Introduction
The article under discussion describes the Islamic approach to the perception of corporate social responsibility. The peculiarity of this approach implies a series of factors determining human activity. Unlike the Western idea of the prevalence of social values, the Islamic perspective offers a more profound and complicated analysis of the problem.
Main body
To begin with, the primary distinction of this perspective is the basis it chooses as the determinant of human activity. According to this approach, human’s reasoning is an insufficient ground for setting social responsibility norms and standards. Whereas common sense can partially serve as guidance for one’s business and economic activity, general social deeds frequently require a universal ground to be relied on. Therefore, the Islamic perspective of human behavior suggests employing the religious bond as a moral and conscious determinant of a human’s conduct. The bonds are indicated in Shari’ah that is also known as “Islamic Law.” It includes a set of laws and values according to which an Islamic man is supposed to perform decision-making. Shari’ah is a moral standard that unites both religious and juridical issues. The religious side of this paradigm covers the questions of human dignity, trust and responsibility; its legitimate aspect enlightens the equality and right issues. Thus, Shari’ah provides guidance for acting under any circumstances.
The religious implication has a significant impact on the Islamic understanding of the CSR concept. As far as the key idea of Shari’ah consists in the service of God as the primary human concern, the CRS notion assumes corporation members’ responsibility to God as well. This common commitment considerably predetermines people’s everyday lives, their attitude towards colleagues and partners, the terms of their collaboration. Unlike the Western approach that lays particular emphasis on the company’s prosperity, the Islamic perspective foregrounds moral and ethical principles. Self-interest plays a minor role in the paradigm of corporate social responsibility. Self-centered needs are supposed to be sacrificed in favor of corporate interests and benefits.
The dominating role of Shari’ah’s rules and values does not exclude the power of law. The legislative system is still employed in order to regulate the technical side of corporate collaboration, particularly those matters that lie beneath the moral norms or ethical standards. While Shari’ah concept is mainly focused on the general patterns of behavior, the law provides regulation measures for particular cases. Nevertheless, the law is not regarded to be the prevailing power in the Islamic perspective of corporate policy.
However, despite the fact that the main company’s concern consists in its social commitment and God’s serving, its prosperity still serves as the indication of high corporate responsibility. According to the Islamic approach, the firm that leads a proper corporate policy is likely to receive God’s blessing, thus, its performance data is supposed to be high. In such a manner, the company that shows low indexes of effectiveness is considered to be pursuing a wrong corporate policy.
Conclusion
In conclusion, one should point out that the Islamic approach proves to be fundamentally different from the Western concept of corporate social responsibility. First of all, the power of juridical law is significantly weaker than the power of the rules Shari’ah sets. Secondly, according to Islamic ideas, corporate responsibility resides in the responsibility to God. Finally, the economic benefit is regarded as an outcome of the corporate responsibility bearing, but not as an ultimate goal.