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Purpose While there are many studies on the impacts of formal institutions such as government financial supporting and tax preferential policies on women entrepreneurial entry, few attempted to explore how informal institutions causes cross-country differences in women entrepreneurship. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether countries (Pakistan and Malaysia) with similar religious belief, political system and government policies exhibits similar level of women entrepreneurial activity from an informal institutional perspective. Design/methodology/approach This study used Global entrepreneurship monitor (GEM) data for the years 2010–2012 and employed probit regression analysis to examine the impacts of cultural-cognitive and social-normative institutions on women entrepreneurial activity. Findings The findings reveal profound differences of women’s entrepreneurial activities between Pakistan and Malaysia. While cultural-cognitive dimension shows substantial impact for both nations, social-normative dimension explains the main differences in women’s entrepreneurial activity. Practical implications This study proposes that policymakers may craft policies to enhance women skills, knowledge and networking as well as positive societal attitudes to foster women entrepreneurial activities. Originality/value This study shows that countries with the same religion and similar formal institutions can also exhibit different level of women entrepreneurial activity. In Pakistan, the negative societal attitudes in the form of deep rooted traditional beliefs as well as misinterpreted religious concepts for women role create formidable challenges and inhibit business opportunities for them. By contrast, favorable social perception and societal attitudes in Malaysia encourage women to pursue their entrepreneurial activities.

Purpose The entrepreneurial initiative is believed as being a prosperity engine. Islamic organizations are presently committed to promoting entrepreneurship to generate economic growth, provide job opportunities, reduce government centrality, enhance innovation and sustainable development. The purpose of this paper is to identify which factors affect Islamic entrepreneurial endeavors with particular emphasis on the role of gender. Additionally, how education, age, moral constraints, self-perception and social support will affect those entrepreneurial intentions based on Islamic principles. Once identified, policy actions will help to overcome extant gaps, reinforcing the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Design/methodology/approach Determinants of the entrepreneurial initiative will be appraised in the set Islamic countries present in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) data set from 2016. Following the Organization of Islamic Cooperation list, 14 countries were identified establishing a total sample of 36,407 individuals. Using a set of predictors included in the theoretical framework a statistical analysis was performed followed by logit estimations. The significance of explanatory variables such as gender, age and social context toward entrepreneurial propensity reinforced the importance of specific tools rather than broad policies. Findings An entrepreneurial propensity is affected by three branches of factors: individual characteristics, individual behavior and individual perceptions along with the economic environment. The analysis shows that holding equal conditions, Islamic women in the sample are less prone to start a business compared to their male counterparts. Knowing other entrepreneurial endeavors enhance the entrepreneurial initiative. Fearing failure unconstraint entrepreneurial projects, but the self-perception of skills strongly triggers these initiatives. Research limitations/implications The empirical analysis relates to the GEM database, and, as a consequence, only 14 countries were considered, but it covers 36,407 individuals whose representativeness cannot be statistically proved, however, due to sample dimension the robustness is granted. Second, the sample is sectional covering the 2016 year, as a consequence results may be classified as exceptional.Finally, other factors such as institutional and behavioral determinants were not considered, despite their theoretical importance, due to their absence in the database. Still, the empirical results reinforce the theoretical debate and offer robust evidence to build a policy package, adapted to the Islamic singularities. Practical implications Still, the empirical results reinforce the theoretical debate and offer robust evidence to build a policy package, adapted to the Islamic singularities. Originality/value The paper identifies gender differences in entrepreneurial propensity among Islamic economics. The potential enhancers of the entrepreneurial initiative are first put in theoretical terms followed by an empirical analysis, encompassing descriptive analysis and econometric estimations. The results allow identification of gender gaps, as well as other individual and context characteristics affecting entrepreneurial endeavors. Empirical evidence casts light on policymakers elaborating accurate policy packages fostering gender equality in entrepreneurship in Islamic economics, aiming to increase overall entrepreneurial activity and leveraging socio-economic development. Finally, the study addresses recommendations to overcome gender differences relating to entrepreneurial activity considering the singularities of the context.

Glass objects recovered from the late 10th-century Cirebon shipwreck in the Java Sea of Indonesia offer a rare glimpse into the movement of Islamic glass goods in the Indian Ocean trading network. The cargo provides scholars of glass with a closely dated vessel assemblage that includes generic types as well as more sophisticated examples of Islamic glassware, in addition to raw glass chunks and glass beads. It includes an assortment of vessel types, but it is dominated by bottles ranging from large and roughly made containers to smaller and more refined vials, flasks, and ewers. Many of the vessels are outstanding examples of the glassworker’s craft, and several are unique pieces, including fish-shaped vessels of emerald-green glass with wheel-cut and applied details. A typological overview of the objects aboard the ship is presented, together with a discussion of the probable provenance, pattern of movement, and ultimate destination of the glass cargo.

One of the most interesting objects in the Islamic gallery at the Walters Art Museum is a small carnelian amulet made in Iran on 28 June 1748. Its lengthy inscriptions reflect the uncertainty of the time, in which appeals were made to God, the prophet Muhammad, the fourteen immaculate ones venerated by Shi'ites, and the four orthodox caliphs venerated by Sunnis. Its mixture of forms and designs shows that the Afsharid rulers of Iran, though often at war with their neighbors, appropriated their rivals' artistic tastes and style.

[...]in 2021, travel writer and outdoorsman Leon McCarron traveled the 1,200-mile length of the Tigris River, chronicling the social \"and environmental state of this venerable waterway (see \"Bookshelf: Wounded Tigris: A River Journey Through the Cradle of Civilization by Leon McCarron, Pegasus Books, 2023, Natural History, July/August, 2023). [...]he was married and divorced seven times, all according to Islamic law. The procession was joined by the entire population of the town, men and women, small and large; the Jews came with their Book of the Law and the Christians with their Gospel, all of them with their women and children. The whole concourse, weeping and supplicating and seeking the favour of God through His Books and His Prophets, made their way to the Mosque of the Footprints, and there they remained in supplication and invocation until near midday. Silk fabrics, spices, perfumes, tea, gold, gems, and other luxury goods traveled the routes during Greek and Roman times.

At my parents’ annualrowzeh khaniduring the holy month of Safar, a sage clergyman stopped me by the door to say, “No matter what happens, always follow the path of God.” He wasn’t the regular preacher who presided over our yearly religious congregation. Without an explanation, Hajj Agha lifted his hand, placed it on my forehead, and began to mutter long-winded verses. At first he made me feel guilty. I’d skipped my early afternoon prayer that day for a petty reason: to go to the public bath and wash up, not in order to attain divine cleanliness but to