This has produced a new Islamic ethics-based framework of whistle-blowing that includes the five aspects of the whistle-blowing process: What one should blow the whistle about. In environmental responsibility, two recent studies conduct thorough content analyzes of the Qur'an to identify A comprehensive review of the literature indicates that there is no single prior comprehensive study that theorizes the whistleblowing process based on the divine sources of Islam.
We then examine the extent to which Islamic ethics of whistleblowing are actually promoted in practice by conducting a comparative analysis of the actual whistleblowing policies of Islamic banks and financial institutions, available in the public domain, with the proposed framework of whistleblowing. First, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to conceptualize the whistleblowing process based on the two main sources of the Islamic religion (i.e., the Qur'an and the Sunnah). This broader value-based view of whistle-blowing has unique implications for the five core aspects of the whistle-blowing wheel developed by Culiberg and Mihelič (2017): What one should blow the whistle on.
Research Design
We used a three-phase empirical investigation, initiated by using the whistleblowing wheel (What, Who, How, Why, and to Whom) developed by Culiberg and Mihelič (2017), to inform the next two phases of our to guide meaning-oriented content analysis of the main sources of Islamic statements and whistleblowing policies of Islamic banks and financial institutions. This resulted in 121 verses in 41 chapters being identified as the five aspects of the whistleblowing process. The content analysis of the Qur'anic text was supported by unearthing the relevant supporting prophetic statements/actions (hadiths) relevant to the five questions in the whistleblowing wheel.
Only 15% of the 136 identified Islamic banks and financial institutions have disclosed whistleblowing policies available online in English or Arabic. About 67% (8 out of 12) of the Islamic banks and financial institutions in East Asia have disclosed whistleblowing policies and are included in the analysis. A coding framework, designed in an Excel spreadsheet, was formulated to identify relevant excerpts from the policies of the Islamic banks and financial institutions that provide answers to the five whistleblowing questions.
Islamic Ethics-Based Framework of Whistleblowing
- What should one blow the whistle about?
- Who should blow the whistle?
- Why should one blow the whistle?
- How should one blow the whistle?
- To whom should one blow the whistle?
In the teachings of Islam, work is a matter of faith and therefore employees should be selected, appointed and evaluated based on their merits, which is an application of the principle of justice (Abuarqub 2009). The Qur'an notes: “One of the women [a daughter of Jethro] said: 'O my father, employ him [Moses]. The Qur'an describes Pharaoh as an example of abuse of power when God says: "Truly, Pharaoh exalted himself in the land and made its people into groups, oppressing a part among them, slaughtering their [newborn] sons and keeping their women. alive.
If a common obligation is adequately addressed in the community, that obligation falls off the shoulders of the remaining Muslims in the same community. As such, individual Muslims are motivated to blow the whistle if whistleblowing will lead to the achievement of the five goals of Islamic law (Malik and Nordin 2012). Individuals who are empowered through authority have one of the highest levels of ability, and therefore a greater responsibility is placed upon them: “[And they are] those who, if We give them authority in the land.
The third step is verification with evidence of the existence of a corrupt act through an ethical investigation. Furthermore, assumptions without clear evidence of the likely existence of (a) corrupt act(s) are considered false suspicion, which is impermissible in Islam. In applying this, one must ask whether the benefits of the act of reporting wrongdoing would be limited to certain individuals or spread across society.
The third rule provides that certain benefit is not given up for the sake of imagined harm. However, the choice between these options may well depend on the individual's circumstances and their surroundings. Specifying an appropriate recipient to whom the unethical practice should be reported is a key aspect of the whistleblowing process.
This is elaborated in various verses of the Koran; for example: “There the authority is [completely] for Allah, the Truth. If the individual aware of the corrupt practice has direct authority to challenge this evil, then it is up to him to do so. However, if giving advice would lead to more corruption or would not result in correcting the corrupt act, then other means should be used.
Whistleblowing in Islamic Banks: A Framework–Policy Gap
- A narrow view of reported wrongdoings
- The confined scope of potential whistleblowers
- Lack of comprehensive incorporation of Islamic motivations
- Missing steps in the whistleblowing process
- Lack of gradation to rectify incorrect acts
In general, most of the policies analyzed tend to have a narrow vision of the types of corruption that should be reported. Many of the whistleblower policies of the Islamic banks and financial institutions examined limit whistleblowing to internal employees and board members. However, all banks and financial institutions analyzed tend to lack clear guidelines on who should blow the whistle in accordance with Islamic rules.
