Substantial literature has investigated the relationship between religiosity and ethical decision-making (the what), while lesser consideration has been given to exploring why decisions are made. As part of a larger study, this paper aims to delve beyond the descriptive relationship between religiosity and ethical decision-making of Muslim employees in Malaysia. We analyse the qualitative data received from 160 employees by using thematic analysis. Our results reveal that, while religious values are important for Muslims in Malaysia, there are other factors that are also pertinent when making decisions at work, namely the organization’s interest and the context of the decision. We also found that individuals’ reasoning based on Islamic teachings is embedded in rules and regulations, which suggests lower levels of ethical reasoning. This study extends the current understanding of the processes of ethical reasoning in highly religious contexts by individuals at their workplace. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

大量文献研究了宗教信仰与道德决策之间的关系（“什么”），而较少考虑探讨为什么做出决定。作为更大研究的一部分，本文旨在深入研究马来西亚穆斯林雇员的宗教信仰与道德决策之间的描述性关系。我们通过主题分析来分析从160名员工那里获得的定性数据。我们的结果表明，尽管宗教价值观对马来西亚的穆斯林很重要，但在工作中做出决策时还存在其他相关因素，即组织的利益和决策的背景。我们还发现，基于伊斯兰教义的个人推理被嵌入到规章制度中，这表明道德推理水平较低。这项研究扩展了个人在工作场所对高度宗教背景下的道德推理过程的当前理解。