RECENTLY, at one of the conventions on good governance I attended in Kuching, there was a clarion call for the development of human capital and character building. Most presenters and participants agreed that the human factor is the prime element in achieving good governance; a government which is efficient, transparent and accountable.

How do we develop human beings? We develop human beings by instilling in them good and noble values. Adam Smith was right to a certain extent when he said in the The Wealth of Nations that whatever people endeavour to do in this world is done solely in pursuit of his/her self interest and not out of his/her benevolence. But, Smith forgot that this is only true when the person is an atheist or perhaps a “capitalist” like him.

While self interest is undeniably one of the most powerful motivating factors, it is not necessarily the sole and only factor. There are many other factors as well. One of them is strong conviction or belief which in Islam is known as “iman” or faith which surpasses self-interest. Faith or iman in Islam is a form of belief or conviction, which is abstract and intangible. It has both the elements of emotional and spiritual intertwined together in a very complex and inseparable manner. This power of iman led the first generations of Muslims to defend Islam at all cost even to the extent of sacrificing their own lives and becoming martyrs.

In Islam, the stress on human capital development begun since the advent of the religion itself in the Arabian Peninsula. The Prophet had managed, by the grace of God, to instill in the hearts of the pagan Arab Bedouins the belief in something which is spiritually profound and noble. The Prophet never began preaching Islam by telling them to aspire to become civilised like the Romans or the Persians. They were told to believe in realities, invisible to the naked eyes first, i.e. to believe in God, in the rewards and punishments in the Hereafter, in Paradise and Hell, and all of those abstract and intangible concepts and realities.

By the same token, in developing human capital in order to achieve good governance in the country, the government inevitably must then begin by instilling iman in the heart of every single civil servant, more than ninety percent of whom are Muslims.

The strengthening of faith (taqwiyatul iman) should be the top most agenda of our road map if we are serious in achieving good governance. Noble values must be coupled with spiritual commitment only then will they work in changing the heart and soul and eventually be manifested in the noble character of a person. These values are not intellectual values per se, but more importantly practical values that need to be realised in our daily lives.

This is how the Prophet SAW managed to change the nomadic and uncivilised cultures of the Arab Jahilliyyah people to the culture of a community (khayra ummah) that later conquered two thirds of the world and resulted in the longest period of civilization ever achieved by mankind. His companions like Umar al-Khattab and Khalid al-Walid were known for their notoriety prior to becoming Muslims, but were later transformed by the light of Islam and emerged as the best among the best.

Still, the question is why are Muslims today still lagging behind? The answer is yes truly we are Muslims. But our Islam is by virtue of being born of Muslim parents. We do not really see the beauty of Islam as the companions saw it in the noble character of the Prophet. The noble values embodied in the great personality of the Prophet is nowhere to be seen in the materialistic world today, especially not in Muslim countries. In other words, the Muslims of today do not really practise Islam as they are supposed to. On the contrary, the Japanese and the West seem to follow most of the values that Islam has been propagating all this while. I recall the saying of a scholar that today “Islam” is found in Europe but not in Muslim countries.

As a result, the noble and Islamic values and realities bifurcated into two separate worlds. Values are found in the world of philosophical concept and the abstract, while realities or practicalities are in the secular and temporal world void of any connection with those values. There is a distinct dichotomy between religious values and worldly life. The Islamic values in particular do not ‘sink’ deep in the heart and soul of Muslims. The process of instilling these values has not been done properly apart from merely “knowing” and “understanding’” these values as noble and virtuous ones. Knowing alone is not enough. Almost everyone who commits corruption or is involved in bribery knew what they did was unethical and wrong, and was against the law or religion, but yet they still did it.

They did not have the “internal power” as it were, within themselves to resist the temptation of committing these crimes. Why? Because the noble values have not yet sunk deep inside their heart and soul to become part of their belief (iman) and conviction which later manifests in their daily actions and shields them from any wrongdoings or crimes.

It reminds us of the Prophet’s saying to the Arab Bedouins when they claimed that they have iman. The Prophet said to them: “You believe not, but you only say, ‘we have surrendered (in Islam)’ for Faith has not yet entered your hearts.” (al-Hujurat 49:14). Testification of Islam (shahadah) is only the pre-requisite of becoming a true believer (mu’min), but true belief can only be achieved after all the values and spirit of Islam enters the heart.

The heart and soul needs to be purified through the remembrance (dhikr) of Allah, only then will these values start to sink and stick in the heart.

Generally, looking at the state of the Ummah today, we must sincerely confess that we are only Muslims (those who surrender) at the superficial level, but not yet Mu’min (true believer) for iman or faith and conviction has not yet entered into our hearts. Otherwise, all the noble values of Islam would have been embodied in ourselves and we would have been the best nation that Allah has ever raised and would have surpassed everyone else. But the reality is the opposite.