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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Contemporary Topics of Islamic Thought Warnings Of Corporate Moral Failure In Islam Introduction: Red Lights Red lights serve a variety of functions, but here we shall be concerned with their use as warning devices.

The image of the red light flashing on to indicate some danger will be used to draw pertinent analogies with respect to issues in the ethics of individual responsibilities toward corporate entities and social institutions such as governments, businesses, families, and social organizations. The issuance of warnings is also one of the primary prophetic functions, and if we look, we find that Islam has its own red lights. Corporations have powers and liabilities beyond those of their members.

In certain respects, a corporation is like a complex piece of machinery that requires many operators. When it is in operation, it is as if the machine has a life of its own. Such a piece of machinery would have a number of red lights that would indicate to the operators when various problems arose. Some red lights would signal to an individual operator that something over which he had direct control was awry. It could indicate, for example, that the operator should replace a part.

Other red lights would have a more global significance. They would indicate to a number of operators that appropriate action should be taken to avoid some danger. Such danger might arise as the unintended consequence of acts by the operators that, though innocuous in them, combine together in a way which may have disastrous effects. This kind of phenomenon is sometimes likened to the effects of an invisible hand.

Financial institutions utilize a number of indicators to guard against such invisible hand effects. Just as there are warning lights to indicate local and global mechanical problems, responsible members of corporate entities should utilize ethical indicators when decisions are made about involvement in corporate activities.

However, while red lights are commonly found to warn the operators of complex pieces of machinery, ethical indicators with respect to individual and corporate moral responsibilities are rare. Most institutions make some provisions for censure in cases of gross misconduct, but these are limited. In no way are they adequate to guide the complex moral decision making necessary in the corporate environment. Consider, for example, the health care system in the United States.