Our analysis shows that many of the policies analyzed consider preventing harm, whether to the institution, its staff or stakeholders, as a motivation for whistleblowing. Explicitly disclosing the Islamic reasoning for whistleblowing in the whistleblowing policy could help potential whistleblowers not to remain silent when there is evidence of corruption or injustice. The analyzed policies of the sampled Islamic banks and financial institutions mainly focus on the identity of the whistleblower and the manner in which misconduct should be reported, rather than on the process/steps the whistleblower must follow when deciding to start whistling.
Since the Islamic perspective is neglected in the documentation of the complete process of how to blow the whistle, the guidelines in the analyzed policies can be linked to the five-step whistle-blowing process proposed by the IEFW. For example, a significant number of the examined policies (nine) refer to genuine intentions, the first step in the IEFW whistleblowing heuristic process. The analysis also shows that most of the investigated policies do not explicitly refer to Islamic standards to guide how to blow the whistle.
While elements of some of the steps in the IEFW are stated in the analyzed policies, clear and complete guidance from an Islamic perspective on the steps an individual must follow before deciding to blow the whistle is lacking. However, the analyzed policies of the sampled Islamic banks and financial institutions disregard the necessary procedures regarding to whom the corrupt act should be disclosed according to Islamic ethics and instead indicate direct disclosure. In general, there is also a large gap between the date of establishment of the banks/financial institutions and the enactment of whistleblowing policies.
Most of the whistleblowing policies of the Islamic banks and financial institutions also do not refer to the respective applicable country laws, except for a few banks in Malaysia and India.
Discussion and Conclusion
Overall, the analysis shows that there is a clear gap between the guidance provided by Islamic Shariah and what the sampled Islamic banks and financial institutions provide in their whistleblowing policies. Research streams in the mainstream literature on wrongdoing have also examined the content of whistleblowing procedures by examining the various applicable laws (Vandeckerckhove and Lewis 2012). In general, these research streams reflect the maturity of the field; however, studies involving behavioral approaches based on religious doctrines that shape the lives of millions of people are lacking.
The IEFW offers a flexible framework that recognizes the complexity of whistleblowing law, while outlining the steps to be followed as individuals negotiate this delicate process. The third and final phase of our analysis shows that the Islamic ethics of whistle-blowing are not well promoted in practice, as reflected in the whistle-blowing policies of the analyzed Islamic banks and financial institutions. In particular, the empirical analysis shows a narrow view of what should be reported as a violation, a limited scope of potential whistleblowers, a lack of comprehensive incorporation of Islamic motivations, missing steps in the actual whistleblowing process, and a lack of grading in mortgage. to correct corrupt acts.
Layers of analysis that include government policies as well as the socio-economic factors related to the Islamic banks and financial institutions under study are also beyond the scope of the current research. Different extraneous variables affecting whistleblowing procedures, such as government policies, can lead to differences in the policies of banks and financial institutions in different countries. Moreover, the adopted thematic content analysis contains an inherent degree of subjectivity, as it is naturally less objective in the allocation, interpretation and conclusion drawn from the sampled Qur'anic verses and Prophetic traditions.
Despite the inevitable presence of subjectivity in the whole approach, this is minimized, since the analysis covered the spectrum of the entire Qur'anic text as well as authentic prophetic traditions without omissions. Finally, we would like to emphasize that our research is a starting point for further research on the parallelism between the religious dimensions of whistle-blowing and central international literature. This research stream will not only improve the common understanding of whistleblowing policies and concepts; it will also add a practical dimension to this research area, which was previously underrepresented in the international literature.
In the Law of Jurisprudence of Priorities: A New Study in the Light of the Qur'an and Sunnah. In the Annual Conference of the Verein für Socialpolitik 2016: Demographic Change - Session: Social Norms and Diffusion of Responsibility, No. Whistleblowing: A Critical Philosophical Analysis of the Component Moral Decisions of the Act and some New Perspectives on its Moral Significance.
