The distinguished professor and chairman of Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (IKIM), Tan Sri Emeritus Professor Dr Mohd Kamal Hassan, is sickened by two political phenomena of contemporary Muslim community in Malaysia, namely, political corruption and hypocrisy, and political disunity of the Malay-Muslim community.
He expressed his frustration and disgust over the matter through his recent work, "Corruption and Hypocrisy in Malay Politics: The Urgency of Moral-Ethical Transformation".
One of the causes is "symptomatic of an inner crisis of the leaders and followers of the political parties: the moral decay…".
Indeed, what Professor Kamal means is the spiritual crisis, or the lack of faith (iman), of the leaders that leads to moral decay and corruption by themselves and their followers.
Corruption and bribery not only destroy the justice system of the country, but also all other systems, such as economic or political. This so-called corruption "disease" has not been well contained.
Rather, it has become an outbreak like the Covid-19 pandemic.
Involving the highest senior government officials — be they political or civil posts — to the petty corruption involving enforcement officers on the streets overseeing road traffic, or the local authorities who go around making spot checks on restaurants and shopping premises, corruption and bribery are so rampant and obvious that they have become an open secret.
Other examples include the influx of illegal immigrants who roam the streets freely and own businesses without any fear. This is mainly due to a lack of serious effort to arrest and deport them to their country of origin and can be attributed, partly, to corruption as well.
Enforcement officers, without any shame and guilt, would ask for a few ringgit or whatever amount the victims have at the point of time, and ignore the laws they were supposed to enforce and uphold.
The culprits caught for corruption in Malaysia are mostly Malay Muslims, as if they are ignorant of the teachings of Islam, which prohibit taking wealth by unlawful means and illicit gains.
Muslims would not have committed such acts if they were true believers (mu'min).
Only hypocrites (munafiq) or those who lack iman could have committed such transgressions.
Allah warns Muslims in Surah al-Baqarah, verse 188: "Do not consume one another's wealth unjustly, nor deliberately bribe authorities to devour a portion of others' property, knowing that it is a sin."
For a Muslim who is a true believer, the warning is sufficient for him to abstain from any unlawful wealth.
As narrated by a companion of the Prophet (may peace be upon him), Abu Hurayrah, the Prophet used to say: "Curse on those who offer bribes and accept bribes in judgments." (Sunan al-Tirmidhī: 1336).
In another narration from Thauban, not only are the giver and the acceptor cursed, but so too is the middleman.
For the Prophet (may peace be upon him) had said: "Allah puts a curse on the giver, acceptor and middleman of bribery." (Al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak, vol. 4, p.115, no.7063).
Clearly, corruption and bribery are serious crimes from the Islamic perspective to the extent that Allah SWT himself "puts a curse" on the culprits involved.
Then, what does it mean when Allah SWT and His Prophet (may peace be upon him) put a curse on someone? A curse, or al-la'nu, means "to be expelled far away from the mercy of Allah".
However, not all sins — when committed by someone — get cursed by Allah SWT, unless the sins are grievous offences.
There are Prophetic traditions which warn, curse and forbid us from taking unlawful gains in the form of bribery, usury or corruption.
In a hadith narrated by Abdullah ibn Umar, the Prophet (may peace be upon him), had said: "All flesh grown out of al-suht (unlawful acquisition of wealth) has its abode in the hellfire".
Indeed, the corrupt who are cursed by God will be devoid of His Mercy and will end up in the hellfire. May God forbid us all from such a consequence.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times
