A Preliminary Investigation of Islamic Websites' Design Features that Influence Use A Proposed Model

8/14/2019 A Preliminary Investigation of Islamic Websites' Design Features that Influence Use A Proposed Model

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The Electronic Journal on Information Systems in Developing Countries

http://www.ejisdc.org

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A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF ISLAMIC WEBSITES DESIGN FEATURES

THAT INFLUENCE USE: A PROPOSED MODEL

Mansur Aliyu

[email protected]

Murni Mahmud

[email protected]

Abu Osman Md Tap

[email protected]

Rasheed Mohammad Nassr

[email protected]

Department of Information Systems

Kulliyyah of Information and Communication Technology

International Islamic University Malaysia

P.O. Box 10, 50728 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

ABSTRACT

The growing availability of the Internet and advances in the use of technology among

Muslims have led to an increase in the number of websites with an Islamic content.Currently, there is an emerging trend in the improvement of the design and quality of Islamic

websites. Islamic websites serve as a medium for Islamic organizations, scholars, and

individuals to contribute and participate in several online activities. This research is drawn

from the deep understanding that website design is a major factor affecting the use of

websites by Muslim users. We therefore investigate the most important design features that

influence Muslims to use websites in learning about Islam, as an alternative to the traditional

face-to-face learning from scholars and books. Website design is measured by functionality,

navigation, interactivity, attractiveness, and organizational features, and website use by the

extent to which frequent use is influenced by the websites design features. An online survey

was conducted from November to December 2012. 89 usable responses were collected from

faculty members and students at the International Islamic University Malaysia. The

participants have experience in using Islamic websites. They were guided to the surveywebsite via the faculty students mailing list and Facebook group page. The findings indicate

that website attractiveness, functionality, navigation, organizational information, and

security/privacy are the most important factors influencing the use of Islamic websites.

Interactivity design features were found to be least significant in influencing Muslim users to

use Islamic websites for religious purposes. The majority of the Muslim users visit Islamic

websites to search for information, seek for scholars opinions regarding personal

issues/problems (Q&A), and learn about Quran and Hadith. The results of the study are

valuable indicators for the direction of future research, and also suggest guidelines for the

successful development and adoption of Islamic websites.

Keywords: Islamic website, design features, website use, user perceptions

1. INTRODUCTION

Seeking Islamic information and knowledge from online sources is now widespread. Equally,

many Islamic organizations and scholars are using the Internet to spread their teachings and

services by providing a vast amount of religious content online. Creating a well-designed

website will attract more online users and encourage them to keep visiting the website.

Islamic websites can be considered as websites whose main objective is to convey the true

teachings and practice of Islam online, and to promote peace and understanding among

different religions, groups, and communities. Simply, they are a means of conveying Islamic


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teachings and practice through the Internet. They provide comprehensive information about

Islam to their visitors, to enable them clarify their misconceptions, misinterpretations and

misunderstandings about Islam and Muslims.

Generally, Islamic websites provide many online services related to the Quran, the

Sunna, the Hajj, lectures and sermons, radio and television channels, chatrooms, Islamic

screensavers, eCards, advertisement, quizzes, games, donating online, ordering products, etc.

Most interestingly, these services are guided by an Islamic etiquette (Bruckner, 2001). In

addition, online fatwas (scholars opinions in response to users questions) are one of the

most important services since the start of their popularity in the early 2000s. The interactive

component of the Internet has made onlinefatwaservices not only possible, but also easy and

accessible. Such virtual services, however, impact certain Islamic beliefs and practices

(Bruckner, 2001). For example, virtual online fatwas are different from the traditional

fatwasin which both the questioner and the scholar are from the same environment and have

meet face-to-face. In the cyber-Islamic environment, it does not matter where the questioner

(website user) or the scholar comes from.

Nevertheless, the question as to whether using the Internet and website is halal

(permissible) or haram (forbidden) has been addressed by many websites and scholars.

Specifically, IslamiCity.com a popular Islamic website based in the USA, holds the opinionthat the Internet is a tool that can be used for good or for bad purposes (No. 294, 492, 3252,

3468, 3495), which means the Internet in itself is not haram (Bruckner, 2001). Therefore,

using the Internet for online activities with sincere intention to restrict oneself to what is

permitted and avoid what is prohibited in Islam is permissible.

Regarding computer images, IslamiCity issued the fatwa that they do not fall under

the Islamic prohibition of images (No. 829); therefore, Islamic web developers are permitted

to use lawful website design features to make their websites functional and attractive.

However, conversation with the opposite sex in chatrooms is prohibited, except where there

is a true and sincere intention to get married. Even so, sending photographs to an Internet

fianc(e) is forbidden according to the fatwaissued via the Internet by Shaykh Muhammad

ibn Saalih a l-Uthaymeen (Islam - Q&A, No. 4027, Bruckner, 2001). Bruckner (2001) arguedthat:

A multitude of competing Islamic opinions are distributed via

internet. In one of its responses, IslamiCity points out that the

dynamic change of websites is a limiting factor to the

verification of the authenticity of information, stating that

IslamiCity does not act as a watchdog over all material (No.

