ABDUL-MAJID JAFFRY argues that only good governance, developing appropriate systems and putting checks and balances in place will not solve the problem of prevalence of corruption. Building individual and national character on God-consciousness (Taqwa), fear of transcendental accountability and success and failure in the hereafter (Aakhirah) is a must for fighting this cancer.
Corruption is not a new phenomenon. It has existed throughout the history in various degrees and forms. No civilization can claim to be immune from the social rot of corruption. In bygone days, it was confined to limited scope and scale, but as time progressed and material civilization advanced with decline in morality, the tentacles of corruption permeated widely, openly, and brazenly to grip every facet of society. Today, in the less economically developed nations, the pervasive and debilitating culture of corruption has reached an epic proportion – so much so that it has become part of the national ethos. It is no longer considered a form of deviance but a norm and a way of life for citizens.
In old days, bribe – the most common form of corruption – was given in exchange for illegal acts and favours. Now, one cannot get what is his right as a citizen without greasing the palm of the corrupt official. In the gone days, a morally upright government officer who stayed clear of corruption and did not enrich himself was regarded with deference by his colleagues. Today, he is considered foolish and harassed by his associates.
Transparency International (T.I.), in brief but concise definition, defines corruption as “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain.” The “entrusted power” in the TI’s definition should not be confined to public tax collectors, police officers, and procurement officials, and the “private gain” should not be narrowly restricted to government officials skimming off money for their own benefit.The non-profit organisations, private industries and businesses may not occupy offices of public trust with entrusted authority; nevertheless, they contribute significantly to the culture of corruption.
While some argue that corruption can have favourable impact on economy, as Samuel Huntington says, “In terms of economic growth the only thing worse than a society with a rigid, over-centralized, dishonest bureaucracy is one with a rigid, over-centralized, honest bureaucracy” (Political Order in Changing Societies, 69). Or as other experts advocate, “bribery greases the machinery of commerce”. Huntington’s andothers’views are ill-considered aberration; corruption is universally accepted as detrimental to economic growth. Bribery, graft, extortion, and embezzlement are betrayal of trust and can never be deemed as civilized behaviour or beneficial to a society.
Socially, corruption brings about a collapse of social structure. The legal, political, judicial, moral and culture systems of a nation are all adversely affected with unchecked corruption. Economically, it is far more responsible than illiteracy, over-population, and poverty in keeping the underdeveloped countries poor and stagnant. It discourages, both, local and foreign investments in the country. That, in turn, stunts economic development and hinders job growth.
The fact that corruption has been around ever since history began is no reason to believe that it cannot be controlled, if not stamped out entirely, at least, to the point where it does not threaten the economic, social and moral order of the society and pose nuisance to public life. Admittedly, in countries like India, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Pakistan, corruption has its roots so well anchored in the system that combating it with any degree of noticeable success is not only seen as formidable but also an impossible task. However insurmountable it may appear, efforts must be made to contain the scourge of corruption and its caustic effects on society.
The western and secular experts do not explicitly recognise the moral dimension of corruption. They attribute its causes to bad system of governance, lack of accountability, weak management systems, low salary with enormous authority, etc. They propose good governance and transparent anti-corruption measures, among others, as ways and means to prevent corruption.
The point to ponder here is that the people who will govern and who will man the anti-corruption department will not come from the outside. They will come from the same populace,therefore, they would likely be infected with the same social and moral malady. The political governance is the sum of the political process, and the anti-corruption department has its basis in the state bureaucracy and judiciary. When political process, state bureaucracy, and judiciary are knee deep in corruption, then how could one expect the governance and the anti-corruption machinery to rise above board and be scrupulous enough to say no to riches of corruption and manage the public affairs with honesty.In corrupt countries, corruption in the anti-corruption department is as rampant, if not more, as in political system, bureaucracy, and police department. Anti-corruption department is just another venue for corrupts to enrich themselves.
An individual’s right upbringing may make him a decent and honourable person. However,it is the firm belief in the Day of Judgment, and life hereafter that inculcates the true sense of righteousness, purifies mind, and keeps a check upon temptations in private and public life, lest it run into corruption and worldly greed. Moral uprightness and ethical interaction crucial for the honest governance and bureaucracy cannot be developed without the unwavering conviction that our actions and deeds, open and hidden, are constantly recorded, and that we will be judged on the Day of Judgementbased on our actions and deeds in the earthly life.
