Against Fraud: How Religious-Based Values Accounting Work
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21111/tsaqafah.v21i1.12971Keywords:
Fraud Prevention, Religiosity, Fraud Hexagon Theory, Attribution Theory, Islamic AccountingAbstract
Fraud is a widespread issue that can cause significant harm across various sectors, including government, business, and educational institutions. Several theories, such as the Fraud Triangle, Fraud Diamond, and Fraud Hexagon, have been developed to understand the factors that drive individuals to commit fraud. This research aims to analyze the role of religiosity values in minimizing fraudulent actions using a qualitative method and a literature study approach. Data were collected through an analysis of literature from journals, books, and previous research that examined the relationship between religiosity and fraudulent behavior. The findings indicate that religiosity plays a significant role in reducing individuals' intention and opportunity to commit fraud. Individuals with a good understanding of religion tend to have a stronger moral awareness, making it more difficult for them to rationalize fraudulent actions. Furthermore, religious values can help individuals manage pressure and suppress ego/arrogance, which are key elements in the Fraud Hexagon theory. Although religiosity serves as a deterrent to fraud, this study also finds that external factors such as opportunity and collusion continue to contribute to fraudulent behavior.Downloads
References
ACFE. (2018). Report of the Nation: Global Study on Occupational Fraud and Abuse.
Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) Indonesia. (2019). Survei Fraud Indonesia 2019.
Al-Attas, Syed Muhammad Naquib. (1995). Prolegomena to the Metaphysics of Islam. Kuala Lumpur: International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization.
Al-Azhar University, Fatwa on the Law of Corruption and Fraud
Apsari, A. K., & Suhartini, D. (2021). Religiosity as Moderating of Accounting Student Academic Fraud with a Hexagon Theory Approach. Accounting and Finance Studies, 1(3), 212–231.
Arifin, J. (2022). Determinants of the effectiveness of audit procedures in revealing fraud: An attribution theory approach. International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), 11(6), 378–387.
Awang, Y., Abdul Rahman, A. R., & Ismail, S. (2019). The influences of attitude, subjective norm and adherence to Islamic professional ethics on fraud intention in financial reporting. Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, 10(5), 710–725.
Biduri, S., & Tjahjadi, B. (2024). Determinants of financial statement fraud: the perspective of pentagon fraud theory (evidence on Islamic banking companies in Indonesia). Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research.
Fernandhytia, F., & Muslichah, M. (2020). The Effect of Internal Control, Individual Morality and Ethical Value on Accounting Fraud Tendency. Media Ekonomi Dan Manajemen, 35(1), 112. https://doi.org/10.24856/mem.v35i1.1343
Giovano, Andre., Wibowo, A. S., & Yanuarisa, Y. (2020). Pengaruh Love Of Money dan Religiusitas Terhadap Kecenderungan Fraud Accounting Dana Desa dengan Gender sebagai Variabel Moderasi Pada Desa di Kecamatan Katingan Tengah. Balance, 12(6), 2. https://e-journal.upr.ac.id/index.php/blnc/article/view/1879
Glock, C. Y., & Stark, R. (1965). Is there an American protestantism? Nearly all Americans believe in God—But not in the same God. Trans-Action, 3(1), 8.
Gunanti, R., Eliza, A., & Sari, Y. M. (2024). The Effect of Hexagon Fraud Elements on Village Fund Fraud with Religiosity as a Moderating Variable. KnE Social Sciences, 269–295.
Hayati, N., & Amalia, I. (2021). The effect of religiosity and moderation of morality on fraud prevention in the management of village funds. The Indonesian Accounting Review, 11(1), 105. https://doi.org/10.14414/tiar.v11i1.2297
Istifadah, R. U., & Senjani, Y. P. (2020). Religiosity as the moderating effect of diamond fraud and personal ethics on fraud tendencies. Journal of Islamic Accounting and Finance Research, 2 (1), 91, 116.
Kamaruddin, M. I. H., Auzair, S. M., Rahmat, M. M., & Muhamed, N. A. (2021). The mediating role of financial governance on the relationship between financial management, Islamic work ethic and accountability in Islamic social enterprise (ISE). Social Enterprise Journal, 17(3), 427–449.
Karami, M., Olfati, O., & J. Dubinsky, A. (2014). Influence of religiosity on retail salespeople’s ethical perceptions: the case in Iran. Journal of Islamic Marketing, 5(1), 144–172.
Li, X., Kim, J.-B., Wu, H., & Yu, Y. (2021). Corporate social responsibility and financial fraud: The moderating effects of governance and religiosity. Journal of Business Ethics, 170(3), 557–576.