2055). With the possibilities of the internet, IslamiCity builds

not only an Islamic institution but also creates a community of

virtually connected Muslims.

Hence, this dynamic and uncontrolled nature of Islamic websites is motivating some

researchers to examine various aspects (i.e. their design, information architecture, contents,and organizational objectives). Researchers who attempt to study Islamic websites differently

view them as community-based (Bunt, 2000, 2003), organization-based (Bunt, 2003; Daniels,

2004; Adhami, 2008), culture-based (Wan Abdul Rahim et al., 2008), information-based

(Ibrahim et al., 2010), Quranic-based (Noordin & Othman, 2006; Bakeri, 2010), Hadith-

based (Nor Shahriza & Norzelatun, 2005) and fatwa (scholars opinion) (Bruckner, 2001;

Bunt, 2003; Sisler, 2009). Moreover, some researchers consider all websites about Islam as

Islamic websites, and as such they neither classify nor categorize them (Suleman, 2005;


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Wan Abdul Rahim et al., 2006; Aliyu et al., 2010; Shafie et al., 2010; Mahmud et al., 2011;

Ishak et al., 2011; Mahmud et al., 2012). In this study, we maintain the generic name Islamic

website to represent websites that focus solely on providing information about Islamic

teachings and practice (e.g. www.islamicity.com, www.islamtoday.net, islamicweb.net,

www.islamonline.net, islamicway.com.

Due to the rapid deployment of Islamic websites in recent years it is important to

explore the features influencing their use, especially the design features that make them

attractive to users. Hence, the objective of this study is to identify the most important design

features that influence Islamic website use, categorize these features into several

factors/constructs, and use these factors to build a model for Islamic website use. The model

is intended to provide a mechanism that will enable website owners and designers to

incorporate appropriate features in their website development and operations. This paper is

divided into several sections: literature review, research model and hypotheses, research

method, results, findings, conclusions, and research limitations.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

Several authors have proposed and investigated different empirical frameworks and models

for Islamic website user interfaces (Wan Abdul Rahim et al., 2008) content (Suleman, 2005)and evaluation. Others have investigated the benefits of these websites to Muslims (Kasmani

et al., 2008; Noordin & Othman, 2008) and Muslim users perceptions towards them (Ibrahim

et al., 2008, 2010; Wan Abdul Rahim et al., 2008). A few have developed initial

measurement scales for evaluation (Ishak et al. 2011; Mahmud et al., 2010; Wan Abdul

Rahim et al., 2008; Suleman, 2005), although most of these scales needs to be further

developed, restructured, retested and revalidated.

This has led to a growing interest in other approaches that are used to conduct website

evaluations at all levels of implementation and user behaviour. Since online Islamic activities

have become a reality by providing opportunities and challenges for both owners and users,

many Muslims have increasingly accepted blogs and online forums when seeking

information about Islam online. However, there is a need to understand why Muslim users

adopt such media as an alternative to learn about Islam (e.g.sharia, fatwa, etc.).

A religious website can be considered as a group of features that convey the

fundamental principles of that religion to its followers. Thus, Islamic websites use several

features to convey the messages of Islam to online users and design features are considered

most important to immediately capture the visitors attention. Design features refer to website

performance indicators as perceived by users. They are evaluated according to their

attractiveness, functionality, interactivity, navigation, organizational information, and

security/privacy features.

2.1 Use of Islamic Websites

Researchers have demonstrated that use is a key variable in explaining the impact of a

website. Seddon (1997) pointed out that system use is a good proxy for IS success when theuse is not mandatory. DeLone and McLean (2003) argued that system quality affects

subsequent use which will in turn determine the benefits that accrue to the business

(Ghandour, Benwell, and Deans, 2007).

In online-Islam, website users are Muslim; use is voluntary. The nature of the

websites use and the frequency of usage are significant indicators of website effectiveness,

which will not only benefit the user but also will assist the organization in improving the

quality of their website. Therefore, measures of use should be determined with reference to


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frequent or repeat visits, the length of time, the types of activity performed, good experience

and feelings, and the pattern of their navigation (DeLone and McLean 2004).

DeLone and McLean (2003) argued that website features impacts subsequent use

and generates user experience. In the case of Muslim online users, their use is personal and

voluntary. In website evaluation the nature and volume of use are both important measures of

success (DeLone and McLean, 2003). Therefore website usage reflects how users are using

the website (Ghandour, Benwell, and Deans, 2007) and whether usage helps in positively

changing users religious behaviour.

A common method of measuring website use is by conducting user research and

asking users of about their experiences with the website. Such an approach is often costly and

time consuming (Weischedel and Huizingh, 2006). Another method is to conduct a survey

(paper or web-based questionnaire) or an experiment, asking users to carry out some task that

will indicate their perceptions towards the website. This study is an online survey of Muslim

online users with experience using Islamic websites for various activities.

2.2 Framework for Islamic Website Evaluation

This framework for Islamic websites evaluation was developed by Suleman (2005) to

determine whether website quality is associated with user satisfaction. He explored bothdesign factors (navigation, interactivity, accessibility) and content factors (legitimacy,

relevance, accuracy, authority, objectivity) to develop simple ranking criteria for Islamic

websites. Employing 12 postgraduate students to evaluate 40 selected Islamic websites, he

found that quality features were strongly associated with user satisfaction.

