Integrity, Trustworthiness and the Islamic Vision for Malaysia

In Islam there are a few basic principles which are often forgotten by the Muslims. An example is the concept of amanah or trustworthiness.

Trustworthiness is a very important concept in Islam. Trustworthiness, as prescribed in the Quran and Sunnah denotes performing all obligations and responsibilities. Allah said in the Quran in Surah An Nisa , verse 58 which means:

“Verily Allah commands that you should render back the trusts to those , to whom they are due, and that when you judge between men, you judge them with justice. Verily how excellent is the teaching which Allah gives you. Trully Allah is Ever All-Hearer, All-Seer.”

And the Prophet, peace be upon him , said in a hadith by Ahmad: “And there is no faith in him (somebody) who is not trustworthy.”

This means that somebody who are not amanah is not a faithful Muslim.Why is trustworthiness so important in Islam ? This because if there is no trustworthiness how can there be any justice in the society.

A model ruler that really held to justice and trustworthiness is not utopian in Islamic civilization. We have a role model in the Caliphate Umar Abdul Aziz.

During his rule integrity and trustworthiness reigned supreme. Thus the level of poverty among the Muslims was greatly reduced to the point of there being no poor people in the land . The Baitul Mal (common wealth of the society) was bountiful.

The fundamental principles of the administration under Omar Abdul Aziz emphasized that the government were just and trustworthy from the top to the lowest bottom in the administrative hierarchy of his Caliphate.

The Caliph himself was very trustworthy. The Wazir was trustworthy. The teachers were trustworthy. The military Generals were trustworthy.

The writers were trustworthy. There were no such thing as mercenary writers. These mercenary writers like their counterparts the mercenary soldiers were writers/soldiers paid to write/fight for any parties that hired them and to kill off whoever the enemies of those who hire them.

These writers would then write venomous and malicious stories on their paymasters’s opponents even though these were lies while singing praises on their paymasters even though what they wrote were not the truth.

As true Muslims these writers must be honourable and write with integrity. If they do not have integrity, they do not deserve to be respected and being given the honour to be called writers.

Writers deal with qalam or the pen or knowledge and if they write lies they would be responsible for their writtings in this and the after world.

Talking of a writers’s integity reminded me of the life of Sir Thomas Moore who was at one time the Prime Minister to King Henry VIII of England.

This was the King who created the Church of Enland after severing any relationship with the Roman Catholic Church at Rome because the Vatican prohibited him from divorcing his first and Spanish borned and Catholic Queen in order to marry Anne Boleyn which subsequently became his second wife. He fathered Queen Mary of Scots from his first wife and Queen Elizabeth I from his second wife respectively.

In the course of his career Sir Thomas Moore on one occasion antagonized the King when he refused to follow the King’s instructions as they were against his principles. He was subsequently charged with treason and sent to the London Tower to be beheaded.

His wife and children appealed to King to spare Sir Thomas Moore’s life to which the King agreed on condition that he seeked for the King’s foregiveness.

The family beseach him to seek the King’s forgiveness to which Sir Thomas Moore adamently refused. He told his family especially his children that how can he sacrificed his principles in order to live and what kind of life it would be for him without his principles . He would rather die than give up his principles.

Thus he refused to seek forgiveness from Henry VII and was subsequently executed. Later Sir Thomas Moore was immortalised and became one of England’s best known Prime Minister.

Likewise justice and trustworthiness were the cornerstones of Caliph Omar Abdul Aziz’s rule. Whether this idealist administration is possible in contemporary Malaysia remains to be seen. But it is worthwhile to quote here Martin Luther King Jr’s most famous phrase “ We have a dream”.

Both UMNO and PAS are Islam-based parties. The Muslims formed the majority religious group making up 60 % of Malaysia's population. The competition between both of them should be healthy and constructive.

Its end results should be positive for the Muslim’s future whether for this world and the after world as both are in symbiosis .

A moderate Muslim Malaysia that is in tune with the times and on the march towards modernization in our own mold should be our Vision . As the English proverb goes “ Strike when the iron is hot". May Allah bless and protect our beloved Malaysia.