Islamic Public Relations: Cultivating Unity in Diversity in Islamic Banks of Bangladesh
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33102/jcicom.vol5no2.144Keywords:
Unity in Diversity, Public Relations, Islamic Public Relations, Islamic BankAbstract
ABSTRACT
Unity in diversity is crucial in any multi-cultural society. Public Relations Department of different organizations should practice it to maintain peace and harmony among the people of different culture, race and religion. Islamic banks of Bangladesh are very popular among the mass people of Bangladesh as they maintain it professionally. It plays a vital role to get their acceptance and popularity. This paper tries to understand the techniques of Islamic banks of Bangladesh used to uphold it in their public relations activities. The objective of the study was to identify how the Public relations professionals practice unity in diversity in Islamic Banks of Bangladesh. Qualitative in-depth interview was applied as a method of data collection for this study. It maintained the purposeful sampling procedure and used criterion sampling to select the appropriate interviewees on the basis of criteria relevant to the study. The Heads of Public Relations Department of eight full-fledged Islamic banks of Bangladesh were interviewed. The study found that one of the main strategies of public relations in Islamic banks of Bangladesh is to attract customers by unity in diversity. The employees from different races and religions work together, maintain harmonious co-existence, team spirit, equality, and human dignity. As a result, unity in diversity brings a great success to Islamic banks of Bangladesh.
Downloads
References
Abdullah, A. A., Sidek, R., & Adnan, A. A. (2012). Perception of non-Muslim customers towards Islamic banks in Malaysia. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 3(11), 151–163. https://ijbssnet.com/journals/Vol_3_No_11_June_2012/17.pdf
Adnan, M. H. (2015). Birth of the International Muslim Public Relations Practitioners Association (IMPRPA) – A Boost for Muslim Global Practitioners. Jurnal Komunikasi Borneo, 4, 75–97.
Ahmad Shogar, I. A. (2020). The essences of unity in cultural diversity: An analytical review on Prophet’s Farewell Address. Sains Insani, 5(1), 91–100. https://doi.org/10.33102/sainsinsani.vol5no1.153
Al-Qur’an, Surah Al-Isra (17), Ayah 70
Ali, A. J. (2018). An Islamic View of Diversity: Implications for the Business World. In J. Sayed, A. Klarsfeld, F. W. Ngunjiri, & C. F. J. Hartel (Eds.), Religious Diversity in the Workplace. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
Bhuiyan M. A. H., Darda M. A., Hossain M. B. (2022), "Corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices in Islamic banks of Bangladesh". Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 18 No. 5 pp. 968–983, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-07-2020-0280
Fitzpatrick, K., & Gauthier, C. (2001). Toward a professional responsibility theory of public relations ethics. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 16(2–3), 193–212. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327728JMME1602&3_8
Grunig, J. E. (2001). Two-way symmetrical public relations: Past, present, and future. In R. L. Heath & G. Vasquez (Eds.), Handbook of public relations (pp. 11–30). Sage Publications.
Grunig, J. E. (2013). Excellence in public relations and communication management. In Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Management. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203812303
Hanif, M. F., & Haron, R. (2025). Corporate social responsibility in Islamic banks of Bangladesh: A trend analysis. Demak Universal Journal of Islam and Sharia, 3(02), 215–228. https://doi.org/10.61455/deujis.v3i02.339
Haque, M. S. (2014). Unity in diversity in Bangladesh: The contribution of Sheikh Azizur Rahman Nesarabadi. 6th International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences, National Defence University of Malaysia & Prince of Songkla University. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315835236_Unity_in_Diversity_in_Bangladesh_The_Contribution_of_Sheikh_Azizur_Rahman_Nesarabadi
Haque, M. S., & Ahmad, J. (2017). Ethics in public relations and responsible advocacy theory. Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 33(1), 147–157. https://doi.org/10.17576/JKMJC-2017-3301-10
Harun, M. F., Zulkefli, M. Y., & Mohamed Rosli, N.-E. H. (2022). Encountering halal branding and consumer response among non-Muslim consumers. Al-I’lam: Journal of Contemporary Islamic Communication and Media, 2(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.33102/jcicom.vol2no1.40
Hussain, T. (2013). The Islamic ethics & behaviour (Quranic Teachings Series). QuranicTeachings.org. http://www.quranicteachings.org
Idid, S. A., & Hashim, R. (1989). Muslim Media: Some Considerations. In Proceedings of the National Conference on Communication from the Islamic Perspective, 141–179. School of Mass Communication, InstitutTeknologi Mara.
Islam, M. S. (2024). Dimensions of CSR initiatives in Bangladesh: Evidence from Islamic Shariah-based banks (BAIUST Academic Journal, 5(1), 102–111). https://doi.org/10.63307/BAJ.5.1.006
Jabari, H. N. & Muhamad, R. (2022). Diversity and risk taking in Islamic banks: Does public listing matter? Borsa Istanbul Review, 22(3), 546–559. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bir.2021.07.003
Khan, T. N., & Alzubeir Diab, D. M. (2022). Detecting the framing of Islamic bank press releases: Are they CSR focused? International Journal of Economics, Management and Accounting, 30(2), 349–376. https://journals.iium.edu.my/enmjournal/index.php/enmj/article/view/951
Lane, A. B. (2020). The dialogic ladder: Toward a framework of dialogue. Public Relations Review, 46, Article 101870. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2019.101870
Li, J. Y. (2023). Community diversity climate impact on the well-being of marginalized minority group members: The role of two-way symmetrical public relations. International Journal of Communication, 17, 3012–3032.
Mahathir Mohamad. (2009). The call for unity (Keynote speech). 2nd International Muslims Unity Convention, Ramadhan Foundation & Perdana Leadership Foundation. http://www.ramadhanfoundation.com/tunmahathirenglish.pdf
Nurnisya, F. Y., Saad, S., & Md Noor, S. (2022). Implementation of the Excellence Theory to enhance reputation of Indonesian National Police. Al-I’lam: Journal of Contemporary Islamic Communication and Media, 2(2), [page numbers, if available]. https://doi.org/10.33102/jcicom.vol2no2.55
Qiu, J., & Muturi, N. (2016). Asian American public relations practitioners’ perspectives. Howard Journal of Communications, 27(3), 236–249. https://doi.org/10.1080/10646175.2016.1172527
Ridzuan, A. R., Jamil, S. S., Syed Johan, S. H. A., Mohd Diah, N. A., & Mohd Sobri, F. N. A. (2021). Get to know public relations practitioners and their way before and during COVID-19. Al-I’lam: Journal of Contemporary Islamic Communication & Media, 1(1), 81–93. https://doi.org/10.33102/jcicom.vol1no1.6
Ridzuan, A. A. M., Kamri, N. ’A., & Yusoff, Z. M. (2021). Strategi perhubungan awam Islam dan peranannya dalam membangunkan masyarakat madani. Jurnal Syariah, 32(1). https://doi.org/10.22452/syariah.vol32no1.5
Sunan Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, Ḥadīth no. 1313
Vrabcová, P., Urbancová, H., Pacáková, Z., & Kadeřábková, D. (2024). Symmetrical communication: An intra-organisational system to support conflict and crisis resolution in organisations. Cogent Business & Management, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2421414
Wang, Y., & Ma, Y. (2013). Public relations consultancy potential in the Muslim world: Public relations from Islamic perspective. Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 18(6), 98–105.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Md. Shahidul Haque, Jamilah Ahmad

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The copyright of this article will be vested to author(s) and granted the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, unless otherwise stated.