This framework was then adapted and tested (Aliyu et al., 2010) in evaluating 50

popular Islamic websites. Two factors (design attractiveness and content reliability) were

added to the framework, as their relative importance was perceived by the evaluators (Aliyu

et al. 2010; Mahmud et al. 2011). In addition, 78 Muslim Internet users further explored

design and content features of Islamic websites (Mahmud et al., 2012). The findings show

that quality website features create a positive impression on users and subsequently lead to

satisfaction. Hence, we found this framework suitable for exploring the Islamic websitedesign features that influence their use.

3. RESEARCH MODEL AND HYPOTHESES

3.1 Research Model

Based on previous research (see Appendix), this study proposes a model for evaluating the

use of Islamic websites (Fig. 1). The model determines which design features affect the use

of Islamic websites and which of these features can be used to enhance their quality.


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Figure 1. Islamic Website Use Model

The model considers key design features that influence use: functionality, navigation,

interactivity, attractiveness, organization, and security/privacy. The model provides a

foundation for understanding Islamic website use from the users perspective, which includes

frequent use, long-term use, highly dependent use, and good experience of use.

3.2 Research Hypotheses

Design features are the recognized performance elements of any website. They characterize

websites for attractiveness, efficiency and effectiveness. Consistent with general website

design criteria, the quality of Islamic websites depends on how functional, structured,

interactive, and attractive they are to the users. Good design features have become

increasingly important for evaluating users satisfaction with Islamic websites. The central

design categories used to evaluate the design quality are functionality, navigation,

interactivity, attractiveness, organization, and security/privacy (Daniels, 2004; Suleman,

2005; Wan Abdul Rahim et al., 2009; Mahmud et al., 2010). The identified design features

are summarized in Table 1.

A functional website can be described as accessible, easy to navigate, attractive,secure, and attracting frequent visitors. Website accessibility means providing all the

functions needed by the visitor to find information (Loiacono, 2002). Therefore, a well

presented and usable website promotes online presence and increases the number of visitors

(Thelwall, 2001). However, for a website to attract more visitors it must portray good quality

design features that are appealing to prospective users. Various researchers have investigated

critical website design features that encourage potential new users to keep exploring the site

and make repeat visits.

Furthermore, the ease of website access has a significant impact on website use that is

crucial in creating an increasing organizational online presence. Dreze and Zufryden (2004)

suggest that navigation is a precursor to website traffic and can be enhanced through placing

links on other websites related links. Navigation permits users to find the informationhe/she is looking for (Wan Abdul Rahim et al., 2008). Users obtain information using as few

as possible steps; the design consistently provides hyperlinks on every web page, no broken

links, and relevant hyperlinks (Katerattanakul, 2002). As such, publicizing websites through

online directories, search engines, and creating related links to their home page (Dholakia and

Rego, 1998) provides greater interactivity and functionality. This will help the website to

attract more visitors who can easily become repeat users, resulting in a positive user

experience (Saeed et al., 2002).

AttractivenessFunctionalityInteractivityNavigationOrganizationSecurity/privac

IslamicWebsiteUse


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Interestingly, previous studies assessed navigation and service interaction design

features and attractive design features from a user perspective using eQual measures; they

were found to be highly rated by users (Stockdale, et al., 2005). A good website is claimed to

provide multiple navigation facilities to satisfy various users website layout, buttons/links,

and menus. Website attractiveness consists of the issues of whether web pages are fun to read

and subjectively pleasing (Ghandour, Benwell, and Deans, 2007). Kim et al. (2003) consider

an attractive website to contain interesting features, be visually well-designed, and wherevisitors feel pleasure on each visit. Sutcliffe (2002) studied website aesthetics and content

attractiveness and found that both are important for users to judge website design quality.

Meanwhile, due to the non-face-to-face nature of interaction in online religious activities,

users are found to be more hesitant and display a high level of uncertainty about Islamic

website content. As a result, security design features have been found to increase the

trustworthiness of a website, which in turn leads to improved website usage (Belanger et al.,

2002).

Another important element of Islamic websites is confidentiality. Personal

information leaks can cause a negative reaction towards a website. Lack of information

privacy and security is one of the main features that might influence users to avoid using a

website. Some of the central issues might be stolen information, lack of privacy protection,unauthorized copying of intellectual information/property, the leaking of personal

information, and attacks from hackers, viruses, etc. (Kim, Oh, Shin and Chae, 2009).

Therefore, the lack of privacy can have a serious effect on the use of Islamic websites.

Website organizational features include ownership, partnership, sponsorship, certification,

and about & contact us information (names, address, phone numbers, e-mail).

Generally, users may perceive an Islamic website as having a strong positive impact

on the performance of religious activities. This perception may emanate from website design

features. Accordingly, it can be argued that design features may have a significant impact on

the users opinion and website use. Thus, we propose the following hypotheses:

H1. Attractiveness is positively associated with use of Islamic websites.

H2. Functionality is positively associated with use of Islamic websites.

H3. Interactivity is positively associated with use of Islamic websites.

H4. Navigation is positively associated with use of Islamic websites.

