ISLAMIC VALUE-DRIVEN COOPERATION IN SKILLS ACQUISITION AND MOBILITY FOR EMPOWERING MARGINAL SOCIETY

Islam exhorts for cooperation in righteous and God conscious acts. This exhortation has individual and institutional implications for efforts geared towards promoting the welfare of less privileged marginal segment of society. Conceiving an institutional form of cooperation, this paper proposes and explains a program which will target at empowering this segment. The program is for developing non-professional skills which have to be founded on and inspired by the Islamic principles of cooperation and self-reliance. As non-professional skills are mostly learned informally and on-the-job, business houses will be the cooperator who will provide platforms for training. Members of a marginal segment of society will be the beneficiaries who will receive training for acquiring job skills and mobility towards achieving their self-reliance. Government organ will be a facilitating party that shall provide support for the collaborative venture to occur and sustain. Apart from Islamic principles of cooperation and self-reliance, this paper will draw upon the theory of social learning, theory of conforming to group norms and doctrine of market supervision (al-Hisbah) in Islamic civilization to expound the role of the triad—the cooperator, the beneficiaries, and the facilitator—in achieving the major outcomes of the program. =========================================== Islam mendorong kerjasama dalam kebaikan dan bertindak semata-mata karena Allah. Dorongan ini memiliki implikasi individual dan institusional dalam upaya mensejahterakan masyarakat marjinal yang kurang beruntung. Dalam suatu bentuk upaya kerjasama secara institusional, artikel ini menawarkan dan menjelaskan suatu program yang akan menargetkan dalam memberdayakan segmen ini. Program ini bertujuan untuk mengembangkan keterampilan non-professional yang dibentuk dan didorong oleh prinsip-prinsip Islam dalam kerjasama dan kemandirian. Keterampilan non-professional sebagian besar dipelajari secara informal dan disaat bekerja, tempat-tempat bisnis akan menjadi pembuat kerjasama yang akan menyediakan platform untuk pelatihan. Para anggota masyarakat di segmen marjinal ini akan menjadi penerima manfaat yang akan mendapatkan pelatihan untuk mendapatkan keahlian kerja dan mobilitas untuk mencapai kemandirian. Institusi pemerintah yang berkaitan akan menjadi fasilitator yang akan menyediakan dukungan bagi skema kolaboratif agar dapat diwujudkan dan berkelanjutan. Selain dari prinsip- prinsip kerjasama dan kemandirian dalam Islam, paper ini akan mengutip teori pembelajaran sosial, teori sesuai dengan norma-norma kelompok dan doktrin pengawasan pasar (Al-Hisbah) dalam peradaban Islam guna menjelaskan peranan tiga pihak yaitu pembuat kerjasama, penerima manfaat, dan fasilitator dalam upaya mencapai hasil-hasil utama dalam program tersebut

Migrant workers in Malaysia: does gain outweigh pain?

The study is to identify the condition of migrant workers in Malaysia by looking at the case of workers from Bangladesh who migrates to Malaysia in search of employment. One of the primary reasons they want work abroad either temporarily or permanently is because Malaysia has offers a long term benefit for their skills and exposure to a different culture and practices. Their joyful experiences were often unnoticed as it goes hand in hand with the prejudices of their difficult working journey. Their agony of this minority of immigrant apparently caught more attention compared to the pleasure

Weighted corporate social responsibility index for measuring Islamic banking's social performance: how to develop it?

It is posited that Islamic Banking is meant to be socially responsible. Relating to this social responsibility, this paper undertakes two objectives. One is to develop an illustration of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) measurement index by allocating differential weights to process-based and outcome-oriented CSR measures. The illustrative index contains nine (9) process-based measurement items, which fall under three (3) dimensions: investment, research and development, and human resources. Outcome-oriented measurement items are eight (8), which represent three (3) dimensions: Shariah Supervisory Board (SSB), social activities and sharing, and environment. The way of deciding different weights for these two categories of measures is explained, and a possible method for validation of assigned weights is proposed. Another objective is to explain why CSR measures relating to core business processes should be given more weight than outcome-oriented CSR measures for Islamic banks. In order to develop this explanation, the paper draws upon Quranic and Hadith texts, maqasid literature and published works on CSR of Islamic banks. The basic argument underlying this explanation is that purity of the process of earning is a precondition for the earning-based beneficial acts to be acceptable as good deeds

The role of corporate social responsibility in flood mitigation among the listed insurance companies in Malaysia

Rapid industrialization in the developing countries has contributed to an increase in natural disasters. Rise in the losses due to disasters is an indicator of non-sustainable development. Although in Malaysia the natural forces have been mainly liable for the natural disasters in the past, in recent times human intervention in nature is worsening the flood hazards in particular. As we move closer to the year 2020, the country is expected to face serious challenges in flood management. The recent flood situation is an example of the increase in the magnitude of the flood disaster. In this scenario, it is imperative to have a holistic plan to face this challenge. The role of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) in flood mitigation is one area which needs to be researched as private sector can play a key role in flood mitigation. This research involved a content analysis of company websites of the listed insurance companies in Malaysia to examine the extent to which these companies get themselves involved in the CSR programs related to flood relief and mitigation. The results showed that majority of the insurance companies that have the flood related CSR initiative is foreign owned. Furthermore, these companies have an institutionalized approached towards CSR. The result also shows that local insurance companies do not contribute much in terms of the flood mitigation related CSR programs. Based on the result of the website study we can conclude that the foreign insurance companies involve themselves in flood mitigation related CSR programs. However, the local insurance companies need to step up their efforts in terms of CSR programs related to the flood relief and mitigation