Mansur Aliyu

Preliminary investigation of Islamic websites design & content feature: A heuristic evaluation from user perspective

This paper investigates the quality ranking of current Islamic websites using nine (9) website features (i.e. navigation, interactivity, legitimacy, objectivity, authority, relevancy, attractiveness, credibility, and reliability) in order to find the highest and lowest quality scores for individual websites based on their design & content feature. A heuristic evaluation method using single-user approach was used to evaluate 50 selected Islamic websites. Google search was used to select the 50 topmost popular Islamic websites on 8th December, 2009. The findings indicate that there has been a considerable improvement in the quality of Islamic websites in terms of design and information content. The findings also show that none of the websites evaluated displayed biased contents against Islam or Islamic groups. In addition, the findings reveal that websites with the highest quality scores were rated excellent in terms of information legitimacy and objectivity, whereas those with the least quality scores were rated poor in terms of authority and interactivity features. The paper concludes that there are considerable quality variations between Islamic websites with highest and lowest percentage scores.

Measuring IT Governance effectiveness using ITG diagnostic diamond: A case study of Information Technology Division, IIUM

The impact of IT Governance in the 21st century is imperative. IT Governance has became a mission critical for organisations to achieve effective corporate governance. The present challenges to global businesses and corporate governance require strategic IT Governance implementation as the bedrock for increased market share and competitive advantage. To cope with these challenges, IT Governance diagnostic model was designed to help business organizations diagnose and design IT Governance architectures. This paper uses exploratory research approach to investigate the level of IT Governance implementation/practices at the Information Technology Division of HUM.L The paper also indicates the need to extend the IT Governance diagnostic model to cover all other units of the university as well as extend it application to other universities. The study intends to examine how IT is aligned to the universitys operations and whether or not IT contributes towards enhanced operational efficiency and effectiveness in the university. Finally, a new IT Governance structure is proposed for implementation at the Information Technology Division, International Islamic University Malaysia.

Quality rating of Islamic Websites features: A single-user evaluation

Islamic Websites post a new challenge for evaluation criteria due to the importance to their design contents. Today, little is known regarding the present quality rating of both design & content features of Islamic websites. This paper proposes several criteria to evaluate Islamic Websites: navigation, interactivity, legitimacy, objectivity, authority, relevance, attractiveness, credibility and reliability. A single-user evaluation has been conducted for fifty (50) selected Islamic Websites by using the proposed criteria. The results suggest that the quality of Islamic websites may change significantly over time. The findings also revealed that different design and content features contributes differently to the overall quality of Islamic websites. The paper suggests that the nine (9) identified criteria for both design and content features are suitable for the evaluation of different category of Islamic websites quality.

Computer security and ethics awareness among IIUM students: An empirical study

Peoples perception and attitude towards computer ethics and information security significantly affect the way they use information technology. This is especially the case among university students who are generally regarded as major violators of computer ethics and computer security. This paper follows previous work on computer security and ethics. The paper intend to examine the level of ethical and security awareness among IT and education students. The findings of this study reveals that there are satisfactory levels of awareness among the students surveyed with slightly higher level of awareness among IT students, most likely due to security and ethics courses they offered. Also, the findings indicate that gender-wise male students reported higher level of computer security and ethics violations than their female counterparts. The paper concludes that female students are more conscious of security and ethics while using computer (e.g. Internet) than the male students. Furthermore, IT students were found to be more aware of internet security & ethics, but largely ignore this knowledge and are more engaged in unethical activities and illegal internet practices when compared with Education students.

Measurable reliability dimensions for Islamic websites

Studies have shown that many Muslim users question religious websites. This is due to unrestricted cyberspace where anybody can publish any sort of information. This paper investigates the text-based dimensions that may improve reliability of Islamic websites. It is found that reliability of Islamic websites involves the same principles of reliability established in other types of website. However, reliability of Islamic websites is distinguished by permanent referencing to evidence from the Quran and Sunnah, reflecting perceptions of all mazhabs, publishing fatwa, Ijtiha̅d or opinions constructed on the heritage of previous great Muslims scholars, and legitimacy that is represented by strong presence of scholars and official Islamic organizations in terms of supervision and sponsorship. The pilot study showed moderate differences among Muslim users regarding these dimensions.

Development of islamic websites evaluation guidelines

This study explored user perceptions of the Islamic Website Evaluation Guidelines (IWEG). It identified ten latent factors from exploratory factor analysis using orthogonal rotation method. The ten latent factors of the IWEG extracted indicated satisfactory reliability scores. A survey of 450 university students was conducted. All the respondents self-reported to have had experience using Islamic websites. The 84 features that were explored were classified under the ten latent factors extracted. Each of the 84 extracted items loaded cleanly on its factor between the range of .411 and .841 with no cross-loadings on other factors. Overall, three dimensions were formulated to better represent the ten latent factors: Content (objectivity, reliability, credibility, format), Islamic (identity, services, ethical values, symbols), and Impact (website use, positive impact). The overall analyses of the results were discussed. The practical implications of the findings were highlighted.

Evaluating design features of Islamic websites: a Muslim user perception

Website design features have been widely studied by researchers in various fields, most especially in e-commerce. Indeed, design features are widely regarded as vital tools that influence website use. However, few studies have devoted significant attention to Islamic website design features that influence website use. The purpose of this study is to identify and explore the most important design features of Islamic websites that influence website use. The study conducted a content analysis on selected Islamic website studies, in which 86 design features were identified, selected, modified, and categorized into six broad features (factors). Ann online survey of 89 Muslim users of Islamic websites was then conducted to rank the identified design features in terms of their importance to the users. The findings of the exploratory factor analysis provide evidence to suggest that only few design features are considered important by Islamic website users. These design features possess highly significant factor-loading and are grouped under “functionality”, “navigation”, “interactivity”, “attractiveness”, “organization”, and “security/privacy”. The study found the above design features to be significant in influencing Islamic website use.

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

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 survey website 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.