Purpose: This study focusses on the underlying needs of Muslims to adhere to the tenets of their religion and to guide their behaviours accordingly. These requirements, for the purpose of travelling, constitute halal tourism. As Muslim-minority nations, such as Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, began to market their own brands of halal tourism, there are concerns of whether their current practices are able to meet the requirements of Muslim travellers. Thus, this study aims to understand the main needs and concerns of Muslim travellers when they visit Muslim-minority countries. Design/methodology/approach: Interviews were conducted on selected Muslim travellers who recently visited one of the following destinations, Japan, South Korea or Taiwan. Applying the process theory of travel, service marketing perspective and Muslim religious needs, the study’s conceptual framework served as the basis for crafting interview questions, selecting the participants and explaining the findings. Findings: Muslim travellers are mostly concerned with the need to perform daily prayers and to find halal food at the point of need, and willing to conduct extensive research on the destination prior to their visit. Muslim travellers’ experiences in these Muslim-minority countries are generally met with their expectations, although further socialisation with the locals is needed to induce greater overall satisfaction with the destinations. Practical implications: Understanding the current practices of halal tourism is critical so that improvements can be implemented in the industry. Originality/value: Key preparations, expectations, actual experiences in the destinations and reflections of Muslim travellers provide in-depth insights into their needs and concerns when travelling in Muslim-minority countries. The emergent religion-based dimensions in service experience, such as availability of social agents and halal food at the point of need, extend the conceptualisation of perishability and heterogeneity in service marketing literature. © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited.

This study focuses on student's perception on Science of Qur'an course in two Islamic Public Universities inMalaysia. There are Universiti Saim Islam Malaysia (USIM) and International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) amongst the students of Islamic studies. The main objectives of h s study are to identify the student's perception on Science of Qur'an course, student's perception on the Science of Qur'an's course outline, the reference book or syllabus that are used in the class as well as student's prospect towards Science of Qur'an course. The findngs indicated positive perception amongst the students on Science of Qur'an course as it is easy to understand, the course outline that set up by faculty is appropriate as well as most of them strongly agree that this course should be continued in the future. However, students have some problems as do not have sufficient time given for them to spend on the course outline and the reference books or syllabus that are used in class do not have adequate information to refer to. As a result, some students suggested the faculty to use bilingual reference books or syllabus in class. This study hghlighted the impedance of Science of Qur'an to be learnt since at the young age towards better improvement. � Medwell Journals, 2017.

Learning in higher institution is a challenging situation. Students may adapt well to the new academic environment or might experience failure in coping with the demand of real-life learning. In most of the time, they would be physically and emotionally drained. Hence, this study investigated students in public higher learning institution on managing their emotional intelligence and self-efficacy towards their academic performance in such setting. A total of 150 valid questionnaires were collected in a public university in Selangor, Malaysia using purposive sampling method. The Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (ASE) and Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) instruments were used. In order to achieve the study's objective, the data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Studies (SPSS) for its descriptive analyses, t-test and Pearson correlation analyses. It was found that there is a significant relationship between students' emotional intelligence and academic performance, self-efficacy based on academic performance and there is a relationship between students' emotional intelligence and academic self-efficacy. It is vital to investigate this area of study as it would affect this tertiary students' performance in their studying years. � 2020 by authors.