BY DR. MOHMED RAZIP HASAN

Fellow – Islamic Science University

of Malaysia( USIM) & Institut Tun

Perak, Melaka.

Former Director General of Islamic

Tourism, MOTAC

person must be protected from

disease and illness, as well as any harmful or unlawful actions and conduct, in products and services.

Therefore, we need to maintain our entire well-being to fulfil our duty towards Allah SWT and towards society. To comprehend the terms of HWID, I borrow some definitions from Matt Mumber and Heather Reed in their book, 8 Steps to Lasting Health & Wellness( 2012), which states that health is a state of balance with our external and internal environment.

It ' s a dynamic state that can include responses to acute and chronic challenges. While wellness is the individual experience of that balanced state, we refer to it

as health. Illness is a state of imbalance that occurs when challenges arise and demand a response from our resources in order to regain balance.

This leads to disease when the individual experiences the state of imbalance, which we call an illness, as stated earlier. Hence, as individuals, we require balance or equilibrium in our health and wellness to live life to the fullest, which is reflected in the physical( body), mental( mind), emotional, social, and spiritual aspects( soul).

CREATING DEMAND

I am a traveller and am accustomed to travelling to off-the-beaten-track destinations, metropolitan areas, resorts, and remote islands, both at home and overseas. Due to the hectic outdoors and extreme weather conditions in these places, we experience tiredness, laziness, and sleep disruption.

One solution is to have access to the right and suitable therapies and remedies. What immediately comes to mind is wellness and rejuvenation. I could imagine the same expectation from tourists and locals when they encounter such conditions and experiences.

In practice, entrepreneurs and destinations prefer combining the words " spa " and " wellness " as it seems trendy to inspire clients. It is also common to see the combination of terms- health, medical and wellness- in tourism promotions.

The reason is that they are

within the healthcare framework. The differences may be in terms of the size of infrastructure, support systems, and regulations, which health and medical require a bigger capital outlay than wellness.

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

The demand for health and wellness among the public from diverse backgrounds has been encouraging.

We observe that the majority of those who patronise the centres are women, including teenagers, working professionals, wives, parents, mothers, grandmothers, and even toddlers, seeking traditional and modern therapies and remedies for physical ailments, post-natal care, wellness, and rejuvenation.

We also realise that older adults, as well as patients, visit health, spa, and wellness centres for rehabilitation and physiotherapy. These observations are also applied to tourists, golfers, shoppers, seniors, business travellers, newlyweds and honeymooners.

EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGY

There are still negative perceptions towards spa and wellness outlets, as well as reflexology services, which equate such facilities and services with massage parlours or " rumah urut "( traditional massage centres), or entertainment centres.

This is more apparent in small towns and laid-back cities, where the location of businesses is not

NEW OPPORTUNITY

Muslim-friendly Health and Wellness opens new opportunities. The core principles of maqasid al-Shariah underpin the wellness concept and framework designed for Muslim consumers.

These include the preservation of order, the achievement of benefits, the prevention of harm, the establishment of equality, reverence and obedience, and the strengthening of the ummah.

In view of this significance, Malaysia as leading destination for Muslim travellers, has been given a mandate by OIC through Jabatan Standard Malaysia( Standards Malaysia) to lead the draft of OIC / SMIIC Halal Tourism: Classifications for Wellness Spa, which provides the standards to be used as guidelines to the industry i. e. Spa and Wellness premises and services in OIC member countries that wish to cater for Muslim customers including tourists.

I had the opportunity to lead the working group for this standard at the OIC level for three years( 2022-2025), and Alhamdulillah, the standard has been adopted and will soon be published by OIC / SMICC.

The standard will also serve as a guide for non-OIC countries that plan to expand into the Muslim travel market.

For those who wish to learn more about Muslim-friendly wellness, they can seek information from the Islamic Tourism Centre( ITC), Halal Centres at various public universities, the Association of Malaysian Spas( AMSPA), the Malaysia Association of Wellness Trainers( MAWT), and the Malaysia Association of Wellness & Spa( MAWSPA).-