<Special Feature “Socio-economic Impacts of Islam on Capitalism, Civil Society, and Modernity”>Rethinking Islamic Leisure from Market Islam/L'Islam de Marché: Development of Moral Communication in the Neoliberal Piety

Abstract

From the beginning of the 21st century, a new lifestyle based on Islamic principles has been widely accepted among Muslim communities worldwide. This new ‘Islamic lifestyle market’ illustrates the transformation of the social life of contemporary Muslims. With the international development of the Islamic lifestyle market, various researchers have conceptualised Islamic leisure and lifestyle regarding consumer behaviour and marketing analysis. However, the development of the social context of leisure in the contemporary Islamic lifestyle market has not been considered in previous studies. Instead, recent studies in Islamic lifestyle have posited the significance of the conceptual framework of ‘market Islam’ to locate market practices and marked design of Islamic leisure in the social context embedded in contemporary Islamic lifestyles. Therefore, the social context of the Islamic leisure market should be considered in contemporary Muslim societies from the perspective of the ‘market Islam’ framework in the article. In conclusion, the article notes that the development of the Islamic leisure market has promoted moral communication through market practices among stakeholders. This is the creation of a new Islamic moral sphere in which individual leisure practices have strongly contributed to enhancing the morality and social welfare in recreation and entertainment activities in various fields.