MORAL character has a high position in Islam and a great influence in our lives.
Morality is the basis for building our ummah to a higher level of quality. In Islam, ethics are based on servitude, in accordance to the nature of man’s creation, obeying Allah and his messenger, maintaining relations among fellow humans and as a guide in work and everyday life.
Islamic economy is sourced from revelation, it caters to human wellbeing in this world and the hereafter.
Unlike the creation of other economic systems, Islamic economics is sourced from Islam itself, which covers three basic fundamental principles of faith, morals and the fundamental law (muamalah) that regulate the overall economic theory and practice in Islam.
The main goal of Islamic economics is to give happiness and prosperity to the people whether Muslim or non-Muslim.
Generally, there are four key values of the Islamic economic system, namely “Rabbaniyyah” (divine), “Akhlaqiah” (morals), “Insaniyah” (humanities) and “Wasatiyah” (intermediate). These values reflect the uniqueness of the Islamic economy and its difference to other economic systems.
“Rabbaniyyah” means the economy is not based purely on material interests, but it is associated with divinity or ilahiah.
Man-made economies consider property as private, a matter for its owner alone. On the other hand, Islam teaches us that the property is the property of Allah SWT, which is lent for human use.
“Akhlaqiyah” means there is no separation between economic activities and moral character.
A Muslim is bound by faith and morals in every economic activity that he is in. Islam prohibits the elements of fraud, corruption, misconduct and breach of trust in economic activities because it conflicts with Islamic morals.
“Insaniyyah” means economic activities that are aimed for the betterment of human lives. Islamic economics is laid in line with human nature, it recognises the instinct for ownership, propensity to pursue wealth and love of material possession for the purpose of empowering the ummah.
“Wasatiyyah” can best be defined as an intermediate or balancing value. Capitalism as an economic system is more concerned with personal and individual rights, but Islamic economic system comes in a fair and equitable manner.
Islam has provided guidelines in driving the economy. It covers all Islamic financial contracts that can be used to conduct business. These contracts contain rules and conditions that must be met in order to ensure to guarantee the rights of all parties.
We take Takaful Ikhlas Sdn Bhd as a reference. Takaful Ikhlas has proven itself as a rapidly growing business entity, while at the same time, ensuring its whole operation comply with syariah.
Takaful Ikhlas has a clear vision and mission to position the company as a syariah-guided takaful operator of choice, this drives its efforts in ensuring its operations are free from any conflicts with the principles and values of syariah. In order to achieve this goal, Takaful Ikhlas always refers to the advice of syariah committee, consisting of scholars in the field of Islamic finance.
Starting with the underwriting process, Takaful Ikhlas will not accept risks that conflict with syariah, such as liquor factory, gambling premises and entertainment centres. All products must be approved by the syariah committee.
There are also five entities that regulate Takaful Ikhlas’ investment process, which include Syariah Compliance Department, Syariah Committee, internal audit, external audit and Bank Negara Malaysia.
To enhance the staff understanding of Islamic syariah, Takaful Ikhlas is continuously educating its employees with a variety of staff development programmes and activities, such as weekly religious classes, prayer in congregation in the workplace, relevant articles and so on.
Takaful Ikhlas also ensures syariah values are upheld in the workplace. These includes proper covering of the aurat, segregation of seating between genders, greeting via salam, ensuring proper behaviour at all times and others.
In addition, marketing also plays an important role in not just to market company products, but also impart the Islamic message to the people.
Thus, Takaful Ikhlas strives to train each representative by enrolling him or her in compulsory courses that educates them on how to represent an Islamic financial institution. They are also made aware of the need for exemplary moral character and discipline as takaful representatives.
The aim is to ensure they are always reminded that they are not only assisting people in getting protection for their family and properties, they are in fact establishing Islamic financial system.
All this can be implemented at any institutions or organisations as long as their workforce understood that Islam is syumul (all-encompassing) and they themselves possess a strong spirit of jihad, especially seeing Islam is regarded and properly place at their place of honour.
As such, Muslims must implement all Islamic teachings, especially those in regard to morals and behaviour.
Islamic financial system as a vision is not possible without deeper understanding and the proper attitude towards it. It is as it should, which success will be elusive for those institutions and individuals that select only certain corners in Islam.