The trust of leadership
Ikim Views
By Dr Mohd Sani Badron
Betrayal of trust of leadership, abuse of public funds
and having no concern for the welfare of the economically needy renders
even one’s religious rituals and profession of faith hypocritical.
ISLAMIC
history is rich with traditions and anecdotes which contain sufficient
counsel for people of power and holders of authority.
According to al-Ghazali, in his work Nasihat al-Muluk,
how effective those traditions are depends on the strength of their
faith. If faith is firmly established in the heart of those people of
power, then these traditions will be impactful and influential to their
behaviour and conduct.
If those religious traditions are not
effective, however, this will be because the heart is devoid of faith.
Indeed, nothing remains of it except profession of faith with the
tongue. In reality, merely talking that one has faith is one thing, but
true faith that is receptive to religious counsel on trust and
leadership is another thing altogether.
On his administrative experience, al-Ghazali recorded in his work Kimiya al-Sa‘adat,
“I do not know what sort of faith really exists in the heart of a
Finance Officer who holds the treasury in trust for the people but
instead gives the money away only to some (undeserving) individuals.
This action is an utmost limit of neglect of God’s commands and
un-Muslim conduct.”
In contrast with the notion of sociopolitical
leadership as trust is the notion that politics is “who gets what,
when, and how”, with all forms of power play, manoeuvring and
machinations.
Indeed, there is the Prophet Muhammad’s reminder that there are three signs of a munafiq
(hypocrite): “When he speaks, he lies; when he promises, he breaks the
promise; and when he is entrusted with something, he betrays that trust,
even if he ritually observes canonical fasting, prayers, haj (pilgrimage), umrah (lesser pilgrimage), and asserts that he is a Muslim.”
As
the Caliph ‘Umar b. al-Khattab reminded, “Don’t let a man’s humming
prayer during the night deceive you. A true man is the one who keeps his
trust and returns it to its owner, and from whose tongue and hand
Muslims are safe.”
Another prophetic tradition on additional
signs of hypocrites is, “When he gets financial opportunity, he acts
unfaithfully in taking from the property; when he is commanded in
religious matters, he disobeys; and when he encounters challenging
situation, he becomes a coward.”
Betrayal of trust of leadership,
abuse of public funds and having no concern for the welfare of the
economically needy renders even one’s religious rituals and profession
of faith hypocritical.
Having political power is an immense trust
because if the power is conducted in a just way, it is the vicegerency
of God on the earth (khilafatullah fi al-ard). Indeed, it is an objective of Islam to establish an ethical and a just social order.
Having
considered all relevant religious texts, al-Ghazali concluded that
“there is no act of religious worship greater to God than just
governance.”
Prophet Muhammad said: “One day of justice by a just ruler (or leader) is better than the continual worship of sixty years.”
The
Prophet declared that “the man most beloved and closest to God is the
just leader, and that the man who is most hateful and contemptible in
the sight of God is the unjust leader”.
The Prophet once said to
his Companions, “The best of leaders are those who like you and whom you
like, the worst of leaders are those who hate you and whom you hate,
they curse you and you curse them.”
But al-Ghazali warned that if the power is devoid of justice and compassion, it is the vicegerency of Satan.
While
countless people have died in the history of mankind, the Quran makes a
special mention of the death of individuals like Pharaoh or Korah,
because their political and economic injustice means destruction of
their right to exist in a socio-historical context.
There is no greater cause of corruption than the injustice of a leader.
On
the one hand, there is a tacit undertaking of a leader, defined as “he
who has commanding authority or influence” over his subjects.
Leaders
must neither neglect nor be ignorant of the rights of their
subordinates, but ought rather to be just, righteous and equitable, and
act in the best interests of all.
Most importantly, leaders must
be able to liberate human capabilities, so that every citizen can
participate positively in the system of governance. Governing the
Community is indeed a collective responsibility (shura).
Leaders need to remind themselves that the governed possess the right to be governed as free men.
Human
beings are governed by consent; even for the minority or dissenting
groups, there must be the protection of their rights as long as they act
in a peaceful, civil, and legitimate way according to the due process
of law within the framework of the basic laws of the community.
What
is most important is that a leader ought to prepare his people to
contribute through their intelligent and meaningful participation as
citizens, in peaceful cooperation.
Leaders must be mindful that
for a nation to be prosperous there must be a fair distribution of
income as well as a just distribution of power.
Just as there is
the human right to security and the right to peace, there is also the
right to earn a decent subsistence and the right to a decent livelihood.
If
and when gross socio-economic disparities are found at the heart of
social discord, a leader must be persuaded that it is imperative to
execute specific social reforms for the benefit of the weaker segments
within a community, whoever they are.
On the other hand, there is also a tacit undertaking of people to be sincere in manners towards their leaders.
It
alludes to the fact that armed rebellion is not the manner preferred.
God also forbids mankind from deceiving their leaders through flattery
for self-interest.
On the contrary, the sincere conduct refers to
being helpful and loyal as far as it is just, and to advise them
towards goodness and to enjoin them to be truthful and equitable.
Dr Mohd Sani Badron is Senior Fellow/Director, Centre for Economics and Social Studies.
