ABSTRACT
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be regarded in some ways as the response of industry to the call for sustainable development. Businesses employ people, pay wages and sell goods and services that at least some members of society want. The philanthropic role businesses have played has long been clear, as has the role of religion in encouraging this. Islamic banking is based on Shariah law. The Shariah is all the ethics and values concerning various aspects of life. Business philanthropy has arguably been at its most effective in the US where it has a long history and tradition. Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded the Microsoft Corporation in 1975. The company went on to become a major player in the booming personal computer industry. CSR can mean profit maximisation, satisfaction of stakeholder’s needs, or fulfilment of the obligation of a social contract, fulfilment of a firm’s own needs, depending on the stance taken by those seeking to define it.
