Curse Of Allah On The Corrupted
In his recent work entitled Corruption and Hypocrisy in Malay Politics: The Urgency of Moral-Ethical Transformation, the Distinguished Professor and Chairman of Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (IKIM), Tan Sri Emeritus Professor Dr. Mohd. Kamal Hassan, expressed his “frustration, disgust” and “is sickened by two political phenomena of contemporary Muslim community (Ummah) in Malaysia” namely, “political corruption and hypocrisy, and secondly, political disunity of Malay-Muslim community”. One of the causes of such phenomena is “symptomatic of inner crisis of the leaders and followers of the political parties; the moral decay…” Indeed, what Prof. Kamal means is the spiritual crisis or the lack of faith (iman) of the leaders that leads to the moral decay and corruption by themselves and their followers.
Corruption and bribery are undeniably serious in any community. It can not only destroy the overall justice system of the country, but also all other systems such as economic or political. Just like cancer that can spread to all parts of the human body and destroy its immune system, this so-called corruption “disease” has not been well-contained. Rather, it has become an outbreak just like that of the COVID-19 pandemic. From the grand corruption involving the highest senior government officials—be they political or civil posts – to the petty corruption involving the lowest enforcement officers on the street overseeing road traffic, or the local authorities who go around making spot-checks on restaurants, F&Bs and shopping premises, corruption and bribery are so rampant and obvious so much so that they have become an open secret. The influx of illegal immigrants in the country who roam the streets freely and own businesses without any fear are mainly due to lack of serious effort to arrest and deport them to their country of origin, can be attributed, partly, to corruption as well. Some enforcement officers, without any shame and guilt, would ask for a few Ringgits or whatever amount the victims have at the point of time, and ignore the laws they were supposed to enforce and uphold. Procurements of military equipment and weaponry whether at sea, on air or land, have always been a controversial issue that involved those concerned with some kind of dubious arrangement years ago, whether they were truly conducted in the right spirit of integrity and transparency or not. These and many others put our national security and defence system at stake and at the same time a mockery of our professionalism and integrity.
Rather shockingly, the culprits caught with corruption in Malaysia are mostly Malays who are Muslims, too. It is as if they are ignorant of the teachings of Islam which prohibit taking wealth from unlawful means and illicit gains. Muslims would not have committed such acts if they were true believers (mu’min). Only hypocrites (munafiq) or those 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 in order 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. In another instance, Allah says in Surah al-Anfal verse two: “The (true) believers are only those whose hearts tremble at the remembrance of Allah, whose faith increases when His Revelations are recited to them, …” From the verse, we can imply that the sole solution to corruption among Muslims must begin with the strengthening of their iman (faith) and living with the true teachings of Islam in their daily lives until Allah’s words on prohibitions can have an impact on their spiritual hearts. So long as they are Muslims only by virtue of being born as one, they will not have the quality of iman that can help them live as an honest person. He would be a Muslim on paper only, registered with the National Registration Department as a “Muslim” and bearing a Muslim name, but living as a wicked Muslim or in the worst case, a hypocrite. Indeed, such a person is a liability to Islam. For sins are committed day in and day out without any feelings of guilt. In a Prophetic tradition from Al-Harith ibn Suwaid, it was reported that Abdullah ibn Mas’ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “Verily, the believer (mu’min) views his sins as if he were sitting under a mountain, fearing it will fall upon him. The wicked (however) views his sins as if they were a fly passing over his nose.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 5949).
The Prophet (may peace be upon him) had given warning by using strong words to those involved with corruption to show the gravity and seriousness of the prohibition, for corruption falls under one of the major sins in Islam. A Prophetic tradition from a companion of the Prophet (may peace be upon him), Abu Hurayrah, had said that 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 middle man. For the Prophet (may peace be upon him) had said: “Allah puts a curse on the giver, acceptor and middle man 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 himself “puts a curse” on the culprits involved.
Allah does not simply puts a curse on someone without him committing any serious and grievous offences or major sins (kaba’ir al-dhunub) in Islam. Then, what does it mean when Allah and His Prophet (may peace be upon him) put a curse on someone? Curse or “al-la’nu” (Malay: laknat) comes from the Arabic words “lam”, “ain” and “nun” to mean “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. God’s anger towards unlawful earnings committed by Jews was also recorded in Surah al-Maidah, verse 42: “[They are] avid listeners to falsehood, devourers of [what is] unlawful.”
There are numerous Prophetic traditions which warn, curse, and forbid us from taking unlawful gains whether in the form of bribery or usury or any other illicit forms of corruption. Another tradition from Abdullah ibn Umar who had said the Prophet (may peace be upon him) said: “All flesh grown out of ‘al-suht’, has its abode in the hellfire”. The Prophet was asked what did “al-suht” mean and he replied “unlawful earnings” (Al-Suyuti in Jam’u al-Jawami’). Indeed, the corrupt who are cursed by God will be devoid of His Mercy and will eventually end up in the Hellfire. May God forbid us all from such a consequence.