Social responsibility is an ethical theory that an entity, be it an organisation or individual, has an obligation to act to benefit the society at large. It is a duty every individual has to perform so as to maintain a balance between the economy and the ecosystems. A trade-off may exist between the economic development, in the material sense, and the welfare of the society and environment. Social responsibility means sustaining the equilibrium between the two. It pertains not only to business organisations but to everyone whose action impacts the environment in any way. This responsibility can be passive, by avoiding being engaged in socially harmful acts, or active, by performing activities that directly advance social goals.
Social responsibility in Islam is understood to mean that the individual members of society work together to fulfil the general needs of society as well as the individual needs of its members and that they work together to protect society from harm. Each member of society is aware that he not only has rights, but also responsibilities towards others, especially those who are incapable of fulfilling their own needs. These responsibilities entail providing the needs of these people as well as protecting them from harm.
Allah says in the Qur’ān, “Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is (in) one who believes in Allah , the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveller, those who ask (for help), and for freeing slaves; (and who) establishes prayer and gives zakah; (those who) fulfil their promise when they promise; and [those who] are patient in poverty and hardship and during battle. Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous.” (Qur’ān 2:177).
The verse makes a fundamental observation on the nature of religiosity. Through this verse we can learn that if people have to become truly righteous, they need to be socially responsible. They need to give wealth, they need to help the relatives, orphans and they need to help those who ask for help, ultimately contributing to the society by becoming responsible citizens.
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) worked as a shepherd at the age of eight because he wanted to help his uncle Abu Talib since he wasn’t rich and had a big family with many children. As a young boy, Prophet Muhammad earned his living as a shepherd. He would take the sheep and cattle of his relatives and those of the people of Makkah to the surrounding deserts to graze. Being a shepherd makes an individual socially responsible and learn the art of caring and loving. A good shepherd is interested in the welfare of the people, not in fleecing them. While being a shepherd, one spends most of his time with the sheep and while spending time with them it makes the individual more caring and more responsible towards the beings around him. With being a shepherd one learns the skills of leadership, patience, organising, empathy, control, interpersonal relations, building unity and also making them physically strong, all of which are very much necessary to be socially responsible to the society. Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) was a man who was socially responsible to the highest degree. He strived to solve every problem the society was facing. The following are some of the social issues, which he took up.
First, in the pre-Islamic society, people were highly ignorant, they lacked knowledge. The Prophet understood the basic problem was lack of education and encouraged them to gain knowledge. He said, “Seeking knowledge is a duty on every Muslim.” (Bukhari) He also said, “A father gives his child nothing better than a good education.” (Mishkat) In his unlettered and oral society, he encouraged his followers to learn to write, in order to communicate the message of the Qur’ān far and wide.
Secondly, the birth of a daughter in a family was not an occasion for rejoicing, but was regarded with humiliation. A daughter was considered a painful burden, a potential source of shame to her father. Girls were hated so much that they were buried alive. The practice of killing female children was uncontrolled. After Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him), the society completely changed. He was always against this irrational discrimination against girls and female infanticide in particular.
In order to wipe out all the traces of female infanticide from the society, Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) promised a great reward to those who were blessed with daughters and would bring them up kindly. He said, “He who is involved in bringing up daughters, and accords benevolent treatment towards them, will have protection for him against Hellfire” (Bukhari and Muslim). He also said, “Whoever maintains two girls till they attain maturity, he and I will come on the Resurrection Day like this; and he joined his fingers.” (Muslim)
Thirdly, in the pre-Islamic society, some proud pagans practised ‘honour’ killings, treated them like slaves and property. The numerous reforms which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) instituted included the end of ‘honour’ killings, the right of a woman’s approval for her marriage, her right to ownership of private property, to seek unilateral divorce if the husband was abusive and to remarry as a widow or divorcee. Moreover, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) taught, while a husband was supposed to provide for his wife, the wife was under no obligation to share her wealth or property with the husband.
Fourthly, pre-Islamic Arab society had racial biases against non-Arabs. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) managed to purify these primitive sentiments by his personal example. His closest companions’ Bilal bin Riba (an Abyssinian) and Salman Farsi (a Persian) were both former slaves who went on to command enormous respect in the first Muslim society. In his famous last sermon, the Prophet declared, “A white has no superiority over a black, nor does a black over a white, except by piety and good action.”
Fifthly, in the pre-Islamic period, circumambulation (tawaf) of the Ka’aba did continue. Men and women walked together around the Ka’aba stark naked, saying, “We go before God just as our mothers gave birth to us.” But after Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) took control, no naked person was allowed to perform the circumambulation around the Ka’aba. The change in the mode of worship brought in decency and morality among the people.
On one side, Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) worked for the welfare of the society by striving to eradicate evils; on the other hand, he never did anything that could cause harm to the society or would disturb peace. He always strived to maintain peace and harmony in the society, which is another aspect of being socially responsible.
All other Prophets of Islam were also socially responsible. They mainly did two things, called people towards Allah and tackled social issues of their time. Prophet Nuh tackled the issue of Casteism; Prophet Moosa dealt with the issue of Dictatorship; Prophet Hud the issue of Capitalism, Prophet Salih the issue of Faulty Leadership, Prophet Ibrahim the issue of Idol Worship, Prophet Lut the issue of Homosexuality and Prophet Shuaib the issue of Corruption and Blundering. This shows that being socially responsible was a Sunnah of all the prophets as well.
Islam is a religion which promotes Social Responsibility. Allah sent the Prophets to change the society and make people socially responsible. Every principle, rule and regulation of Islam is based on being socially responsible. Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) was a person who was highly socially responsible. He stood against all the social evils which emerged during his time and strived to solve them. A Muslim cannot become a true Muslim without becoming socially responsible.