Prof. Suhaimi Bin Mhd. Sarif

Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences, IIUM Gombak Campus

The rising dominance of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) frameworks in global corporate and public policy discourse has brought renewed attention to how sustainability and ethical governance are conceptualized and operationalized. While the ESG paradigm aspires to embed responsibility in decision-making beyond financial metrics, its foundations remain rooted in secular and often utilitarian frameworks.

One of the most glaring omissions in conventional ESG structures is the absence of the family—a foundational institution in all major civilizations, and particularly central in the Islamic worldview.

This essay argues, in line with the work of the late Professor Nejatullah Siddiqi and Professor Anas Zarqa, that ESG must be expanded to include the Family (F) dimension, anchored in the Maqasid al-Shari’ah and Tawhidic epistemology, to recover its ethical, civilizational, and spiritual coherence.

The Family as the Axis of Maqasid and Ethical Sustainability

The inclusion of the family in ESG discourse is not a cosmetic adjustment but a fundamental reorientation. Within the Islamic tradition, the family is more than a social unit; it is the primary site for the cultivation of faith (iman), intellect (‘aql), dignity (‘ird), lineage (nasl), and property (mal)—all five of which are preserved in the Maqasid al-Shari’ah. It is within the familial setting that adab (ethically informed conduct) is nurtured, a point extensively emphasized by Al-Ghazali in Ihya Ulum al-Din. He asserts that the collapse of moral order begins in the neglect of the household, which serves as the seedbed of societal virtue and cohesion.

Similarly, Al-Farabi, in his Al-Madina al-Fadilah, presents the family as the ontological foundation of the virtuous city. It is through the family that individuals acquire the disposition for justice, mutual aid, and the common good.

SMN Al-Attas, in his conceptualization of Islamisation of knowledge, also insists that the crisis of modernity is deeply connected to the erosion of adab, which begins with the fragmentation of familial structures. The call to embed Family (F) into ESG, as embodied in the proposed Mf-ESG model, is therefore not a novel invention but a restoration of an axiomatic truth that has been side-lined by technocratic paradigms of modern governance.

The Ontological Rift: ESG’s Instrumentalism vs. Maqasid’s Teleology

There exists a profound ontological tension between the instrumentalist ethos of contemporary ESG and the teleological vision of the Maqasid al-Shari’ah. While ESG seeks to regulate corporate behaviour in response to stakeholder demands and reputational risk, the Maqasid framework is inherently purposive and metaphysical, oriented towards the realization of al-Falah—holistic success in this world and the Hereafter.

Malik Bennabi’s critique of post-colonial Muslim societies is instructive here. In his theory of al-Mu’allimat al-Qabliyah (pre-civilizational values), Bennabi argues that modern societies suffer from a “civilizational vacuum” when they adopt technological and economic instruments without anchoring them in a moral and spiritual worldview. ESG, when stripped of metaphysical anchoring, risks becoming an empty ritual of metrics. In the same vein, Ibn Khaldun’s cyclical theory of civilizational rise and decline highlights how neglecting foundational institutions such as the family leads to the erosion of ‘asabiyyah (social solidarity), which is the binding force of any sustainable polity.

Diversity without Anchoring: The Pitfall of Value-Neutral ESG

One of the celebrated pillars of ESG is diversity, often heralded as a marker of inclusivity and progress. However, as noted in contemporary critiques, this concept has devolved into a form of value-neutral pluralism, which paradoxically undermines shared moral foundations—especially regarding family, marriage, and gender identity. This secular commitment to neutral norms often renders ESG incoherent, unable to prioritize between competing value claims.

Seyyed Hossein Nasr, in his seminal work on environmental ethics, critiques this desacralization of both nature and society. He asserts that frameworks such as ESG must return to a metaphysical understanding of Tawhid to restore equilibrium between humanity and creation. Without this, ESG risks becoming mere ecological engineering, devoid of sacred purpose.

Ismail al-Faruqi similarly decries the West’s “civilizational schizophrenia,” whereby it advocates moral relativism and radical individualism, even as it laments the breakdown of social cohesion. Even secular thinkers like Francis Fukuyama and Samuel Huntington caution that institutions lose legitimacy when detached from moral and cultural foundations. Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations becomes prophetic when ESG universalizes a liberal cosmopolitanism that marginalizes traditional values under the guise of global governance.

Tawhidic Realignment: The Mf-ESG Framework

The proposed Mf-ESG model seeks to realign the ESG framework through the lens of Tawhidic epistemology and Maqasidic ethics. It reframes the Environmental (E), Social (S), Governance (G), and newly proposed Family (F) dimensions through spiritually grounded principles:

• Environmental (E): Stewardship (khilafah), ethical resource use, and taqwa-driven conservation.

• Social (S): Zakah, waqf, ihsan, protection of worker dignity (karamah insaniyyah), and justice in supply chains.

• Governance (G): Shura (consultation), mas’uliyyah (accountability), transparency, and Maqasid-aligned policies.

• Family (F): Policies that protect and nurture the family as the cradle of ethical formation, encompassing parental leave, child education, and intergenerational care.

This model is not only more coherent within the Islamic civilizational paradigm but also offers universally resonant principles—for family, as both Siddiqi and Zarqa emphasized, remains a shared human institution across civilizations, despite being threatened by modernity’s atomistic tendencies.

Beyond the Material: Sejahtera and the Circulation of Barakah

The integration of the Mf-ESG model with frameworks such as Sejahtera Sustainability and the Circular Economy further enhances its relevance. Sejahtera, as articulated by M. Kamal Hassan, is a holistic concept that harmonizes the material and spiritual dimensions of life. It calls for balance, modesty, and purposefulness—principles largely absent in ESG’s growth-centric ethos.

While the circular economy emphasizes the recirculation of materials to reduce waste, Mf-ESG invites a deeper recirculation of values—a moral ecology rooted in barakah (divine blessings), ethical interdependence, and societal compassion. The objective is not merely to extend the life cycle of products but to reorient the life purpose of producers and consumers alike.

Conclusion: From Ethical Vision to Policy Transformation

The omission of the family from ESG frameworks is not a minor oversight—it is symptomatic of a deeper malaise within secular ethics and governance. As Professor Nejatullah Siddiqi once noted, “The preservation of family is not a cultural preference—it is a civilizational necessity.” The Mf-ESG model, with its Tawhidic, Maqasidic, and civilizational foundations, offers a corrective to the ESG paradigm’s moral myopia. It presents a model of sustainability not limited to compliance and metrics but inspired by meaning, purpose, and transcendence.

This model deserves further exploration and institutional support through high-level scholarly forums, international think tanks, policy summits, and academic curricula. It bridges theory and practice, faith and governance, offering not only a critique but a constructive framework for a just and flourishing civilization.