Executive Summary

Religion has a major impact on human behavior, social interactions, and social relations.This
research article discusses the impact of Islam on managers’ behavior. The impact is exerted
from the five pillars of Islam: faith, prayer, alms, fasting, and pilgrimage. From the article, it is
evident that such pillars have a direct effect on Moslems’ behavior. Besides that, the article
shows the significant impact of Allah supreme names on managers’ behavior and style. Allah
names have a direct interrelationship with management functions like planning, organizing, and
directing. A Moslem manager, in fact, can use Allah supreme names as a guide to his
management style and action. Finally, the article sheds light on major Islamic management
principles and their effect on managers’ behavior and perception. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals,
Inc.
INTRODUCTION
Religion has a great and direct impact on human behavior, social interactions, and social
relations. In fact, religion might influence the political and educational system of any society.
Concerning this, Weber (1964) pointed out that “the religious determination of life conduct,
however, is also one, not the only one of the determinants of the economic ethic. Of course, the
religiously determined way of life is itself profoundly influenced by economic and political
factors operating within given geographical political, social and national boundaries” (p. 268).
The combination of religion and nationality is a form of identification for the majority of Middle
Eastern cultures. The synthesized identity has, for centuries, influenced the sense of belonging,
political lifestyle, and communal cohesion. Dr. Samir Abuznaid, associate professor of
management and organization at Hebron University, West Bank, where he established the School
of Finance and Management in 1994, and has taught business at An-najah University Nablus,
West Bank for eleven years. He has given lectures in Palestine, United States, United Kingdom,
France, Spain, Italy, Jordan and Germany, and is the recipient of several rewards and honors .
Most recently he was selected as a Fulbright scholar where he had to teach cross-cultural
management courses at Portland Community College, Portland, Oregon, USA
(sameerz@hebron.edu).
Presumably, different cultural traditions emerged across geographical boundaries because of the
communities’ isolation. The influence of religion on most aspects of one’s life is obvious,
including matters such as divorce, baptism, courtship, death, and marriage. In fact, Islamic
conservatism is at present the dominant ideological force in Arab society (Sharabi, 1983, p. 203).

The most important instrument through which religion exercised its hold on the individual was
the traditional particular extended family. As the family system was supported by religion, being
a religious institution, family and religion eventually supported each other (Ata, 1984, pp. 95–
126). Religious identity served as a very important means of social differentiation in the Arab
world. Consciousness of social distance is clearly marked among the Arabs (Prothro, 1952, p.
10). Moslems are an overwhelming majority in every Middle Eastern country (ITN News, 1987).
In this article,

I intend to give a thorough description of the main pillars of Islam, managerial themes in Islamic
culture, and characteristics of a Moslem leader and examine the impact of Allah Almighty names
on managers’ behavior and practice. It is believed that this article will make a contribution to the
literature on management in Islam, as there is little literature that examines the relationship
between Islamic practices and management behavior and actions. This article is divided into four
major sections. The first section attempts to give a thorough description of the major pillars of
Islam. The second section deals with economic prosperity, as well as the main practices of
managers as their way of belief. The third section discusses the main managerial themes in
Islam. The final section examines the impact of Allah Almighty names on management behavior
and actions.

MEANING OF ISLAM

Every religion of the world has been named either after the name of its founder or after the
community and nation in which that religion took its birth. For instance, Christianity takes its
appellation from the name of its prophet, Jesus Christ, and Judaism, from the name of the tribe
Judah, where it was born. This is also true of other religions. But not so with Islam (Maududi,
1980, p. 9), which has been described by Weber as the religion of world-conquering warriors, a
knight order of disciplined crusaders (Weber, 1964, p. 279). Islam is not associated with any
particular person or group. It does not convey any such relationship, for it does not belong to any
particular person, people, or country. Neither it is the product of any human mind or confined to
any particular community. Islam, as a matter of fact, is an attributive title. Whosoever possesses
this attribute, may he or she belong to any race, community, country, or clan, is a Moslem
(Maududi, 1980, p. 9).

WHO IS A MOSLEM?