H5. Organization is positively associated with use of Islamic websites.

H6. Security/privacy is positively associated with use of Islamic websites.

4. RESEARCH METHOD

4.1 Research Instrument

The instrument for this study was developed from the existing literature summarized in Table

1. All the 86 website design features identified were modified to suit the current study. The

website use items were adapted from information system research by DeLone and McLean

(2003) and Kim, Oh, Shin and Chae (2009). In order to confirm the clarity, and identify any

possible ambiguity in the wording of the instrument, two independent evaluators who had

experience evaluating Islamic websites were used. Thereafter, a pilot study with 10

postgraduate students was conducted. The results provide valuable suggestions to add,

remove, reword some items, as well as restructure the overall instrument.


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testing theories in the early stages of development (Head and Hassanein, 2007; Gefen et al.,

2000; Fornell and Cha, 1994). According to Fornell and Bookstein (1982), PLS has an

advantage over similar analysis approaches as it can be used without meeting the sample size

requirements or specific scale measurements of nominal, ordinal, or interval. A model a with

large number of variables and a limited sample size such as in this study can also be analyzed

using PLS. Additionally, PLS can be used to analyze a model with weak theoretical

establishments or relationships between variables (Falk & Miller, 1992).

5. RESULTS

5.1 Demographics

Table 1 below shows the respondents demographics. The respondents include faculty

members of IIUM (11.2%), postgraduate (76.4%) and undergraduate (12.4%) students from

the Faculty of Information and Communication Technology. Male respondents outnumbered

female respondents. Most respondents were in their 30s, and the majority were from Nigeria

and Malaysia. Most spend 4-7 hours on the Internet daily, and at least 15-30 minutes using

Islamic website(s).

Table 1: Respondents Demographic Characteristics

Demographics

characteristics

N % Islamic website experience N % Country N %

Gender Male

Female

61

28

68.5

31.5

Age 15 25

25 40

40+

8

65

16

9.0

73.0

18.0

Education

level

Undergraduate

Postgraduate

Faculty

11

68

10

12.4

76.4

11.2

Reasons

for using

Islamic

website

(multiple

choice

answers)

Convenience

References

Curiosity

Time saving

Rich Islamic

contents

Easy access to

scholars

Info. not

available offlineOthers

16

36

48

25

55

28

36

8

18

40

54

28

62

31

40

9

Hours

spent on

Internet

daily

0 3 hours

4 7 hours

8 11 hours

12+

23

41

19

6

25.8

46.1

21.3

6.7

Minutes

spent

using

Islamic

website(s)

010 minutes

1120 minutes

2130 minutes

31+ minutes

13

27

27

22

14.6

30.3

30.3

24.7

Activities

performed

on

Islamic

website

(multiple

choice

answers)

Q&A/Fatwa

Chat/Blog/Forum

Quran/Hadith

Downloads

Audio/Video

Information

search

Current events

News updates

Others

69

38

63

46

57

65

31

24

1

78

42

71

52

64

73

35

27

1

Bangladesh

Eritrea

Indonesia

Iraq

Kashmir

Libya

Malaysia

Netherlands

Nigeria

PakistanPalestine

Saudi

Arabia

Sudan

Tanzania

Thailand

UK

Uzbekistan

Yemen

2

1

1

2

2

2

24

1

33

24

2

2

1

3

5

1

1

2.2

1.1

1.1

2.2

2.2

2.2

26.9

1.1

37.1

2.24.5

2.1

2.2

1.1

3.4

5.6

1.1

1.1

5.2 Reliability and Validity Test

In order to test the reliability, Cronbach alpha and composite reliability values for each

design construct were evaluated. Table 2 shows that Cronbach alpha values range from

0.8354 to 0.9382, well above the 0.7 mark. In addition, all the constructs show composite

reliability values from 0.8903 to 0.9476, above the acceptable value of 0.6 which indicates


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high reliability of the constructs (Kim, Oh, Shin and Chae, 2009; Fornell and Larker, 1981).

Lastly, the communality values were obtained to explain the proportion of variation of each

factor explained by the other five constructs. The values range from 0.5511 to 0.6687 which

indicates that the model explains most of the variation for those factors.

Table 2: Reliability and Validity Tests

Construct Cronbach

Alpha

Composite

Reliability

Communality

Attractiveness 0.9382 0.9476 0.6687

Functionality 0.8724 0.9036 0.6102

Interactivity 0.9256 0.9391 0.6599

Navigation 0.8706 0.8956 0.5511

Organization 0.8736 0.9041 0.6118

Security/privacy 0.8743 0.9044 0.6123

Islamic website

use

0.8354 0.8903 0.6714

Table 3 presents the results of the inter-construct correlations. The discriminant is

supported because all the AVE values exceed 0.50 and are also greater than the variances

shared by each construct and other constructs in the model (Chin, 1998; Kim, Oh, Shin and

Chae, 2009).

