The global leisure landscape is being transformed by the rapid expansion of Muslim-friendly tourism and the global expansion of cruise markets into Asian and Middle Eastern regions. However, the Eurocentric and secular assumptions dominate cruise tourism scholarship, and the culturally and religiously based leisure in the Global South is ignored. This commentary highlights that Muslim-friendly cruising is more than a niche-market adaptation; it indicates a different way of perceiving cruise leisure, influenced by Islamic values, community orientations, and Southern epistemologies. Drawing on the existing literature in halal tourism research, critical cruise research, and decolonial leisure theory, this study emphasises how Western-centric approaches have dominated cruise studies and why a more pluralistic approach is necessary. To answer, the paper proposes the Decolonial Muslim-Friendly Cruise Leisure (DMFCL) Framework, grounded in three pillars: faith-based leisure experience, Global South knowledge centrality, and ethical redistribution of cruise benefits. The framework provides conceptual guidance for repositioning cruise tourism in culturally responsive and socially equitable ways, especially in emerging destinations such as Penang, Malaysia.