Malaysia's position in the Corruption Perceptions Index
(CPI) for 2020 dropped to 57th from 51st in 2019 out of 180 countries.
Many quarters have questioned how the index was produced, including the extent to which it reflects a country's true corruption position compared with just a mere "perception" as described by CPI.
What is depressing is Muslim countries rank high in corruption, such as Somalia, Syria, Yemen and Sudan.
Etymologically, the word "corruption" in Arabic is among 2,000 to 3,000 words that have been absorbed into Bahasa Malaysia.
The Arabic word rasha means accepting or giving bribes, being corrupt or ready to be bought. In our society, the word corruption alone conjures disgust.
Nevertheless, those who persist in engaging in the illegal and immoral and flout rules or procedures, or those who would rather conduct acts using shortcuts, would hide their actions behind terms such as "coffee money", "lubricant money", "oil money" and "win-win".
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission booklet, Nota Pencegahan Rasuah (Corruption Prevention Notes), cites terms in other languages to mean bribery, such as Char Chien (money for tea in Mandarin), Than Wu or Kopi Lui (Hokkien).
Such neutral terms are used to "purify" the filth of bribery and legitimise it.
Sadly, many Muslims are still involved in corruption when it is obvious that taking or giving bribes is illegal in Islam.
The Quran warns that consuming wealth in a wrong way
(bathil) is strictly forbidden, and corruption is one of the wrong ways.
In surah al-Nisa' verses 29–30, Allah SWT admonishes: "O you who believe, do not consume your property among yourselves in a wrong way (cheating, gambling, etc.), except by trade that is done by mutual consent, and do not kill each other.
"Lo! Allah is ever Merciful to you. And whoever does that by aggression and injustice, then We will cast him into the fire of hell, and such retribution is easy for Allah."
Islam values purity and cleanliness not only outwardly, but also inwardly or spiritually. Forbidden are pork consumption, alcohol and the like.
There are also things that are forbidden due to law (hukmi), such as taking riba, eating meat like chicken etc without Islamic slaughtering, or "eating" (that is, using) bribes.
Surprisingly, some Malay-Muslims would not be offended by taking bribes, even though it is illegal (haram), according to the law.
Perversely, some would use dirty money, such as bribes they think have been "purified", for good and charitable purposes, such as to perform the haj or sponsor others to perform the umrah or haj, or donate part of it to a mosque or tahfiz centre, madrasah or children's orphanages.
Indeed, a few worry and thus are more wary of bribe money if it's used for buying food for their family as it would not be blessed.
So they use it instead for other purposes, such as buying goods, changing car tyres and paying toll charges, as long as it is not in the form of food or consumable items.
They assume that by doing so, the "illegal" money will be turned "halal" and supposedly will not give any bad effect.
The real fact is that such expenses that one uses, even for other than buying food, still remain illegal and will not be accepted by Allah SWT.
One should not assume and feel comfortable that his bribe money has been cleaned or purified while Allah does not accept his charitable deeds at all.
This is based on a hadith from Abu Hurairah RA, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "O people, indeed Allah is thoyyib (good). Allah will not accept anything except from the thoyyib (good)." (Narrated by Muslim no. 1015).
Indeed, Muslims who are believers should not only stay away from sources that are clearly illegal, but also avoid getting caught up in vague sources (shubhat) of the law for fear we might fall into the haram.
A person's involvement in corruption reflects the degree of his faith (iman).
If he is willing to be involved in corruption that Allah SWT has clearly forbidden, then he should be prepared to face its consequences. It is none other than hellfire.
The writer is senior fellow at the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (Ikim)