Spirituality and leadership

Spirituality and leadership: The seedling of a spiritually-driven leadership philosophy for the future
By: Kassim Muhamad

(Artikel di atas dipetik dari majalah Qiadah, Majalah Korporat Perbadanan Menteri Besar Negeri Kelantan, Edisi ke 6. Semoga ia bermanfaat untuk renungan dan rujukan ummah. Buku yang menjadi sumber tulisan ini ialah: Sepuluh Tahun Membangun Bersama Islam. Kelantan di Bawah Kepimpinan Ulamak. Dinsman (peny). Kota Bharu: Pusat Kajian Strategik)


“Most of the time we do not bother to see beyond the obvious until of course we seriously scrutinise a real-life experience ourselves,” recalled a friend who was narrating his personal experience which he termed as ‘the excessive influence of our secularly-biased world-view on our outlook’ ― the way society tends to interpret common everyday events around us.

Some of these are typically down-right stereotyping reactions whilst others are just borne out of ignorance. But whatever that may be, the friend was not amused. “Here is one experience. As a medical doctor, my friend is expected to act and be seen like one ― a ‘doctor’. Hence when on the departmental Quality Day celebration, he chose to approach the subject matter from the religious perspective ― many including his staff, were quite bewildered.

“How come our State Director assumes the role of a preacher? The whole ‘thing’ sounds more like a sermon rather than what quality is all about.”

Was the approach by ‘my friend, the doctor’ really unusual? No. Not under the leadership of Tok Guru Nik Aziz, TGNA the Chief Minister of the state of Kelantan. There is nothing unusual about the episode just cited. Twenty years in office, that has been the crux of his administrative philosophy ― to inculcate the belief that life does not end here ― in this present world. And what actually does that mean? A man is responsible for all his deeds here, in the present life and the Hereafter.

On 24th October 1990, his third day in office as the Chief Minister, in his usual session at the Pulau Melaka Mosque adjacent to his home, he declared 45% of his monthly income would be allocated for the state and party coffers. That without doubt is a significant portion for a person who, since his early days was neither a business man nor a corporate figure.

To illustrate the various pertinent aspects of his leadership, here are some of the excerpts ― salient features of his administrative ideas, thoughts, philosophy and ― most important his innovative walk-the-talk radical approaches in leading the state.

He used to give this reminder:

‘What I would like to stress and call to mind all the ruling State Legislative Members is the fact that the aim of becoming a law-maker is not to accumulate wealth, but to serve. If it is wealth that they are after, then they should be in the business world.’

The message to elected Pas representatives is crystal clear: They are elected to serve the people, hence serve the people they must. As Pas members they completely understand that the fruits of their political struggle are not the short-term worldly pleasures but their never-ending sacrifices for the benefit of the people at large. Leadership is not about a process to amass wealth and clamour for personal glories-cum-luxuries. Such are the ideals.

When enquired by his state financial official in 1990 when Pas took over Kelantan, how would one administer the state by following the Islamic tenets, TGNA’s response then was “Let us begin with something that is free of charge and easy to perform, such as ― beginning and ending a meeting with the doa, the prayer and recitation of related verses.”

His commitment to the implementation of Islamic administrative practices is something irreconcilable / incomparable. At the on-set of his era, he embarked on the mission to free the state financial coffer from any form of riba i.e. an administration which is interest-free in financial content. For a state with rather limited resources, this very move meant a further reduction in the state’s revenue. He, nevertheless, proceeded with it.

Speaking of revenue, Kelantan’s main source of income is timber. To increase revenue from the state’s scarce resource, the Pas-led government of TGNA introduced an open tender system as part of the mechanism in managing timber harvesting yields. This transparent procedure helps increase timber yield per unit area, hence the state’s revenue. Undoubtedly this is a much more superior administrative approach when compared with that of the previous government.

Another salient feature, a hall mark of his administration is its thriftiness. In this respect, it is observed that, “The amount of money available even though limited, if properly spent would forge the spirit of understanding and harmony amongst the people. The masses understand the situation.”

The outcome is indeed encouraging. Today the people of Kelantan are ever ready to ‘bergotong-royong’, i.e. to congregationally work hand-in-hand with its leaders in implementing small scale rural projects. It is pointed out that substantial amount of the small works have been carried out in this manner. Interestingly this approach not only saves cost, hence the state’s coffers, but it also improves the follower-leader relationship even up to the grass-root levels.

