Although people may not be aware of it, in part because of the fancy Western-sounding name for it, Islam has much of corporate social responsibility in its teaching. As sharia requires operating in a morally, ethically and socially responsible manner, it is correct to state that CSR is embedded in Islam. As a Muslim, one has a duty to promote social harmony, prevent harm on living beings whether they be human, animal or vegetal, alleviate hardship, strive for relationships to be just, fair and balanced, and to protect the interests and rights of all — that is exactly what CSR is all about.
As Westerners are exploring ways to integrate this concept into their corporate business models and plans, Muslims should be able to help them with this daunting task, if it were not for a recent study revealing that interest in CSR, although high, is still lower for Muslims than for non-Muslims. This study shows that “a significantly lower proportion of Muslims expect firms to set higher than normal ethical standards than people in the other groups.” It also reveals that in the areas of environment, quality and employee treatment, Muslims have lower expectations than non-Muslims.
It may be because of the Western-sounding concept, or it may be because the corporate world in general may appear to be more on the haram (i.e. non-halal) side of things, that Muslims apply a lower standard to it than to their personal everyday life and religion. But who today can avoid noticing the impact businesses have on our environment? Can we permit ourselves to neglect the social aspect of having employees? Should businesses continue to ignore the fact they are an entity in a community?
Muslims, and non-Muslims, should recall this: the Qur’an states that all business transactions should be done within a clear and transparent ethical framework (2:282), corruption, deception and bribery are outlawed, and shareholders, suppliers and competitors must be treated fairly and with respect. The Qur’an also reports that God has appointed man as his vicegerent on earth, therefore expecting him to protect the environment from abuse (2:30). As for quality standards, the Qur’an states to “Give just measure and cause no loss (to others by fraud). And weight with scales true and upright. And withhold not things justly due to men, nor do evil in the land of working mischief.” (26:181-183) Mohammed’s teachings also encourage fair treatment in the workplace and discourage discrimination against minorities or other groups.
These four criteria, ethics, environment, quality and employee treatment, are exactly those which were mentioned in the study mentioned above. So let’s encourage MENA companies to engage in the general international trend of voluntary CSR initiative, and invite foreign companies operating in Muslim countries to think about how Islam can influence the environment they operate in and to acknowledge it in their CSR initiatives.
NAJEEB AL-ALI is the executive director of the Dubai Center for Corporate Values (DCCV)
