Recruitment
Recruitment refers to the process by which organisations locate and attract potential individuals to fill job vacancies. The ultimate objective is to find and hire the most suitable person to fill job vacancies. In order to find the suitable person, the organisation will need to determine and outline the job requirements and job incumbent requirements. In most organisations, this responsibility usually is shouldered by the human resource manager.The recruitment process must be done fairly and all recruitment decisions must be made wisely, to ensure the hired candidate is best suited for the job. In light of this, Islam requires the person who is in charge of recruitment to be pious and just. Ahmad (1995) elaborated that a manager should perform religious obligations such as include prayers, fasting, zakat and other pillars of Islam. This is to ensure that the recruitment is fairly conducted and a just treatment is given to all applicants. A working Muslim who observes his religious obligations would reflect him being a responsible man towards his earthly duties as he is responsible towards God and His commands. There is a general belief that a pious or religious person tends to be more honest; however,research findings on this belief were inconsistent. As argued by Weaver and Agle (2002) in several studies, no difference between religious and non-religious persons regarding behaviour such as dishonesty or cheating has been found. A pious manager is hoped to be aware of the requirement that job vacancy offerings are to be done in the way of God with trust and responsibility. In Islam, one recognised as pious is he who acts in accordance to the commands of God; works in righteousness and prevents himself from evil or harmful acts. Thus, a pious manager is most hoped to be aware of practices to be done in the way of God with trust and responsibility. This requirement is stated in the Qur’an (4:58-59):God doth command you to render back your trust to those to whom they are due; and when ye judge between man and man, that ye judge with justice; verily how excellent is the teaching is the teaching which He giveth you! For God is He who heareth and seeth all things. O ye who believe! Obey God and the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you. If ye differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to God and Hi Messenger if ye do believe in God and the Last Day: That is the best, and most suitable for final determination.
The employers are required to inform the truth or facts about the jobs to the applicants. These include the jobs’ requirements, the criteria of the job holders, and the compensation to be paid. This information is important to the applicants so that they can evaluate the job suitability with their competency, capability and interest. The
applicants should not be assigned tasks too difficult to handle, neither should they be ordered to do any work beyond their capacity. For example, the Qur’an states, (2:286):On no soul doth God place a burden greater than he can bear.
Ali (2005) mentioned that the requirement of job specification and task requirement were practised during the time of Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.), in selecting personnel for government positions. As regard to compensation, the applicants must be informed on the compensation offered. As reported by Abi Zar al-Gafari, the Prophet
Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) said “Whoever believe in God and the Day of Judgment, should not employ a worker until he or she knows what he or she is going to receive.” Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) also said “Whosoever engages a worker on work should mention the wages in advances” (Ahmad, 1995). Similarly for the applicants, they are required to provide true information about themselves. Ahmad (1995) asserted that the Qur’an is strongly opposed to falsehood.
False assertions, unfounded accusation and false testimonies are severely condemned and strictly prohibited in Islam. The Qur’an (2:42) says, “And never mix truth with false, nor conceals the truth when ye know (what it is).” The accurate information from both parties is to protect the interests of both parties in the future, as God says in the
Qur’an (9:16), “The believers, men and women, are protectors, one of another; they enjoin what is just, and forbid what is evil.”
Selection
According to Ali (2005), selection is one of the most complicated tasks in any organisation. This is owing to the fact that many potential candidates apply for the available jobs at any given time and so employers are often faced with numerous job candidates to select from for screening. In addition, favouritism and nepotism may influence selection decisions. According to Ahmad (1995), the Qur’anic standard of eligibility for a job is the required merit and competence for it. It stresses the importance of competence and honesty of a job candidate, since without these pre-requisites one could not be efficient. For example, the Qur’an states, (28:26): Said one of the [damsels]: “O my [dear] father! Engage him on wages: truly the best of men for thee to employ is the [man] who is strong and trust worthy.”Thus, it iimportant for the Muslim managers to understand the guidelines prescribed in the Qur’an so to avoid the often perceived bias and unprofessional acts of form of discrimination in the workplace(Ali et al., 2000). To overlook the needed competence for the job and to select a potential candidate for any other considerations are tantamount to dishonesty as well as injustice. From sahih Bukhari, he narrated from Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.): “He whoever hires a person and knows that there is another one who is more qualified than him has betrayed God and His prophet and the Muslims” (quoted in Ahmad, 1995). Ali (2005) reported that the main factor affecting employees’ selection in contemporary
Muslim countries is friendship networks. During his lifetime, Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) refused to accept the request of his close friend, Abu Zarr, who sought to work as a governor, and told him kindly that Abu Zarr was weak (not suitable for the work), and the employment process is based on the values of trust and responsibility. In Islam, employee selection is required to be done following certain principles. The first principle is justice. Literally, justice means to treat or to put a person or a thing at their right place or where they belong. According to Syed Agil (1997), Ali Ibn Abi Talib wrote; “Do not nominate them [officers] on account of favouritism or egoism. These two attributes reflect injustice and treachery.” Second, an employee is selected based on his competency. The Quranic standard of eligibility for a job is the required merit and competence for it. The individual should not be appointed on the basis of
friendship ties, wealth, age, race, and political power or alike. The third principle is honesty. Both the applicant and the recruiter have to be honest. Honesty is important to ensure that the right decisions and judgment are made. Besides that, honesty can prevent the recruiter from doing any undesired or unlawful actions that contradict the
law or legal conduct. Fourth, Islam forbids assignment of work that will exceed the individual’s capacity. This is because the individual may not be able to perform the assigned job due to excessive workload or own limitations. Consequently, it may harm him as well as the organisation where he works.