Lisic, L. L., Silveri, S. D., Song, Y., & Wang, K. (2015). Accounting fraud, auditing, and the role of government sanctions in China. Journal of Business Research, 68(6), 1186–1195.
Mamahit, A. I., & Urumsah, D. (2018). The comprehensive model of whistle-blowing, forensic audit, audit investigation, and fraud detection. Journal of Accounting and Strategic Finance, 1(2), 153–162.
McGuire, S. T., Omer, T. C., & Sharp, N. Y. (2012). The Impact of Religion on Financial Reporting Irregularities. The Accounting Review, 87(2), 645–673. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23245618
Mohamed, I. S., Mohamed, N., & Sulistyowati, E. (2023). Islamic Work Ethics, Good Corporate Governance Practices and Fraudulent Financial Statements. Asia-Pacific Management Accounting Journal, 18(2).
Mohdali, R., & Pope, J. (2014). The influence of religiosity on taxpayers’ compliance attitudes: Empirical evidence from a mixed-methods study in Malaysia. Accounting Research Journal, 27(1), 71–91.
Purnamasari, P., & Amaliah, I. (2015). Fraud Prevention: Relevance to Religiosity and Spirituality in the Workplace. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 211(September), 827–835. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.11.109
Qaradawi, Yusuf al. (1999). Fiqh al-Zakah. Dar al-Qalam.
Rashid, M. H. U., Buhayan, M. S. A., Masud, M. A. K., & Sawyer, A. (2021). Impact of governance quality and religiosity on tax evasion: evidence from OECD countries. In Advances in Taxation (pp. 89–110). Emerald Publishing Limited.
Said, J., Alam, M. M., Karim, Z. A., & Johari, R. J. (2018). Integrating religiosity into fraud triangle theory: findings on Malaysian police officers. Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice, 4(2), 111–123.
Sharma, S., Singh, G., Gaur, L., & Sharma, R. (2022). Does psychological distance and religiosity influence fraudulent customer behaviour? International Journal of Consumer Studies, 46(4), 1468–1487.
Stack, S., & Kposowa, A. (2006). The effect of religiosity on tax fraud acceptability: A crossâ€national analysis. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 45(3), 325–351.
Tarjo, T., Anggono, A., Alim, M. N., Said, J., & Mohd-Sanusi, Z. (2024). Religiosity, ethical leadership and local wisdom in moderating the effect of fraud risk management on asset misappropriation: evidence from local government in Indonesia. Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research.
The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), Fatwa MUI No. 01/DSN-MUI/IV/2000
Tiffani, N. H., & Widodo, C. (2024). Determinants Of Accounting Fraud Tendency: The Role Of Religiosity As A Moderating Variable. Journal of Economic, Bussines and Accounting (COSTING), 7(4), 8588–8596.
Tseng, L.-M., & Kuo, C.-L. (2014). Customers’ attitudes toward insurance frauds: an application of Adams’ equity theory. International Journal of Social Economics, 41(11), 1038–1054.
Vitell, S. J., Bing, M. N., Davison, H. K., Ammeter, A. P., Garner, B. L., & Novicevic, M. M. (2009). Religiosity and moral identity: The mediating role of self-control. Journal of Business Ethics, 88, 601–613.
Weaver, G. R., & Agle, B. R. (2002). Religiosity and ethical behavior in organizations: A symbolic interactionist perspective. Academy of Management Review, 27(1), 77–97.
Wisker, Z. L., & Rosinaite, V. (2016). To cite this article: Zazli Lily Wisker, Vikinta Rosinaite. The Effect of Religiosity and Personality on Work Ethics: A Case of Muslim Managers. Science Journal of Business and Management. Special Issue: Ethical Challenges in the 21st Century, 4(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjbm.s.2016040101.11
Wongâ€Onâ€Wing, B., & Lui, G. (2007). Culture, implicit theories, and the attribution of morality. Behavioral Research in Accounting, 19(1), 231–246.
Downloads
Submitted
Accepted
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 TSAQAFAH

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The author whose published manuscript approved the following provisions:
- The right of publication of all material published in the journal / published in the Tsaqafah is held by the editorial board with the knowledge of the author (moral rights remain the author of the script).
- The formal legal provisions for access to digital articles of this electronic journal are subject to the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), which means that Tsaqafah reserves the right to save, transmit media or format, Database), maintain, and publish articles without requesting permission from the Author as long as it keeps the Author's name as the owner of Copyright.
- Printed and electronic published manuscripts are open access for educational, research and library purposes. In addition to these objectives, the editorial board shall not be liable for violations of copyright law.
- It is a serious offense for anyone to publish any article of Tsaqafah without permission.