Islam is the only religion that has the Day of Judgment and the life hereafter as part of its core belief system; without the belief in them, one cannot be a Muslim. Islamic conviction of accountability in the hereafter is a great blessing for a Muslim;it works as an effective catalyst in keeping him from social and moral evils. Because of his belief in the hereafter, he remains ethical and honest even if it imposes economic and emotional hardship, and stays away from wrongdoings even if it strips him of immediate gains. Self-restraint, moderation in lifestyle, and contentmentare natural results of the belief in the hereafter.
Other religions do incorporate the views on the afterlife, but only in vague terms. Conservative Christians believe that the body dies but the soul lives on. Liberal Christians say that a loving God is incapable of creating a horrible place like hell. Orthodox and Conservative Jews have diverse opinions about the life after death, while the Reformed Jews officially rejects the doctrine. Hindus and Buddhists believe in reincarnation – cycle of life, death and rebirth, not life in the hereafter.
One may argue thatthe secular west isgenerally irreligious and freethinking with no or vague belief in the divine retribution in the hereafter, and yet it is honest and mostly corruption free. It is true that the western developed countries are not corrupt on the same level and with the same intensity as the less developed countries are, but they are not corruption free. The problem of corruption is not uncommon in west’s political systems. Besides theinstitutional corruption, however less piercing, one finds a great amount of exploitation – identity thefts, cheat, fraud, and consumer scams – appallingly common inwestern developed countries. Cheat, scam,political and institutional corruption are all related in the sense that they stem from the same poisonous root and share the same common denominator – lack of honesty and moral failure.
Even with the absolute faith in accountability in the hereafter and with the sure knowledge that there is no escape from it, Muslims are yet among the most corrupt people in the world. This paradoxical phenomenon is not difficult to understand when we realize that environment nurtures human nature. Moral and social decayingof the Muslim community is the manifestation of the societal ills. Throughout the Muslim world, we witness an environment that is on the one hand, conspicuously corrupted with material and worldly greed, and on the other spiritually impoverished. These two elements – worldly greed and spiritual impoverishment – make a Muslim morally and spiritually weak and thus vulnerable to moral relapse.
Muslims are also human and suffer with human weaknesses. In materialistic environment of money and physical pleasure, without proper education, religious and moral training,they are as susceptible to succumb to corruption and fall to the whims of greedas any other human beings are.
Islam and west take different attitudes towards combating the menace of corruption.
As we noted above, western approach of containingcorruption concentrates on good governance, developing appropriate systems, and putting preventive checks and balances in place. Essentially, the western approach, in the words of one writer, “emphasizes constraints external to the individual”.In the western resolution of the corruption problem, value based education, moulding character, and infusing moral and ethical values are not underscored.
On the other hand, while not negating the need for the institutional reforms and preventive checks and balances, Islam’s primary modus operandi in containing corruptionis to build character on individual level based on Taqwa(Allah Consciousness), fear of transcendent accountability and system of reward and punishment in Aakhira (hereafter). The Islamic teaching that humans do not have the freedom to make consequence free choicesand are accountable in the hereafter for their every action and word is very effective in character building. It leads to embracing virtues and shunning vices.
If we survey the small cadre of honest government employees in the massive corrupt Muslim countries, who eschew corruption and live within their means, we will find that almost all of them do so out of their fear of accountability in the hereafter. They religiously believe that the materially comfortable life in this temporal world brought byill-gotten wealth will eventually shame and subject them to unspeakable punishment in the real and perpetual world of the hereafter. They let go the transitory enjoyment of this life for a more meaningful and durable pleasure of the life to come.
From an Islamic perspective, corruption is a moral and ethical issue. All the causes and factors pointed out by the western and secular experts as reasons for corruption are indeed just symptoms, not disease. The disease itself, the cause of these visible effects, is the erosion of moral and spiritual values. In the absence of moral and spiritual values, that impart sense of honour and honesty, no preventive measure to contain corruption will have any durable and sustainable impact. All the attempts to control the corruption in communities known for their corrupt practices will prove to be short term, inconsistent and ultimately ineffective.
Today, the world of Islam is drowned in decadence and malfeasance. The ruling class, for the greatest part, is secularized and westernized, and has no regard for Islamic teaching and values. To purse their secular agenda, Muslim rulers have forcibly divorced Islam from organizational and state affairs. In many instances, young Muslim men are discouraged to practice and preach Islam. Therefore, it is foolish to expect that the state will undertake efforts to revive the Islamic spirit and moral values in the populace.The onus to nourish the spiritually starved soul and cultivate moral and ethical valuesfalls upon privateIslamic groups and organisations.