Table 3: Inter-construct Correlations

Construct AVE ATR FNT INT NAV ORG SCR USE

Attractiveness 0.6687 0.8177

Functionality 0.6102 0.6586 0.7812

Interactivity 0.6599 0.5332 0.4239 0.8123

Navigation 0.5511 0.7178 0.6879 0.4427 0.7424

Organizational 0.6118 0.6604 0.4998 0.5302 0.5999 0.7822

Security/privacy 0.6123 0.6286 0.5223 0.6093 0.705 0.7402 0.7825

Islamic website

use

0.6714 0.3853 0.3574 0.341 0.2867 0.4877 0.4667 0.8194

Table 4 presents the contructs cross-loadings of all the items that are greater than the

cut-off value 0.70; also, all the items load more highly on their own construct than on other

design constructs (Davis, 2003). Thus, the results indicate a satisfactory discriminant validity

of all the constructs.


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Table 4: PLS Construct Cross-loading.

Construct Items ATR FNT ITR NVG ORG SCR USE

ATR1 0.8185 0.5774 0.3715 0.5547 0.4206 0.3941 0.3448

ATR2 0.8398 0.5939 0.3557 0.6451 0.4625 0.4733 0.2721

ATR4 0.7667 0.4610 0.4976 0.5293 0.5661 0.5796 0.4161

ATR6 0.8904 0.5390 0.3969 0.5795 0.5533 0.4926 0.2948

ATR7 0.8799 0.5453 0.4688 0.6567 0.5809 0.5911 0.3040

ATR8 0.8541 0.5617 0.3768 0.6550 0.5978 0.5885 0.3288

ATR10 0.7547 0.6592 0.3460 0.6118 0.4790 0.4148 0.1312

ATR17 0.7198 0.4690 0.4984 0.5023 0.5771 0.5023 0.2880

Attractiveness

ATR19 0.8191 0.5359 0.5477 0.5869 0.5870 0.5167 0.3041

FNT1 0.5517 0.8002 0.3320 0.5337 0.3846 0.4167 0.2641

FNT2 0.4637 0.7689 0.2826 0.4558 0.3915 0.3087 0.2756

FNT3 0.5501 0.8209 0.2287 0.4771 0.3079 0.3297 0.3318

FNT5 0.3737 0.7236 0.3142 0.5317 0.3616 0.4306 0.2222

FNT10 0.5713 0.7899 0.4571 0.6609 0.4811 0.5492 0.3135

Functionality

FNT12 0.5509 0.7797 0.3861 0.5748 0.4269 0.4248 0.2419

ITR6 0.3774 0.3430 0.8711 0.3664 0.4569 0.5399 0.2984

ITR7 0.3831 0.2722 0.8897 0.2992 0.4226 0.5196 0.3139

ITR8 0.3985 0.3426 0.8886 0.3247 0.4348 0.5385 0.2828

ITR10 0.4979 0.3610 0.8302 0.3471 0.4344 0.5360 0.2489

ITR11 0.3838 0.2329 0.8060 0.2324 0.4813 0.4377 0.1697

ITR13 0.5378 0.4851 0.7124 0.4879 0.4296 0.4542 0.2294

ITR17 0.4363 0.3280 0.7291 0.4072 0.4268 0.5259 0.2861

Interactivity

ITR20 0.4621 0.3774 0.7491 0.3859 0.3846 0.3902 0.3204

NVG2 0.5379 0.5279 0.4939 0.7202 0.4916 0.5696 0.1356

NVG4 0.4302 0.4143 0.1578 0.7151 0.3134 0.3867 0.0851

NVG7 0.5031 0.4298 0.2724 0.7092 0.3545 0.4426 0.1367

NVG9 0.6203 0.4002 0.4578 0.7553 0.5441 0.6224 0.1331

NVG10 0.6067 0.6627 0.3947 0.8082 0.5190 0.5779 0.3015

NVG11 0.5201 0.5462 0.3035 0.7409 0.4622 0.5378 0.2736

Navigation

NVG12 0.4876 0.4388 0.2152 0.7428 0.3748 0.4825 0.2232

Organization ORG1 0.6145 0.3234 0.4013 0.4090 0.7480 0.4292 0.2683


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ORG2 0.4879 0.2379 0.3665 0.3839 0.7289 0.5558 0.4290

ORG3 0.5440 0.4107 0.5032 0.5122 0.8282 0.6735 0.3293

ORG4 0.5148 0.4307 0.4911 0.5317 0.8429 0.6676 0.3291

ORG5 0.3968 0.3520 0.4428 0.4209 0.7668 0.5203 0.4219

ORG6 0.5691 0.5670 0.3088 0.5467 0.7718 0.5989 0.4353

SCR1 0.5007 0.4037 0.4026 0.4877 0.6805 0.7644 0.3662

SCR3 0.5276 0.4624 0.5085 0.6322 0.5656 0.7721 0.2722

SCR4 0.5407 0.4536 0.5079 0.6019 0.5700 0.7366 0.3044

SCR7 0.4747 0.4132 0.4847 0.5023 0.5464 0.7925 0.4439

SCR9 0.5586 0.5344 0.4574 0.6858 0.5262 0.8429 0.3755

Security/privacy

SCR12 0.3798 0.2156 0.5163 0.4480 0.5964 0.7825 0.3821

USE1 0.3826 0.3313 0.3798 0.3109 0.4359 0.4600 0.9027

USE2 0.3701 0.3248 0.3888 0.2722 0.4543 0.4339 0.8612

USE3 0.3031 0.2851 0.1954 0.2372 0.3709 0.3290 0.7252

Website use

USE5 0.1777 0.2163 0.0982 0.0902 0.3205 0.2792 0.7766

6. FINDINGS

One of the greatest impacts of Islamic websites is their ability to provide unique features that

influence Muslim users to engage in several Islamic activities online, such as reading Holy

Quran, learning about Hadith, seeking scholars opinions and networking with other Muslims

through chats, forums and discussion boards. The catalyst to this great impact is the ability to

create Islamic websites with unique and appropriate design features, as these features can

easily influence users to keep using Islamic websites.

