Abrahamic Solidarity: Tzedakah, Christian Charity, and Zakat as Theological Accounting Frameworks for Socioeconomic Justice Ethical Governance

This article comparatively examines the theological, ethical, and accounting foundations of three cardinal practices of solidarity within the Abrahamic religions: Tzedakah in Judaism, Charity in Christianity, and Zakat in Islam, to analyze their role in constructing contemporary frameworks of socioeconomic justice. In Judaism, tzedakah transcends the notion of almsgiving and is conceived as a moral and legal duty that rebalances wealth to preserve communal dignity, grounded in Halakha and the prophetic tradition oriented toward mutual support. Islam, through Sharia, establishes Zakat as an obligatory religious tax that purifies wealth and redistributes resources to vulnerable groups, thus articulating a system of financial responsibility that integrates faith, justice, and social cohesion. In Christianity, charity is configured as a central theological principle and an economic practice of mercy, whose historical development spans from apostolic and patristic community ethics to its modern reinterpretations within the perspectives of social doctrine and institutionalized philanthropy. This study adopts a qualitative, documentary, hermeneutical, and comparative approach, aimed at analyzing the theological, ethical, and accounting foundations of economic solidarity practices. The analysis reveals that, although differentiated in normative structure and social scope, these three traditions converge on a common vision of economic solidarity as a divine mandate and moral duty, with direct implications for the design of ethical accounting systems, redistributive policies, and contemporary models of social responsibility. The potential of an interreligious framework of financial ethics is discussed, one that, based on these age-old practices, can guide current debates on inequality, fiscal sustainability, and responsible economic governance.