CSR practices at Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad (BIMB): Managing CSR fund

Abstract

The notion of CSR from Islamic perspective has been viewed as a comprehensive discourse 
when it is already embedded the element of spiritual (Tawhid and Taqwa), economics, ethics 
and legality. However, there is a black box in the process of managing CSR fund which is used 
to conduct the CSR initiatives. Thus, this study attempts to revisit the issues by discussing Is
lamic concept of CSR practices and to gain insights the process of managing various sources of 
CSR fund. By using case study approach, a group of key CSR players at Bank Islam Malaysia 
Berhad as well as the recipients of the initiatives have been interviewed. Moreover, an in-field 
observation and CSR documentations analysis have been employed to get the whole picture of 
managing the CSR activities and also the fund. The results show that the CSR initiatives at the 
bank are highly associated with religious obligations and the main source of CSR fund is de
rived from the zakat fund. In addition, donation, non-compliance Shariah income and purifica
tion fund have been used to fulfill various stakeholders' demands. Thus, these findings provide 
an avenue to conceptualize the concept and practices of CSR in Islamic view and encourage 
other business entities to manage their financial resources (CSR fund) systematically to support 
the CSR activities.