This paper empirically examines the features influencing the use of Islamic websites,

and constructs a model for evaluating Islamic website use. The most important website

design features that can influence the use of Islamic websites are categorized into the six

major factors of attractiveness, functionality, interactivity, navigation, organization and

security/privacy features. The result shows that all the design features explored in this study

are statistically significant in the use of Islamic websites, except features related to the

Islamic website interactivity factor. In addition, the findings show that Islamic website users

are more concerned with the security/privacy of information than the aesthetic and

functionality features. The overall findings on the hypothesis testing are shown in Figure 2

and summarized in Table 6.

6.1 Findings of the Research Model

A PLS bootstrapping algorithm using 1000 resamples was run. The output shows the

statistical significance of each factor relationship with the dependent contruct (i.e. website

use) based on the path coefficients t-statistics (Chin, 1998; Hassanein and Head, 2007). The

1.96 t-statistics value threshold was used to either accept or reject the proposed hypotheses,

as recommended by Gefen and Straub (2005).


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The R-square value (0.302) of the endogenous construct (website use) indicates that

more than 30% of the total variance is explained, which is significant (exceeds 10%

acceptable mark) as recommended by Falk and Miller (1992). The results are shown in

Figure 2.

Figure 2. Results of the Islamic Website Use Model

The overall results show that the most important constructs in the use of Islamic websites are

website attractiveness, fuctionality, navigation, organization, and security/privacy. Thus,

Hypotheses H1, H2, H4, H5, and H6 are supported. However, the website interactivity

construct is least important in the use of Islamic websites, and the results revealed that

interactivity features does not influence users to use them. Therefore, H3 is not supported.

This might be because of the presence of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and

YouTube, which provides much easier ways to interact and network with more people

globally. The results are shown in Table 5.

Table 5: Hypothesis Testing Results

Hypothesis Path Coefficient SD t-statistics

Results

H1 Attractiveness Islamic

website use

0.087 0.0375 2.319* Supported

H2 Functionality Islamic

website use

0.208 0.0485 4.277** Supported

H3 Interactivity Islamic

website use

0.006 0.0345 0.173 Not

supported

H4 Navigation Islamic

website use

0.307 0.0434 7.074** Supported

H5 Organization Islamic

website use

0.277 0.0354 7.825** Supported

H6 Security/privacy

Islamic website use

0.311 0.0348 8.956** Supported

* p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01.

t= 8.956

t= 7.825

t= 7.074

t= 0.173

t= 4.277

t= 2.319Attractiveness

Functionality

Interactivity

Navigation

Organization

Security/privacy

Islamic Website Use

R= 302

2.319


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6.2 Website Attractiveness

Hypothesis H1 is supported: Website attractiveness is positively associated with the use of

Islamic websites at a confidence level of 0.05 (= 0.087, t= 2.319,p< 0.05). Based on this

empirical result, we argue that the aesthetic features of Islamic websites attract Muslims to

visit those websites.

This study found that the most important attractiveness design features associatedwith Islamic website use are: good use of icons, good use of fonts/size, good use of

animation, good use of images, consistent page title, meaningful page title, good

categorization of subjects, visually attractive screen layout, and adequate brightness of

screen/pages.

6.3 Website Functionality

Website functionality is positively related to the use of Islamic websites. The estimate is

significant at a confidence level of 0.01 (= 0.208, t= 4.277, p < 0.01). Thus, Hypothesis H2

is supported. This indicates that if website services are fast and support different platforms

and browsers they will increase the use of Islamic websites.

This study found that the most important functionality design features associated withIslamic website use are: quick homepage loading, good download speed, good overall

structure, no downloading errors, website supports different browsers, and website supports

different platforms.

6.4 Website Interactivity

Website interactivity is not associated with the use of Islamic websites. Therefore,

interactivity design features did not show significant positive association with the use of

Islamic websites at the level of 0.05 (= 0.006, t= 0.0345, p < 0.05). Thus, Hypothesis H3 is

not supported.

This study found that the most important interactivity design features that are not

associated with Islamic website use are: test chat option, call chat option, video chat option,mailing list option, guest book option, 24x7 user support option, e-mail alert on current

events/news updates, and help us/donate online option. Despite the individual importance of

each of these interactivity design features, with their high item-loading above 0.70, we found

that their association with Islamic website use is not significant.

6.5 Website Navigation

Navigational features are positively associated with the use of Islamic websites. The

relationship is significant at confidence level of 0.01 (= 0.307, t= 7.074, p < 0.01). Thus,

Hypothesis H4 is supported. This indicates easy movement from one webpage to another.

