The Role of Moral Responsibility in Decision-Making Models Inspired by Islamic Religious Traditions
Keywords:
moral responsibility, Islamic ethics, decision-making models, maqasid al-shari’ahAbstract
Despite the proliferation of ethical decision-making frameworks in contemporary management literature, the integration of religiously grounded moral responsibility remains underexplored, particularly within Islamic traditions. This paper addresses this lacuna by developing a comprehensive conceptual model of decision-making that foregrounds the Islamic conception of moral responsibility (al-mas’uliyyah al-akhlaqiyyah). Drawing on an integrative review of Islamic theology, jurisprudence, and business ethics literature, the study synthesises foundational Islamic principles—amanah (trust), taklif (moral obligation), khilafah (vicegerency), shura (consultation), and maqasid al-shari’ah (higher objectives of Islamic law)—into a phased, processual framework termed the Islamic Moral Responsibility-Driven Decision-Making (IMR-DM) model. The model comprises four interconnected stages: ethical intentionality and framing, deliberative consultation, maqasid-based assessment, and post-decision moral reflection. A qualitative conceptual analysis was conducted using primary Islamic sources and secondary scholarly works, guided by an interpretivist epistemology. The findings reveal that Islamic moral responsibility operates as a dynamic, spiritually informed meta-norm that permeates every phase of decision-making, embedding a transcendent accountability absent in secular models. The paper contributes to the fields of Islamic business ethics, religious-based management, and ethical decision-making by providing a theoretically robust and practically adaptable framework. It also highlights how the vertical dimension of divine accountability, combined with the horizontal obligations of communitarian welfare, offers a unique alternative to purely rational-choice or stakeholder-centric models. Implications for organisational practice, leadership development, and corporate governance in Islamic contexts are discussed, along with the challenges of operationalising such a model in pluralistic environments. The paper concludes by outlining a research agenda for empirical testing and cross-cultural comparative studies.
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