INTEGRITY is a core value often cited by society since time immemorial, although it's sometimes puzzling to fully understand integrity in the real sense of the word and what's expected from an employee or a leader by society.
Integrity means following your moral or ethical convictions and doing the right thing in all circumstances, even if no one is watching you. Having integrity means you are true to yourself and would do nothing that demeans or dishonours you.
More often than not, integrity is used synonymously with "moral". At times, we also distinguish acting morally from acting with integrity. Persons of integrity may in fact act immorally though they would usually not know they're acting "immorally". Hence, one may acknowledge a person to have integrity even though that person may hold what one thinks are mistaken moral views.
When a political leader makes demeaning and derogatory remarks against certain persons of different creed and race, stereotyping them as drunkards, this so-called "person of integrity" has stepped out from the societal norm, contrary to what is expected of him. In short, he has acted irresponsibly and immorally.
In my reading on integrity that is prescribed by Islam, I have found there are at least 20 core values that are synonymous and parallel to the universal values of this much-cited virtue.
Besides amanah (honesty and trustworthiness) in discharging one's duty, Islam promotes Mas'uuliyyah, which demands a person to be responsible and accountable for whatever he does or says.
A person with power and influence, for instance, must practise the virtues of Wa'y Ijtimaa'll (the sense of community consciousness and sensitivity) and Tawaadhu' (sense of humility) that would earn him respect and honour from the people he administers. These core values serve as a guide and boundary in a person's moral grounds, and it very much refers to the quality of a person's character.
Similarly, these core values should be reflected in civil servants and private sector employees' moral compass. Following the arrest of 26 civil servants involved in human trafficking, we ponder on whether they had been given enough knowledge about integrity that represents their organisation's image and their own character.
Surely they knew it was a crime and morally wrong to condone bribery, as if they didn't possess Hayaa' (sense of shame).
In relation to this, Islam prescribes Jihaad al-nafs, which provides a wholesome strength to fight against one's own base desire for immoral doings.
Although most civil servants receive a decent take-home salary, they should uphold Qanaa'ah, the feeling of content with what God has bestowed upon them, apart from discharging their duty and responsibility with ikhlas (sincerity) and Shajaa'ah (courage).
When one succeeds in overcoming the base desire, only then they would earn the thiqaah (trust and confidence) from their employer and stakeholders.
In any organisation we're employed in, we must demonstrate the spirit of Wafaa' (Loyalty), Sidq (truthfulness), Ta'aawun (cooperation), Isti'daad li al tadhhiyah (ready to sacrifice) and amanah for the day's honest work.
We should be committed to working hard in our quest for excellence, or Itqaan, while conducting ourselves in continuous Muhaasabah (self-introspection) to check whether a good job has been carried out. By practising Sab'r (patience and perseverance) and Solat (in prayers), we'd be a better person with Husn al-zann (good and positive thoughts).
Integrity could be interpreted in a wider meaning. One may speak of the integrity of an ecosystem, a computerised database, a defence system and a work of art.
When it's applied to objects, integrity refers to the wholeness, intactness or purity of a thing, albeit the meanings are sometimes carried over when it is applied to people.
An ecosystem has integrity when it has not been corrupted by development or by the side-effects of development, when it remains intact as wilderness. A database maintains its integrity as long as it remains uncorrupted when the person in charge doesn't divulge personal data of his customers and a defence system as long as it's not breached.
By far and large, integrity is attributed to various aspects of a person's life, attributes such as professional, intellectual and artistic integrity. However, the most philosophically important sense of "integrity" relates to general character and this somehow escapes our moral standing from time to time. We should be ashamed of ourselves for this.
The writer, a former NST journalist, is a film scriptwriter whose penchant is finding new food haunts
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times