The Constitutive Components of the Concept of Organization from the Perspective of the Qurʾān

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Corresponding Author, Assistant Professor,Islamic Humanities Higher Education Complex, Al-Mustafa International University, Qom, Iran

2 Full Professor, Faculty of Management & Accounting, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

3 Associate Professor, Quran and Hadith Higher Education Complex, Al-Mustafa International University, Qom, Iran

Abstract

Objective: Within conventional management and organizational theory, the principal components of an organization are commonly identified as: the presence of at least two individuals, consciously structured relationships derived from a formal hierarchy, and coordinated efforts directed toward the attainment of a specified objective. Despite their analytical utility, these criteria impose certain limitations on distinguishing organizations from non-organizational collectives. Moreover, defining organization solely through these components has shaped a wide range of descriptive and normative propositions within management theory and has significantly influenced the trajectory of discourse in this field. Accordingly, examining the concept of organization in the Qur'an on the basis of revelatory teachings is regarded as foundational to other organizational inquiries.
Method: In this study, employing the method of istintāq (systematic interrogation of the text) derived from the theory of Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, the central question—“What is the position of the Qurʾān regarding the constitutive components of organization?”—is analytically divided into four subsidiary questions, whose answers are extracted from relevant verses.
Results: The Qurʾān, emphasizing both the physical and spiritual needs of human beings, presents organization as an instrumental structure designed to fulfill these needs. It affirms such constitutive elements as “mutual utilization” (reciprocal employment of capacities), “mutual satisfaction,” the presence of at least “two human entities” possessing the “capacity to meet one another’s needs,” and relational structures established through “formal or informal hierarchies” for the realization of shared objectives.
Conclusion: A comparison between the Qurʾānic conception of organization and prevailing theoretical approaches not only broadens the substantive scope of management knowledge but also extends its applicability to other social groups and opens avenues for interdisciplinary engagement with political science and sociology. This perspective generates a renewed orientation in organizational studies, such that descriptive and normative propositions—such as the principle of employee agency and consent—are reformulated in alignment with the Qurʾānic conception, thereby attaining greater coherence and developmental depth.

Keywords

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The Quran and Science
Volume 19, Issue 37 - Serial Number 37
January 2026
Pages 357-390

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History

  • Receive Date: 09 September 2025
  • Revise Date: 08 November 2025
  • Accept Date: 07 December 2025

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