Think Big Dream High, E58- Self Interest, Public Interest And Allah SWT’s ruling

Conflict Of Interest

1.Interest by way of interpretation can mean the benefit gained by one party such as that obtained by an individual, a group, organization or for the public. Allah SWT is not looking for any benefit or kindness from His living creations. All of our good deeds, the benefits and interest will revert to us eventually.

2.All parties have the right, to care and to defend their interests. Nobody can question this. All of us work hard and put in our best effort to obtain the benefits and goodness for ourselves and our group. We work, run businesses etc to earn a decent living. All of our noble efforts will InsyaAllah be accepted by Allah SWT.

3.Issues of concern is when there is a clash of interests. For instance between self interest and public interest. Obviously the public interest must be given priority over and above self interest.  A clash of interest happens say an individual, a public servant with authority uses his position to wrongfully benefit or gain an advantage  for himself. This wrongdoing has affected the public’s interest to the extent that the public has to pay more to obtain a  certain service. The prices have to be adjusted higher to cover for the ‘under-table’ money paid to the public servant or his nominee.

4.The border between self interest and Allah SWT’s ruling is clear. Do what is asked of you based on the teachings of Islam and avoid all wrongful doings. The border between self interest and public interest is also clear. Give priority to public interest over and above self interest. The border between public interest and Allah SWT’s ruling is also clear. Those things implemented for  public interest must not be against Allah SWT’s rulings.

Reality in Life

1.The conflict of interests happens when the person approving the project or the person that can influence the decision to approve the project collude with the contractor that has been identified earlier to be offered the particular project. There is an element of graft in this case.

2.The people that can influence the decision to approve the project could be the children, son-in-law, husband or wife, relatives, close friends, cronies, nominees, proteges or any  parties related to those approving the project. There have been  cases where the nominees were found to posses various bank accounts either locally or overseas on behalf  of wife, children, son-in-law, or cronies  of the person making the decision.

 Tips

1. Avoid from the very beginning being involved in any business transactions that could possibly result in  conflict of interests. For example, do not accept any invitation for appointments out of the office with parties that have business dealings with our organization. Even if the meeting is important, its best to have a third party present.

2. Make it compulsory for declaration of assets on an annual basis for all senior or key positions in the government department or organizations. For example, Managing Director, Government Department Secretary General, Purchasing Manager etc or maybe even for all employees.

3. Those who felt they are in a situation of conflict of interests should refrained themselves from making decisions that can benefitted the parties that have connection or family relationship with them. For example, we are involved in making the decision to choose the supplier for our organization. One of the bidders happen to be our in-law or cousin.

4. Request for a third party evaluation or expert advise i.e. organization or individuals with the necessary expertise to propose the companies that are capable of implementing and developing a particular project. The final decision must therefore take into account the assessment by the third party and not for reasons of having conflict of interests.

5. Have a code of ethics that list down  clearly the things that can and cannot be done by every employee in the organization. The listing should cover various aspects of management, religion, social interaction, welfare, finance, business dealings or activities including the aspects of benefit and punishment.

6. Refrain from accepting appointment as a Board Member, Advisor  receiving lucrative benefits such as company car or allowances etc. from any companies that we have been involved in awarding a mega project or investment. For example as head of the organization, we are the key person responsible in approving the purchase of a building  owned by company A at an exorbitant sum of  RM500 million. Now that we have retired or resigned from our job with the government, Company A offered us the position of Executive Director in their organization. Declined politely the offer, no matter how tempting the offer sounds.

7. Make available an early warning system, monitoring system, immediate counseling and benchmark on the social standing, lifestyle and behavior of every employee in an organization. This system must be informed in writing as soon as the employee reported for duty. For example it is public knowledge that an employee has bought a new car, way beyond his means. The Head of department can make an enquiry as to how he can afford to purchase the car.

8.  A  person wanting to always do the right thing in life need to deepen their religious knowledge to control their willful desires in wanting to accumulate wealth, women and money. Whenever the opportunity arose for a breach of power to occur, then that person need to istighfar, zikir and doa so that  Allah SWT will protect them from being involved in any wrongful doings.

9. Those in power and with authority need to have expert advise from the Islamic scholars before making any kind of policies, programmes or public statements that might be construed as containing elements against the teachings of Islam.

10.As a professional who always think big and dream high, we must all the time avoid totally being involved in transactions or activities that have elements of conflict of interests and against Allah SWT’s rulings.