It is always good to have many strings to one’s bow, as there are just different approaches to good governance. Since the launch of the Malaysia Syariah Index by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Feb 10, discussions on the relevance of the index in strengthening good governance have emerged in the public sphere and the blogosphere.
While we have explored different good governance models since Merdeka, it might not be out of place to consider this unique index to promote people-oriented governance.
Though the ripples created by the discussions have led to waves of consolidation of the index, understanding the underlying philosophy of the concept and application of the higher objectives of syariah, or Maqasid al-Syariah, is paramount. Although in Muslim circles, Maqasid al-Syariah has been widely discussed, this index goes beyond theoretical abstraction by utilising the framework to strengthen good governance using quantitative parameters.
There have been efforts to develop good governance and development indices, such as the Worldwide Governance Indicators of the World Bank, Human Development Index of the United Nations Development Programme, Good Governance Index of The Philippines, and the Ibrahim Index of African Governance. Though commendable, such efforts do not necessarily reflect the original philosophy of syariah.
The concept of good governance has been repeatedly referred to in different ways, particularly when people debate the policy direction of a government. The concept generally relates to how public institutions make decisions, and how such decisions are translated into meaningful implementable policies for the benefit of the citizenry.
The Islamic conception of good governance is an outcome-oriented policy which involves the decision-making process and the proactive implementation of such policies for the benefit of all.
The concept of good governance is encapsulated in the principle of al-Siyasah al-Shariyyah (syariah-oriented public policy), which has been well conceptualised by early Muslim jurists. The underlying principle of this concept is good governance that is driven by the promotion of public interest and avoiding any form of policy that will jeopardise the individual and collective interest of the people.
As a progressive Muslim country, Malaysia is brave enough to be evaluated through an open system.
While a syariah index is a good beginning for Malaysia, such an index is expected to promote good governance in other Muslim countries when implemented. The recently released Pew Report 2015 revealed that the Muslim population is increasing rapidly. It is projected to grow from 1.6 billion in 2010, to about 2.8 billion in 2050. This justifies the application of the syariah index to enhance good governance in Muslim-majority countries.
In spite of this rapid increase in the number of Muslims, the current socio-political dynamics of the world do not favour this segment of the population. Political volatility and socio-economic fragility in the Muslim world leaves much to be desired, as do the future of Muslims in the next few decades.
In the face of these uncertainties, negative stereotypes and political instability in the Muslim world, it is appropriate to look inwards. This is with a view of coming up with a quantifiable framework that can transform the Muslim world through the implementation of certain parameters based on the Islamic value system. This justifies the application of the syariah index to enhance current good governance practices.
The Malaysia Syariah Index is a government-backed project based on the task of proactively enhancing good governance. Though not completely exhaustive, the syariah index represents eight basic parameters that have been identified in modern governance based on the primary needs of the people in a country.
The index is based on Maqasid al-Syariah principles that represent the following higher objectives of the syariah: preservation of religion (din), life (nafs), intellect (aqal), progeny (nasl) and wealth (mal).
At this stage, the project focused primarily on the fundamental necessities of the people, or what is known as ḍaruriyyat among Islamic legal experts.
Though current governmental initiatives address the other categories of public interest, the first phase of the project does not comprehensively address complementary needs (hajiyyat) and embellishments (tahsiniyyat) in Islamic jurisprudence. Therefore, the practical realisation of the core principles of these higher objectives in the governance of a state through a well-reasoned public policy could turn around the perceived negative fortunes of the Muslim world and the governments of the Muslim states.
When such an index is introduced, the possibility of benchmarking practices, cross-fertilisation of ideas, as well as mutual comparison of policies, will enhance good governance in the Muslim world.
In the pioneering project spearheaded by the International Islamic University Malaysia recently, a unique quantitative formula based on the synthetisation of eight different disciplines using statistical methods was developed. The formula can be used to evaluate the performance of the government in key sectors that affect the lives of the people.
There are eight segments identified in the syariah index parameters, which are measured against the five higher objectives of syariah. These segments of state governance, though not absolute or exhaustive include: Islamic law, politics, education, economy, health, culture (including customary practices), infrastructure development and environment, and social milieu.
It is always good for a state to evaluate itself through some objective parameters before it is evaluated by the people. State policies are usually meant to fulfil the needs of the people that are in consonance with the basic necessities expounded in the Maqasid al-Shariah framework.
The syariah index can be further localised to reflect the unique variations of each jurisdiction. The implementation of the syariah index is geared towards the need to implement people-oriented policies and has the potential of providing a unified genre of compliance for government policies. The index is a continuous process, which is mainly an evaluation system to empirically gauge the extent of the commitment of a state in achieving good governance.
In strengthening good governance in modern Muslim states, the syariah index will contribute tremendously in the following ways:
FIRST, it will enhance people-oriented governance where the needs of the people are taken into consideration while formulating government policies;
SECOND, through the index and the annual survey conducted based on the index, every citizen will develop a sense of belonging since their perceptions about policies being implemented and their evaluation of the performance of the government are taken into consideration in streamlining and crystallising the governance process; and
THIRD, government agencies will improve and enhance their performance, as they are compelled to compete with others in their service-delivery roles.
One would recall the saying of the second rightly-guided caliph, Umar bin Al-Khattab: “Bring yourself to account before you are taken to account.” Therefore, commissioning the evaluation of the governance of the state, as undertaken by the Malaysian government in its syariah index, is commendable and worth emulating by other countries.
The writer is rector of International Islamic University Malaysia