CONCLUSIONS

Both international secular instruments and the principles of Islamic law strongly assert that maintenance of workplace safety is an essential obligation of employers. CSR does not uphold a concept of charity or philanthropy; rather it denotes the responsibility of corporations as an integral part of the national and international communities to protect those who may be affected by their (corporations) actions or omissions in both short and long terms.

Garments owners in Bangladesh appear to be complacent by offering an earning opportunity to millions of unemployed poor youths especially untrained women without adequate safety standards and remuneration. Many workers too are thought to be seemingly happy with whatever they get in exchange for their hard labour believing in the old saying that ‘something is better than nothing’. They fear that they may lose whatever they are presently earning, if they want more from their employers. Therefore, they have to continue to work with a calm disappointment for years. The discontent gets worse when it is amplified by safety concerns. Such a workplace environment is not only exploitive, but also unproduc­tive simply because workers’ motivation for work is affected by the feeling of unsafety and deprivation. The existence of such an atmosphere at the workplace is not only condemned, but proscribed in Islam. Hence both the owners and workers especially when they are Muslim need to be respectful to each other’s rights and obligations for mutual interests in this life, as well as for the divine rewards in the eternal life hereafter under Islamic teachings. Employers, by virtue of their higher rank, do have a greater responsibility compared to that of their employees to ensure compliance with Shari’ah principles.

The preceding discussions provide evidence of the fact that Islamic principles are by no means in conflict with the spirit of CSR currently prevailing throughout the globe especially in the developed world in the era of ‘corporate tyranny’. Rather Shari’ah is unambiguous in imposing responsibility on individuals in exclusion of the entity itself for ignoring workplace safety.^[503] Personal liability does work as incentives to comply with regulation which is attached to sanctions.^[504]

In response to a potential question as to why the employers in Bangladesh should abide by the CSR principles of Shari’ah, John Zinkin’s contention in a Malaysian context could be mentioned that ‘it makes good business sense; it is the Islamic way of doing business; and it is good risk management’.^[505] Bangladesh is clearly comparable with Malaysia in terms of both religion and business in general, although the former is much stronger than the latter particularly in the garment sector. Bangladesh cannot afford to lose the dominating position of its garment industry at home and abroad in the interest of economic and social well-being of the nation at the very least. Moreover, Islam is a religion which contains the ultimate code of human life; it instructs employers to embrace their workers with due kindness, respect, honour and a sense of brotherhood. All these collectively obligate employers to provide a safe and healthy workplace to their workers.

6.