News:

On 3 December the Kremlin website published a decree: “On the Directorate of the President of the Russian Federation on combating corruption”. “The new anti-corruption directorate of the Presidential Administration will check the validity and completeness of the data on income, expenditure and assets of officials,” said in a document posted on the Kremlin website.

Commentary:

The attempt to intimidate corrupt officials by formation of a new supervision body was dictated by the fact that officials plunder the country’s budget with impunity as well as the fact that the people’s discontent with the widespread corruption undermines the people’s confidence in the current government. In addition, Russia is very interested in improving the rating of investment attractiveness.

According to the rating of corruption perception for 2013, published by the International Organization of “Transparency International”, Russia was ranked 127 out of 177 possible, improved the result by only a few points compared to the previous year. This shows that the previous measures such as the control of incomes and expenses of officials, as well as the laws that provide big fines for corrupt officials, did not reduce the level of corruption.

And even further tightening of punishment for corruption can not resolve the problem. One can see the example of China, where more than 10,000 officials were shot for corruption since 2000, but the problem is also acute and according to the same rating in Transparency International, China is in 80th place.

Embezzlement of public funds and bribery remain a challenge to any society until the criterion of actions is profit in this society. In accordance with this criterion, the best action is the one that brings the maximum profit and most successful people are those who receive this benefit.

So the officials consider their places as a chance to be successful in this life, and the attempts to complicate the way to this “success” only encourage them to find more sophisticated schemes for enrichment. As a consequence, corruption remains unresolved problem of the society.

The change of attitude to this life and the change of criteria of people’s actions can solve the problems of society. And that was done by Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, who called people to believe in Almighty Allah سبحانه وتعالى, Judgment Day and eternal life. And then the criterion of people’s actions became permissibility and forbiddance according to divine laws. Islam uniquely prohibits bribery.

Thuban (ra) told that The Prophet of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

»لَعَنَ الرَّاشِيَ وَالْمُرْتَشِيَ وَالرَّائِشَ الَّذِي يَسْعَى بَيْنَهُمَا«

“Allah cursed the one who takes a bribe, the one who gives and the one who walks among them”.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by

Suleyman Ibragimov