Dishonest leaders will not enter heaven

A leader who has been given the trust will carry the responsibility of protecting the religion of Islam so that people would live a just life and in harmony.

Their responsibility in the organisation and community is crucial especially in implementing the Islamic law, besides taking care of the welfare, safety and well-being of the people as well as to avoid clashes between them

Rasulullah SAW had also emphasised how important it is to be trustworthy in life and this was narrated in a Hadith by Muslim.

With great trust comes great responsibility.

Thus, future leaders must remember the prophet’s advice as narrated by Ubaidullah bin Ziyad who visited Ma'qil bin Yasar al-Muzani, Ma’qil said: “I heard from Rasulullah SAW that “If Allah appointed anyone to be a ruler over the people and he died while he was still treacherous to his people, Allah would forbid his entry into heaven (Hadith by Bukhari and Muslim).

Therefore, to ensure the Maqasid Syariah (objectives of Syariah) is implemented, leaders need to emphasise the five principles which are the preservation of religion, life, intellect, lineage, and property to serve the public interests (Maslahah) and to prevent harm

Maslahah is a major aspect in Syariah. It is a complete and integrated code of life encompassing all aspects of life.

There are five main elements of Maqasid Syariah which are the preservation of religion, soul, intellect, offspring and wealth.

Preservation of religion

The preservation of religion (hifz ad-din) should be understood as building a society that adheres to religion. At the same time the leader needs to know about the attributions of Allah SWT in depth.

In the Malaysian context, preserving the religion (ad-din) means ‘to avoid anything that might violate the fundamentals, including defending the country and the position of Islam as the religion of the Federation and other religions may be practiced peacefully and harmoniously as mentioned in the Federal Constitution.

Preservation of the soul

Preservation of the soul (hifz al-nafs) should be defined as an effort to achieve quality of life.

Leaders should safeguard the dignity, kinship, social equality, justice, safety, security of property, good governance, reducing poverty, meeting employment needs, equitable distribution of income and wealth, social unity, crime rate reduction and national stability.

Preservation of the intellect

Preservation of the intellect (hifz al-’aql) leads the society towards the mind and intellectual culture development as well as avoiding backward thinking that leads to the destruction of the mind.

Leaders also need to be sensitive, cultivate noble values and useful knowledge. All elements that lead to mental damage such as alcohol, drugs and films that could be destructive to the mind, should be eradicated immediately.

Preservation of offspring

Nurturing offspring and lineage is an effort to strengthen family institutions as well as producing a generation with good qualities.

The concept needs to be understood by leaders that preserving offspring is needed in order to form a healthy, productive and effective society.

Apart from that, lineage must be preserved in order to maintain the social system in society.

Preservation of property

Preservation of property (hifz al-mal) on the other hand, is to preserve property from injustice, denial of rights and so on.

The government must preserve and prohibit all forms of oppression, usury, fraud, corruption, unbalanced monopoly, piracy, intellectual property fraud, market manipulation and malpractice.

Indeed, the emphasis on the five fundamentals of the Maqasid Syariah will be able to preserve harmony in a multi-racial society, thus safeguarding democracy.

A deep understanding of the Maqasid concept can educate the people on racist politics and acknowledge that it is built not on inter-racial or inter-religious conflicts as well as peaceful co-existence (at-ta'ayush as-silmi).

Dr Hidris Sahri is the chairman of Pertubuhan Al-Khairiah Mersing, Johor.