ANALYSIS OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) PRACTICES IN QATARI ISLAMIC BANKS
تحليل ممارسات المسؤولية الاجتماعية للشركات في المصارف الإسلامية القطرية
Abstract
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is considered one of the institutional pillars with a Shariah-based dimension in Islamic banking, and its importance is growing within the framework of a comprehensive Islamic vision that upholds the values of justice, solidarity, and development. Islamic banks in Qatar—particularly Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), Masraf Al Rayan, and Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB)—have sought to incorporate CSR into their institutional policies. However, discrepancies remain in terms of commitment and implementation. This study adopts a qualitative approach using directed content analysis by reviewing annual and sustainability reports published by three major Islamic banks in Qatar from 2020 to 2023. Data were manually coded and analyzed using NVivo software according to three key dimensions: social responsibility toward the community, compliance with Shariah and ethical practices, and sustainable and equitable economic development. The results revealed varied levels of CSR implementation among the banks. While there were notable community initiatives in education, health, and zakat, as well as financial support for entrepreneurs and marginalized groups, several challenges emerged. These include weak integration between Shariah and executive structures, the absence of social impact assessment tools, and inconsistencies in disclosure practices. The findings suggest that CSR in Qatari Islamic banks still requires strategic alignment between Shariah principles and governance and development imperatives, in order to achieve a balance between profitability and value-based objectives. The study recommends greater involvement of Shariah boards in CSR policy formulation and the adoption of performance indicators with Shariah-developmental dimensions to ensure alignment with the maqāṣid al-sharīʿah and Qatar National Vision 2030.
References
Aḥmad, ʿAbd Allāh. (2010). Al-Tamwīl al-Aṣghar al-Islāmī: Āfāq wa Tamwīl al-Tanmiya al-Mujtamaʿiyyah. Bayrūt: Markaz al-Dirāsāt al-Iqtiṣādiyyah al-Islāmiyyah.
Al-Baṭīnah, ʿĪsā. (2018). Al-Masʾūliyyah al-Ijtimāʿiyyah wa Atharuhā ʿalā al-Adāʾ al-Mālī fī al-Maṣārif al-Islāmiyyah. Al-Majallah al-ʿArabiyyah lil-Muḥāsabah, 9(2), 23–47.
Al-Jammal, ʿAbd Allāh. (2006). Al-Istithmār al-Akhlāqī fī al-Maṣārif al-Islāmiyyah. Bayrūt: Dār al-Salām.
Al-Nuʿaymī, Yūsuf & al-Ḥusayn, ʿĀdil. (2012). Āliyyāt al-Ifṣāḥ ʿan al-Masʾūliyyah al-Ijtimāʿiyyah fī al-Maṣārif al-Islāmiyyah. Majallat Dirāsāt al-Tamwīl al-Islāmī, 3(1), 45–63.
al-Shumaylān, ʿAbd al-Wahhāb. (2018). al-Masʾūliyyah al-Ijtimāʿiyyah min Manẓūr Islāmī wa-Taʾthīruhā al-Ijābī ʿalā al-Munazzamāt. al-Majallah al-ʿArabiyyah li-al-Idārah, 38(4), 103–114. doi: 10.21608/aja.2018.22439
Carroll, A. B. (1991). The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: Toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders. Business horizons, 34(4), 39-48.
Chapra, M. U. (2008). The Islamic Vision of Development in the Light of Maqasid al-Shariah. IIIT.
Commission of the European Communities. (2001). Promoting a European framework for Corporate Social Responsibility (Green Paper, COM(2001) 366). Brussels: Commission of the European Communities.
Dukhan Bank. (2022). Annual Report 2022. https://www.dukhanbank.com.
Dukhan Bank. (2023). Annual Report 2023. https://www.dukhanbank.com.
Dusuki, A. W., & Dar, H. (2007). Stakeholders’ perceptions of corporate social responsibility of Islamic banks: Evidence from Malaysian economy. International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, 1(1), 36–55.
Dusūqī, Ḥasan. (2008). Al-Tamkīn al-Iqtiṣādī fī al-Ruʾyah al-Islāmiyyah. al-Qāhirah: Maktabat Dār al-Fikr al-Islāmī.
Haniffa, R., & Hudaib, M. (2007). Ethical identity of Islamic banks. Journal of Business Ethics, 76(1), 97–116.
Ismāʿīl, ʿAbd Allāh & al-Muqarribīn, Muḥammad. (2017). Usus al-Masʾūliyyah al-Ijtimāʿiyyah fī al-Islām. ʿAmmān: Dār al-Nafāʾis.
Jābir, Muḥammad Muḥsin ʿUmar, Muḥammad, ʿAbd al-Qawī ʿAbd al-Ghanī, & ʿAbd al-Nabī, Kamāl ʿAjmī Ḥāmid. (2022). al-Masʾūliyyah al-Ijtimāʿiyyah min al-Manẓūr al-Tarbawī al-Islāmī. al-Tarbiyah (al-Azhar): Majallah ʿIlmiyyah Muḥakkamah lil-Buḥūth al-Tarbawiyyah wa-al-Nafsiyyah wa-al-Ijtimāʿiyyah, 41(194), 777–815. doi: 10.21608/jsrep.2022.261450
Jamali, D., & Mirshak, R. (2007). Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Theory and Practice in a Developing Country Context. Journal of Business Ethics, 72, 243-262. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9168-4
Kamlah, Ḥasan & Rammāl, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. (2013). Dawr al-Taʿlīm fī Manẓūmat al-Masʾūliyyah al-Ijtimāʿiyyah lil-Muʾassasāt al-Islāmiyyah. Majallat al-ʿUlūm al-Ijtimāʿiyyah, 19(4), 102–121.
Khān, Farḥān & Karīm, Sājid. (2022). Al-Ifṣāḥ ʿan al-Masʾūliyyah al-Ijtimāʿiyyah fī al-Maṣārif al-Islāmiyyah: Dirāsah Taḥlīliyyah. Majallat al-Iqtiṣād al-Islāmī al-ʿĀlamī, 14(2), 77–98.
Masraf Al Rayan. (2022). Annual Report 2022. https://www.alrayan.com.
Masraf Al Rayan. (2023). Annual Report 2023. https://www.alrayan.com.
Nakimuli, Rebecca. (2018). Comparative Analysis of CSR Disclosure in Islamic and Conventional Banks. Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, 9(3), 256–273.
Qatar International Islamic Bank. (2022). Annual Report 2022. https://www.qiib.com.qa.
Qatar International Islamic Bank. (2023). Annual Report 2023. https://www.qiib.com.qa.
Qatar Islamic Bank. (2022). Annual Report 2022. https://www.qib.com.qa.
Qatar Islamic Bank. (2023). Annual Report 2023. https://www.qib.com.qa.
Ṣādiq, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. (2006). Al-Sharīʿah wa al-Tanmiya: Naḥwa Namūdhaj Tanmāwī Badīl. al-Riyāḍ: Maʿhad al-Iqtiṣād al-Islāmī.
Copyright (c) 2025 Al-Hikmah
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
© 2025 Al-Hikmah.
Copyright of the published article is vested in UKM Press, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia upon formal acceptance and completion of the copyright transfer agreement.
All articles are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