This study found that the most important navigability design features associated with

Islamic website use are: relevant hyperlinks, visible navigation button, easy to move from

one page to another, easy to move through hyperlinks without being lost, easy menu

structure, search engine availability, and easy information format.

6.6 Website Organization

Website organizational information is positively associated with the use of Islamic websites.

The relationship is significant at confidence level of 0.01 (= 0.277, t= 7.825, p < 0.01).

Thus, Hypothesis H5 is supported.


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This study found that the most important elements of organizational information

associated with Islamic website use are: about us information, contact us details (i.e. names,

address, phone numbers, and e-mail), partnership information, sponsorship information,

country of origin information, and ownership information.

6.7 Website Security/Privacy

Website security and the privacy of users personal data are important features for Islamicwebsite use. Providing good security and privacy significantly influence use and online users

will frequently use their website. This study found that security/privacy have a strong positive

relationship with the use of Islamic website. The relationship is significant at confidence level

of 0.01 (= 0.311, t= 8.956, p < 0.01). Thus, Hypothesis H6 is supported. This indicates that

security and privacy features are important to Islamic website use.

This study found that the most important security/privacy information associated with

Islamic website use is: certification information, recognized brand, trusted third party, terms

of use information, spyware policy statement, and external recognition of website (e.g. site

awards won).

7. CONCLUSIONS

The growing number of Islamic websites and Muslim online users makes it necessary to

understand the reasons why Muslims are adopting Islamic websites to learn about Islam as an

alternative to the traditional face-to-face learning from scholars and books. As Table 2

revealed, many Muslims believed that Islamic websites provides rich Islamic information and

references, some of which is not readily available in books. Curiosity is one of the major

reasons why some Muslims visit Islamic websites for religious activities. Convenience and

easy access to scholars from different parts of the world is another motivating factor,

especially for Q&A and seeking for fatwason personal matters. The most common online

Islamic activities performed by Muslim users, in order of priority, are participating in

Q&A/fatwas, information search, reading and learning Quran/Hadith, downloading

audio/video lectures and sermons, participating in chat-rooms/blogs/forums, following

current events, and news updates from the Muslim world.

The development of websites by many Islamic organizations and individuals has

made it important to investigate the features that influence their use. In todays cyber-Islamic

environment, where Islamic websites make information available to anybody, anywhere, at

any time, using appropriate interface design features to attract many users is critical. The

impact of Islamic websites comes not from the technology alone, but also from the rich

Islamic contents, credible online scholars, and how Muslim users are attracted to use the

information provided to learn about Islam and Islamic practice. In order to create user

confidence in a dynamic cyber-Islamic environment, website owners need to understand the

nature of their users and which aspects of website design features are important to them.

The findings of this study show that providing good functionality, detailed

organizational information, and providing reliable security and privacy features are the mostimportant factors influencing Islamic website use. The use of Islamic websites is increased

because it improves information access, secrecy, and organizational trust. The findings

suggest that providing secure and speedy access to information on different

platforms/browsers is relatively more important than how the information is organized,

navigated, or presented to the users, although all these features are important.

However, website interactivity features did not specifically influence users to visit

Islamic websites, despite the availability of text, call, and video chats, mailing lists, guest


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books, 24x7 user support options, e-mail alerts on current events/news updates, and online

donation. This might be because they enjoy interacting with other people online through other

social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) which provide more flexible and

personalized options, as well as freedom to post personal opinions and critiques. The majority

of the Islamic websites chat rooms and forums are controlled, monitored, restricted and

moderated by the administrator. As such, the administrators create the thread topics or ask the

users to send topics to them for verification before posting. In addition, some of the forumsare restricted to only Muslims, female, or community users. Nevertheless visiting a website

for religious purposes could encourage users to be patient, accommodating, and appreciate

the effort of others.

This study is one of the first to provide empirical evidence and a model for Islamic

website use. The findings demonstrate that several design features influence Muslims to use

Islamic websites to seek Islamic knowledge and practices online.

This study is not without limitations. Firstly, due to the vast number of Islamic

websites and lack of standardized categorization, we did not focus on any specific category.

Muslim users may have different needs from Islamic websites. For example, some Muslim

users may only be interested in Quranic websites, or Hadith websites, or Q&A/Fatwa

websites, or blogs/forums, or simply the general information-based websites. It would beinteresting for future research to examine the use of specific categories of Islamic websites by

Muslim users. Secondly, this study was conducted with data collected online in Malaysia

over two months. Further study is needed to test different locations, contexts and time periods

in order to evaluate the validity of the model proposed and the findings. Thirdly, this study

focused attention only on the design features of Islamic websites; future research may include

content features as one of the dimensions of Islamic features. Also, there may be additional

design features relevant to the use of Islamic websites (e.g. usability, accessibility, visibility,

etc.) that may have a significant impact on their use.

Despite the limitations of this study, it does provide valuable ground for future

investigation. The research model and empirical results provide useful indicators for the

direction of future research and also suggest guidelines for the successful development andadoption of Islamic websites by Muslim online users. In addition, this study contributes to the

emerging body of research on Islamic website evaluation.

