Muslim women entrepreneurs play an increasingly significant role in driving inclusive economic growth, particularly within emerging economies where small and micro enterprises form the backbone of local livelihoods. However, the experiences of Muslim women entrepreneurs remain underexplored and insufficiently understood despite the significance of entrepreneurship in Malaysia’s economic transformation. Applying social capital theory, this study examines how cognitive, structural, and relational capital influence the success of Muslim women entrepreneurs in Malaysia, with entrepreneurial passion serving as a mediating variable. Adopting a quantitative, deductive approach with a cross-sectional design, the study utilized a purposive sampling method to survey 150 Muslim women entrepreneurs in Malaysia’s Klang Valley. The findings reveal that cognitive and relational social capital are positively associated with entrepreneurial passion, whereas structural social capital shows a negative relationship. However, structural social capital indicated a significant but negative association with entrepreneurial passion, suggesting that overly dense networks may inadvertently constrain entrepreneurs’ autonomy and emotional drive. Entrepreneurial passion significantly predicts women’s entrepreneurial success and mediates only the relationship between cognitive social capital and entrepreneurial success. This study aims not only to provide more inclusive ways to support Muslim women entrepreneurs, but also to offer valuable insights on how gender, personal drive, and cultural differences influence women’s success in entrepreneurship.
Chong et al. (Mon,) studied this question.