DETERMINANTS OF ATTITUDE TOWARDS ISLAMIC FINANCING AMONG HALAL-CERTIFIED MICRO AND SMEs : A PROPOSED CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Abstract

Islamic finance and Halal are Shariah-compliant business sectors that share similar values, market and principle. Despite similarities, there has been disconnection between Islamic finance and Halalsectors. In Malaysia, the disconnection is witnessed by low penetration of Islamic financing among Halal industry players.Being a true Halal operator, business must not only focus in Halal production but importantly finance the business in Islamic way of financing; however, this has not been achieved. The need to merge Islamic finance and Halal sectors by making Islamic financing part of the Halal production is essential.This study aims at investigating and determining factors that influence the attitude towards Islamic financing using Theory-of-Planned Behavior. The research findings will be a platform to unravel the belief factors that influence the formation of attitude of the Halal-certified product entrepreneurs towards Islamic financing and their intention to adopt Islamic financing in business.