CSR

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Corporate Social
Responsibility
CSR Exemplar
Al-Khair
Creative Quality Ware
Bilal Seikha
Yousuf Solangi
Yasir Ahmed Soomro

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History and Starting..
• Business started in 2002
• A guitarist behind Whitney Housten turned madarssah
teacher, Hashim Ahmad, Jewish-American convert,
decided to start a business rather than to rely on the
madrassah stipend.
• His reasons were two-fold: he did not want to get paid for
teaching Islamic sciences, and the stipend would not be
enough for him anyway.
• Three partners at the starting
• Didn’t went along until 2008, 3 out of two dropped.
• New partner joined and thus Al-khair was born.

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• As far as muslims are there the demand for products
followed in sunnah is impossible to die.
• Keeping Sunnah and healthy products in mind.
• Keeping ethics in mind, earning, plus to help people in
every possible way.
• Their business would mirror the sunnah only if it was a
vehicle for serving Islam, effectively making it a da’wah
organization. It was to be a role model, reintegrating
Islamic public and private virtues into businesses
• They Start their business work after fajr and end it just
after maghrib.

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• The first layer was the recognition that halal business is
not an option but an obligation.
• The second layer was the realization that in the current
environment, where many socially acceptable modes of
transactions fly in the face of Islam, even halal business
would be exemplary.
• The third layer, though, was the commitment that Al
Khair would always strive to be a role model in
everything it did.
• “ehtiyat ilaaj se behtar hai”

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• Al Khair operates as a partnership; therefore the law
does not require it to publish any financial data.
• Internal audit is conducted on a regular basis to ensure
transparency.
• The partners contributed their own capital to set-up Al
Khair, and ever since setting up shop, no external
financing has been sought and financing needs have
been met internally, be they operational requirements or
for the expansion of business.

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Products
• In 2008, during an exercise to delineate the vision of the
new-formed partnership, the three partners decided that
the business would earn money so that they may devote
themselves in the way of Allah and betterment of people
by producing Pure, Wholesome and Natural products
• Al Khair started its operations with exporting miswak.
The product line soon branched out into
• Honey
• Black seed oil,
• Almond oil
• Dates

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• Al Khair also started producing rose water, not
mentioned in Islamic literature and medical sciences as
recommended but extremely beneficial nonetheless.
• Understanding that roots of peelu provide the best and
most recommended miswak, and that the continents of
North America and Europe do not produce peelu
The miswak is made from a twig of the Salvadora
precia tree (known as arak in Arabic)

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• The picture of Arak trees is actually from al-khair own
farm in Jamshoro.
• They leased their own land where they can grow trees
and care them as much as possible.
• Their Miswak and Black seed oil has a record breaking
sales
• It’s not just about Islam, “Italy being a totally secular
country is 2nd
on Al-khair exports list.
• They have their testimonials on their website from
different people around the world, praising their products
mostly like ‘Miswak’

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CSR Exemplar
• Litmus test of products
• Pricing of the products
• Same quality of product but for people who can’t afford,
Change the packaging with lesser cost. (Example honey)
• It’s ensured real price the costumers pay is for product,
not for packaging.
• In order to earn 150 rupees, we must have cost of
product around hundred.
• Charging three to four times the cost is totally unethical

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• Marketing
• Exceptionally sensitive area for them.
• They do not persuade but inform
• No direct advertising, ex. Campaign toward children.
Which end up being in unnecessary purchases.
• No negative marketing, never maligning their
competitors.
• Incident in Karachi
• It is Al Khair’s policy to let people find out their value
proposition for themselves as long as their health or
wealth is not endangered.

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• Al Khair makes no moves against counterfeiters unless
people are in plausible danger.
• Incident in Malaysia, “Al-Khaiber” same packaging, same
Font.
• Al Khair supplies literature at select gatherings extolling
virtues of black seed, almond, miswak and honey, not
calling undue attention to their own products.
• Indeed, the packaging of Al Khair’s black seed oil clearly
states that the very same benefits can be derived from
consuming black seeds directly!
• WHO DOES THAT? SERIOUSLY?

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• Their HR practices are diametrically different from
conventional HR practices.
• “Employees are the biggest Asset” where are they on the
balance sheet?
• According to sunnah a “mashwara” is routine, in which
all employees participate, their opinions weighed and
their needs understood before any decisions are made.
• An important part of the annual budget involves
discerning the material needs of employees so that they
may retain a respectable standard of living and social
status.

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• Nothing infuriates Shaikh Hashim as much as using the
term “firing” for letting employees go.
• Word used is “Relocation”
• In case of misfit. The senior management assists him in
finding a new job, with the partners actively searching for
an alternative employment opportunity for the employee
who cannot work at Al Khair.
• Other employer informed about weaknesses and
strength of individual
• Al Khair creates a win-win situation in a true sense.

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• Al Khair does not want to attract employees because of
the religious atmosphere alone, and compensates at
least at par with the prevailing market level.
• No one bears the “cost of being Muslim” through lower
compensation.
• Employees are not forced to go beyond the limits to
accomplish this bottom line.
• No employee is punished for not achieving the target.
• If the bottom line for a particular period is achieved, each
employee receives one additional salary as a bonus. A
certain portion of profit, neither fixed nor disclosed.

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• Al Khair is distinguished by the way it deals with vendors
and suppliers.
• Al Khair, on the other hand, deals with its vendors and
suppliers primarily on cash and only seldom on credit.
• Cash through checks is paid as soon as possible, in
accordance with the hadith which instructs that labor
should be paid the contracted amount before his sweat
dries.
• Vendors are always sympathetic and understanding if Al
Khair ever experiences a cash crunch.

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• Environmental responsibility.
• Paying employees to do care of other trees, no matter
whose and why. Public lands.
• Taking care of the trees for some one else.
• Miswak from public lands.
• Replant the trees.
• Never hurt any trees’ roots. NEVER!!
• Special training for general public even how to extract
miswak from trees. Even if it’s Al-khair’s farm.

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Conclusion
• The option is either to stay at the border of permissible
and impermissible, or to work towards excellence.
• It is difficult to envisage a modern business entity which
would market its products and clarify that there are other
ways to get the same benefits; orient all its activities
around its employees’ benefits; and grow only as much
as needed for the good of its people rather than
expanding as much as the market allows.
• To create an ideal business organization which would
hold itself to the highest ethical standards to light the
way for others.

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