The challenge to achieve the goal of Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 is not the lack of economic opportunity or resources but corruption and leakages of public funds. Apart from pandemic, these moral challenges were also part of the reasons behind our failure to materialise the Vision 2020.

The Transparency International reported early this year that Malaysia dropped six places in Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2020. The country only scored 51/100 points in the index and ranked 57th out of 180 countries.

None of Muslim countries was ranked in the top 20. The UAE was ranked 21st, the top for Muslim countries with a score of 70/100. Qatar was ranked 30th, followed by Brunei at 35th place. On the contrary, more than half of Muslim countries were positioned in the bottom 20 of the index, which represent the most perceived corrupt countries.

It is a paradox to observe that Muslim majority countries were perceived as more corrupt when Islamic value is clearly against all forms of fasad or corruption:  “The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive to spread corruption through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter” (Quran, 5:33).

Within Shariah or Islamic law, the discussion on corruption relates it to ghulul (abuse of power), sariqah (embezzlement), khiyanah (treason) and risywah (bribery). In a Muslim country like Indonesia, act of corruption is recognised as a ta’zir crime. It is an offense that allows a judge to consider the legal provision as per Article 2 Paragraph (2) of Law No.31 of 1999, concerning capital punishment or death penalty for criminal acts of corruption.

Many studies have shown that corruption is associated with poverty. The CPI 2020 indicates that rich Muslim countries such as UAE, Qatar and Brunei are ranked as top clean Muslim countries, whereas many poor OIC countries ranked as the most corrupt countries.

Does poverty leads to corruption? Or, is it corruption that actually causes poverty? A causality analysis using a data of 97 developing countries found that corruption and poverty go hand-in-hand and run in both directions.

Corruption leads to poverty by means of poor economic growth and/or bad governance. An economic model postulates that corruption discourages foreign investments, decreases tax revenues and in turn, induces poverty. In addition, the governance model asserts that poverty increases due to rampant corruption practices which erode institutional capacity to deliver quality public services.

Another analysis focusing on a data of 43 member countries of Organization of Islamic Corporation (OIC) shed some light on the issue. The findings revealed that the combined effects of natural resources and corruption have positive effect on Gross Domestic Product per capita. In other words, Muslim countries endowed with lots of natural resources still gained positive economic growth even with the presence of corruption. The result also indicates that information and communication technology (ICT) helps to reduce the bad economic impact due to corruption and thus to use it as a governance implementation tool.

We can see now that corruption may exist at every level of society and in every countries—rich and poor included. Judging solely by economic growth, we may perceive a poor country as a corrupt nation, and wrongly perceive a rich country with abundant natural resources as a clean one. Hence, gauging and dealing with corruption whether among poor or wealthy countries require a process of proper assessment and implementation of good governance, not relying on the metric of economic growth alone.

In combatting corruption, how shall we strengthen good governance among Muslim countries? In Islamic tradition, al-hisbah served the function of overseeing morality and ethics in market places and public offices. We can consider the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission as a present-day hisbah institution related to corruption.

But more importantly, is to instil true Islamic values and to apply hisbah as personal governance. Research showed that religious leaders were identified as the least corrupt, while the police and elected officials as the most corrupt. Interestingly, an analysis among police officials in Malaysia also indicates that religiosity lowers their involvement in corruption and fraudulent acts.

Without good governance, the COVID-19 financial aid may open door for higher corruption and diverting funds. It is an avenue to benefit the elite more than the poor, resulting in economic injustice and widening inequality.  Recent data have already signified that corruption is prevalent in countries with poor handling of pandemic.

In conjunction with International Anti-Corruption Day on 9 December, let’s unite as a Malaysian Family, fight injustice and combat corruption—“Your right, your role: say NO to corruption!”

Link : https://www.ikim.gov.my/index.php/2021/12/21/combatting-corruption-in-muslim-countries/