Framing Islamic Organizational Culture For Waqf-Based Hospital In Malaysia

The pandemic Covid-19 has risen the standards for hospitals and indirectly influenced the ‘wisdom’ in management and operational functions of the hospitals. Literature have shown that there is lacking in the implementation Islamic hospital culture in the healthcare services in Malaysia. The purpose of this article is to present a suggested framework to transform waqf-based hospitals with an Islamic hospital culture through the adaptation of theories of organizational culture embedded with Islamic perspectives and observations of Shari’ah compliant hospitals from the past and present. The methodology used is content analysis from qualitative research methodology. Data analysis will involve manual coding, thematic analysis, and pattern-matching. The general findings show that the Islamic organizational culture will be more than providing space in the hospitals for Muslims to perform the daily five times worship but will include holistic Islamic management of the hospital organization, Islamic architecture wherein they are purpose-built, with underlaying service-oriented patient-centered culture plus distinctive dressing, decorum, halal medicines and other facilities presented. Through the transformation it will promote improved healthcare with Shari’ah compliant services and endorse healthcare tourism with Muslim-friendly facilities in hospitals for Muslims, local and abroad. With this newly developed culture in waqf-based hospitals, it can be an inauguration to a future of many more interesting adaptations of Islamic organizational culture in other public services and private organizations.