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APPENDIX SUMMARY OF MAJOR DESIGN FEATURES EXPLORED IN PREVIOUS

RESEARCH ON ISLAMIC WEBSITES

Table A1: Attractiveness

Item Code Survey Items Sources

ATR1 Good use of Icons

ATR2 Good use of Fonts/SizeATR3 Good use of Colours

ATR4 Good use of Animation

ATR5 Balanced use of Multimedia

ATR6 Good use of Images

ATR7 Consistent page title

ATR8 Meaningful page title

ATR9 Homepage not overcrowded

ATR10 Good categorization of subjects

ATR11 Visible logo/brand

ATR12 Use of meaningful logo

ATR13 Use of background songATR14 Use of side view

ATR15 Use of 3D rotation

ATR16 Use of Sharp displays

ATR17 Visually attractive screen layout

ATR18 Attractive screen background

ATR19 Adequate brightness of screen/pages

ATR20 Eye-catching homepage

Developed from:Sutcliffe

(2002), Daniels, (2004),Suleman (2005), Mahmud et

al. (2010), Aliyu et al.

(2010), Bakeri (2010)

Table A2: Functionality


FNT1 Quick homepage loading

FNT2 Good download speed

FNT3 Good overall structure

FNT4 No broken links

FNT5 No downloading error

FNT6 Advanced search option

FNT7 Personalize settings option

FNT8 Content management option

FNT9 Website indicates loading/responding

time

FNT10 Website supports different browsers

FNT11 Provides all the functions needed to

find informationFNT12 Website supports different platforms

FNT13 Website is accessible

anytime/anywhere

Developed from:Daniels

(2004), Suleman (2005),Mahmud et al. (2010), Aliyu

et al. (2010), Mahmud et al.

(2011), Song & Zinkhan

(2003), Loiacocno et al.

(2002), DeLone & McLean

(2003), Mich et al. (2003)


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Table A3: Interactivity


ITR1 Q&A option

ITR2 FAQ option

ITR3 Newsgroup/bulletin board

ITR4 Feedback/comments option

ITR5 Newsletter subscriptionITR6 Text Chat option

ITR7 Call Chat option

ITR8 Video Chat option

ITR9 Forum/discussion board

ITR10 Mailing list option

ITR11 Guest book option

ITR12 Email to a friend option

ITR13 24x7 user support option

ITR14 Webmaster email option

ITR15 Bookmark/favorite option

ITR16 Membership registration optionITR17 Email alert on current events/news updates

ITR18 Link to other social media (e.g. Facebook,

Twitter)

ITR19 Link to Islamic Social Media

ITR20 Help Us/Donate Online option

Adapted from:Daniels

(2004), Suleman (2005),

Mahmud et al. (2010), Aliyu

et al. (2010)

Table A4: Navigation


NVG1 Sitemap option

NVG2 Relevant hyperlinks

NVG3 Easy return to homepageNVG4 Visible navigation button

NVG5 Link to related website/articles

NVG6 Fewer possible steps to find information

NVG7 Easy to move from one page to another

NVG8 Indication of users location within website

NVG9 Easy to move with hyperlinks without

being lost

NVG10 Easy menu structure

NVG11 Search engine available

NVG12 Easy information format

Adapted from: Daniels

(2004), Suleman (2005),

Wan Abdul Rahim et al.(2008), Mahmud et al.

(2010), Aliyu et al. (2010)


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Table A5: Organization


ORG1 About Us information

ORG2 Contact Us details: names, address, phone

numbers, email

ORG3 Partnership information

ORG4 Sponsorship informationORG5 Country of origin information

ORG6 Ownership information

ORG7 Organizational ethics information

ORG8 Organizational history information

ORG9 Website Reputation

Developed from:Daniels,

(2004), Suleman (2005),

Mahmud et al. (2010), Aliyu

et al. (2010), Mahmud et al.

(2011), Ranganathan andGanapathy, (2002), Song &

Zinkhan, (2003)

Table A6: Security/Privacy


SCR1 Seal of Approval

SCR2 Recognized Brand

SCR3 Trusted Third PartySCR4 Security Certification

SCR5 Authority Endorsement

SCR6 Term of Use Information

SCR7 Privacy Policy Statement

SCR8 Spyware Policy Statement

SCR9 Affiliation Program Available

SCR10 Overall, website is safe to use

SCR11 External recognition of website (e.g. site

awards won)

SCR12 Certification information

Developed from:Daniels,

(2004), Suleman (2005),

Mahmud et al. (2010), Aliyuet al. (2010), Ranganathan

and Ganapathy (2002), Song

& Zinkhan (2003)

Table A7: Islamic Website Use


USE1 I use Islamic websites frequently

USE2 I spend a lot of time using Islamic websites

USE3 I have been using Islamic websites for a

very long time

USE4 I am highly dependent on using Islamic

websites to learn about Islam

USE5 Overall, I have a good experience using

Islamic websites

Adapted from:Kim, Oh,

Shin & Chae (2009),

DeLone & McLean (2003)

Documents

A Preliminary Investigation of Islamic Websites' Design Features that Influence Use A Proposed Model