Islam is an Arabic word connoting submission, surrender, and obedience. As a religion, Islam
stands for complete submission and obedience to Allah—and that is why it is called Islam.
Another literal meaning of the word Islam is peace, and this signifies that one can achieve real
peace of body and mind only through submission and obedience to Allah. Such a life of
obedience brings peace of the heart and establishes real peace in the society at large. In contrast
to the Moslem person described above there is the man who, although born a Moslem and
unconsciously remaining one throughout his life, does not exercise his faculties of reason,
intellect, and intuition for recognizing his Lord and creator and misuses his freedom of choice by
choosing to deny Him. Such a man becomes an unbeliever in the language of Islam, a Kafir.
Kufre is a form of ignorance; actually, it is ignorance pure and simple.

PILLARS OF ISLAM: HOW DO THEY AFFECT BEHAVIOR?

Islam is built on five pillars. They are the testimony of faith, prayer, alms, fasting, and
pilgrimage to the city of Makkah. These pillars of Islam will be treated in some detail due to
their importance, as they are practiced daily by Moslems and therefore affect Moslems’ daily
behavior. Faith (Al-Shahadatan) Faith is summarized in the two confessions: “There is no God
but Allah, Mohammed is His messenger.” It is belief in one God, the creator. Mohammed is the
last of all prophets and has brought to man the final revelation that God has for them (Tritton,
1966, p. 23). It is believed that faith makes the believer dedicate his life to one God, Allah, and
pleasing others, such as the boss, becomes secondary.

Prayer (Salah)

Moslems pray five times a day; at dawn, at noon, in the afternoon, after sunset, and after dark. It
seems that this timing is intended to avoid any suggestion of worshipping the sun. The prayers
differ in their length and section. The Morning Prayer has two sections, the noon four, the
afternoon four, the sunset three, and the night four. On the festivals the feast of sacrifice (Eid al-
Adha) and the ending of the fast (Eid al-Fitr), the sermon follows the prayer, in contrast to Friday
prayer, in which the two sections are preceded by the sermon (Qutb, 1982, p. 85). It is believed
that prayer affects managers in several ways:

1. Prayer makes managers better at time management and being organized. From prayer,
managers learn to become better and more prompt.
2. Prayer makes practitioners look nice and in good uniform with good smell.
3. The prayer element has forced businesses to allocate mosques in their facilities for
worship; in addition, it allows workers to halt production for the sake of making prayer.

Alms (Az-zakat)

Legal alms or obligatory charity would be better names for this institution. Clear distinction
should be made between Az-zakat and alms. Az-zakat is an ordinance prescribed by the laws.
Charity, on the other hand, is voluntary. It cannot be imposed by the law or by order of rulers
(Tritton, 1966, pp. 15–26). Az-zakat is a tax collected and distributed among the poor by the
state and not by the rich people, so that a poor man can maintain his dignity by not taking Az-
zakat from other people. Almsgiving is thought to be the religious and social responsibility of
managers.

Fasting (Siyam)

Fasting begins during the daytime, starting from the time it is possible to distinguish a white
thread from a black one until the sunset. The believer must abstain from food, drink, carnal
intercourse, smoking, and even chewing gum. Children, pregnant women, the sick, aged, and
travelers are excused (Tritton, 1966, p. 26). Fasting lasts for a whole month (Ramadan). In
Moslem countries during the month of Ramadan, most businesses, if not all, private or public,
cut down their daily working times and change working hours. This is because people who are
fasting are more vulnerable to thirst, hunger, and fatigue. In addition, Ramadan is a good season
for fundraising since people are more willing to give and donate in Ramadan. Rand (1967), in his
article “Learning to Do Business in the Middle East,” commented, “Ramadan is a month long
Arab fasting period. Although employees are required to come to work, output historically falls
to under 25 percent U.S level during that month” (pp. 49–51). Restaurants and dining rooms in
areas where the majority are Moslems close their doors for business for the entire month of
Ramadan or modify their opening times. Other businesses use the time of Ramadan to renovate
and bring new ideas to improve their workings.