Nuturing Society Through Corporate Social Responsibility

A straight simple answer to the above question is to have continuous pursuit of excellence in ensuring sustainable develpment within the market corporation operates in.

A way of doing this is through benchmarking, or the act of identifying the industry's best practices, and comparing and adapting them to attain more efficient and effective processes in achieving the intended result.

For Halal Industry players, the best benchmarking strategy is to adopt the Waqf method of revitalising and ensuring further sustainability in the society that the company operates in.

In essence, Waqf is defined as a philanthropic or charitable endowment whereby the corpus of the Waqf will always remain intact. during the period of the Ottoman Empire,Waqf was known to be the backbone of social development, an institution that helped stimulate social justices, community developments, educational support and even poverty alleviation.

The Waqf revenues are designated to be spent for ongoing expendituresm with the funds designated to specified areas such as education, health and even research, Thus it is an institution that provides long term sustainable solutions to many of the concerns within the community.

The legal procedure of establishing a Waqf as applied during the Ottoman Empire has three steps, according to Ahmet Akgunduz in his book The Pious Foundation and Ottoman Practise. The first is Waqf being accepted as a unilateral contract established with the open declaration of the donor's intention of establishing a Waqf.

There are confitions for the Waqf declaration to be valid. These are the donor cannot set any conditions for the endowment, the declaration must not contain any ambiguity and that the endowment must not be temporary.

The second component is called akarat, or the revenue resources allocated for the usage of the Waqf. The third component is called waqfiyye, which is the document that describes the principles and public aims fo the Waqf to be established, and is administered by a mutawalli, a modern equivalent to the board of directors.

According to Zeinoul Abedien Cajee from Awqaf Sout Africa, it has been recounted in various literatures that the entire health, education and welfare budget during the Istanbul-based Osmanli caliphate, came from its charitable foundations.

He further added that the undortunate invasion, occupation and colonisation by Euro-Christian powers caused a wave of destruction of indigenous cultures, languages, the Waqf institution being one of the main casualties.

However, with the current practice of corporate social responsibility(CSR) projects, there is hope yet in revitalising this institution. Since Waqf is also seen as economic redistribution mechanism where funds are allocated for specific areas, a Halal company practicing CSR that incorporates Waqf could designate the funds for research purposes.

This will undoubtedly create more jobs and could further develop the Halal industry and at the same time, increase the company's breand and corporate image. Not only that, companies will also have competitive advantages in the form of improved financial performance, enhanced brand image and reputation, an increased ability to attract and retain quality workforce, more efficient risk management, and be able to attract more sophisticated institutional investors.

As it is, CSR encompasses a wide spectrum of activities ranging from business ethics, corporate governance, and investing in environmental sustainability and community investment. As a measure of significance, in his annual 2007 Malaysian budget speech, Prime Minister Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had encouraged public listed companies to adopt and car efor charitable instituions such as welfare homes and orphanges, old folks and shelter homes, even dialysis and rehabilitation cetnres as well as encourage their emplyees to participate in these programmes.

A study has shown that global consumers across the world are very likely to accept or reject a corporation based on its reputation for social and environmental reponsibility. It also revealed that eight out of ten consumers in Malaysia are more likely to purchase a product or service from a corporation with responsible business practices; while six out of ten said they would refrain from purchasing a product of service if the corporation failed to follow ehtical business practices.

In Malaysia, Johor Corporation(JCORP) is one exemplary institution taking the lead in incorporatin Waqf in all of its CSR programs. Led by Tan Sri Muhammad Ali Hashin, JCORP has instituted various Waqf projects to help nurture the society. Most notable is the An-Nur Waqaf Clinic project in 1999 with its first outlet opened for business at the Kotaraya Plaze in Johor Bahru.

Two more clinics were later added, one each at Pasir Gudang and Batu Pahat. In its first year, the An-Nur Waqaf Clinic in Kotaraya treated more than 9000 patients, treating and consulting patients at reasonable fees without discriminating race or religion. An integral component of these clinics is the Dialysis Centre.

Most importantly, the operation of these clinics and dialysis centres is entirely funded using Waqf funds. It is usually invested in either social or religous assets of the society such as the universities, schools, research centres, clinics and so on. These are important components to further develop the society and ultimately, the Halal industry.

Just like the human body, every part is essential for the body to function. The same goes for the Halal industr, where every component of the industry, be it the manufacturers, producers, consumers, Halal meat, logistics, packaging, finance and research, are all needed to operate accordingly, to reach its fullest potential. With everyone playing their part and incorporating Waqf, it will help to nurture society by contributing funds to develop education, health as well as research.

Therefore, every component of society is needed to ensure that the industry develops and prosper. Around the world, there have been setbacks here and there within the fundamental issues of education and health that may disrupt any business operations.

For example, according to a recent Guardian survey tuition fees for undergraduates in England  will rise to apporzimately £6,000 a year or even more to cover the increasing tuition costs. It is more or less the same in Zimbabwe, where parents not only have to contend with fees they cannot afford,but also with expensive essentials like uniforms, which now cost 600 times more than they did in 2006.

If nothing is done to curb this, corporations and industries may not find any qualified graduates to hire one day,  or in the case of the Halal industry, Halal professionals. How can the Halal industry be fully developed when there are no qualified Halal professionals for research, audit, etc? Progress of the industry will undeniably be stagnate.

Existing inequalities in welath and education will inevitably lead to other inwqualities such as market oppurtunities. living environment and the general quality of life. The Worl Bank recently quoted that," A better quality of life generally calls for higher incomes for all, but in developing countries, this involves much more".

"its encompasses education, higher standards of health and nutrition, less poverty, a cleaner environment, more equal opportunities, greater individual freedom and a better cultural life".

All this is to further encourage social development as quoted in the Al Quran, in Surah Al-Imran which calls for believers to persevere in patience and constancy, to strengthen each other, and it invites people to enjoin and do what is good and right.

There is therefore a serious need for major players to indentify the needs of society to improve both the quality of life of its society as well as to improve profits. Integration is vital especially between key industry players, corporations and the consumers and of course, between the industry and the society that is operates in. Integrating Waqf in CSR in therefore the next best step for corporations within the Halal industry. As Zeinoul Abedien Cajee mentioned, the Waqf concept is actually flexible and may be directed towards any worthwhile and Shariah compliant needs, and may be used for humanitarian purposes beyond Muslim exclusivity.

The same can be said with Halal, which is indeed for all mankind. In addition to making profits, obeying the law and being ethical, Halal is alos about being a good corporate citizen.

Thus Waqf is also investment for the future and through CSR programs, the company will ensure perpetuity.