Accountability and governance: a noble Qur’ânic perspective

Purpose The authors identify and analyze the verses of the Noble Qur’ân that contain the words “account” or “accounting.” The purpose of this study is to derive valuable lessons that affect different aspects of professional, personal and spiritual lives. Design/methodology/approach The study uses qualitative content analysis to identify themes from the passages containing the words “account” or “accounting.” They use classical and contemporary exegesis of the Qur’ân as well as contemporary academic research and theories to discuss learnings from the verses. Findings Eight themes emerge from the analysis of 46 verses containing “account” or “accounting.” Each theme is summarized and lessons are derived from them. The passages in each theme address a wide range of aspects including professional, political, social and moral dilemmas of human life that have also been discussed from the perspective of Islamic governance theory, accountability theory, resource dependency theory and upper echelon theory. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, very few previous studies have approached the Qur’ân using this method. The approach is original in combining the classical way of explaining the verses whilst using contemporary theories to expand their understanding. Using this approach, the authors demonstrate that human actions are subject to accountability and they bear consequences in this life and in the hereafter, and impact individuals’ professional and personal lives from a governance perspective.