Why such an approach, one might ask. To the spiritual leader his utmost primary concern is to be in complete conformity with the teachings of Islam and the Al-Mighty. When tabling the state’s budget of 1991 on 11 December 1990, he banned all forms of gambling, declaring that gambling must not be solely viewed from the religious perspective alone, for the ills of gambling are but many ― for one it ‘leaks’ the finances of the state and it is a futile counter-productive greed which subverts the usefulness of valuable resources.

If viewed from the economic perspective, there is no doubt that the banning of gambling then was indeed a radical yet very progressive move. To TGNA where gambling is concerned, it is obvious that before the fate of the gamblers is improved, it is the very luck of the gambling operators that has been guaranteed.

The move by the state government then, was a clear signal; in order to progress and attain prosperity; there it is no other alternative strategy except sheer hard work for all Kelantanese.

Over the years, many including ardent political opponents, silently though, hailed Kelantan’s success in demonstrating to the country that a different version of leadership, one that is hinged on and radically driven by a spiritually-enriched philosophy has been laid. However, TGNA still has his concerns, though.

It is not the ruthlessness of political opponents, ― demonising his Islamic ‘fanaticism’, a very mean yet favourite onslaught especially during elections ― by political opponents including the federal government, that worries him. To him there are other disturbing concerns ― his mind, hence his focus distracted from upholding Islam for the mind now is busy with personal interest and the self. According to him, many world leaders after years of being at the top and enjoying the juiciness of power, their attitudes and focus shifted to self-interest, the family and the cronies. In his opinion, to overcome that negative influence, one has to consistently perform the late night, wee-hour prayers and emulate the teachings of the Prophet pbuh.

It not unusual for the Chief Minister, in almost all his speeches to deliberate at length, on the need for man to obey his Creator. To him a leader who defies his Creator is unable to properly fulfill his responsibilities to society and the country. And unfortunately in a secular environment where man is always seen as a separate entity from his Creator, the concept of total submission to the Al-Mighty is rather a foreign one.

In order to firmly reinforce and implement this very belief in his administration in Kelantan, TGNA introduced what is termed as UMI as the major pillars of his administrative policy ― UMI, the acronym for ‘Ubudiyah (Submission), Masuliyah (Responsibilty to the Al-Mighty) and Itqan (Passion for Quality). Hence in Kelantan, it is not unusual to hear the concept of UMI being deliberated and explained over and over again to various strata of the state machinery.

What then ― in a nutshell, are the reforms TGNA have introduced after being at the helm for the last twenty years in Kelantan?

Perhaps apart from the above, we may briefly sum them up in the following manner:

One:

To the Chief Minister, it is his duty to propagate a leadership that is answerable both in this present world and the Hereafter. To accomplish that mankind must strictly adhere to the Quranic teachings and that of the Sunnah (the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, pbuh)

Two:

Secondly, his Islamic administration must always be in compliance with its duties to the Al-Mighty beginning with the very basic, such as observance of the punctuality of prayer times to other complex earthly matters. For TGNA his constant reminder is: In terms of hierarchical priority, a man’s duty is to diligently observe how he manages the well-being of the Hereafter, as it takes precedence over worldly matters.




Three:

To ensure the harmonious well-being of families, the number of working days has been reduced from six to five days, a move which was later, reluctantly emulated by the federal government.

Four:

Another example of his innovative leadership capability was the setting up of the Islamic pawning system, known as Ar-Rahn. This move has since been followed by the federal government.

Five:

Among his early move was banning gambling. The state government under his leadership has banned all forms of gambling outlets.

Six:

The state government has extended maternity leave from 40 days to 60 days. At present it is considering to further increase it to 90 days.

Seven:

Non-Muslim representatives were elected to sit in the various committees such as the District Council for all the districts. The purpose: To ensure that the voices of minorities are heard.

Eight:

The state took the initiative to rename a number of places of economic and cultural significance. The change may appear too superficial to be of significance; however it has a rather significant cultural and psychological impact on the masses. Examples of such switch were the renaming of Pasar Buluh Kubu (literally: The Bamboo Fortress Market) to Pasar Siti Khadijah (literally: Siti Khadijah Market). Siti Khadijah, herself a very successful entrepreneur, was the first wife of the Prophet pbuh and Pantai Cinta Berahi (literally: Lustful Love Beach) to Pantai Cahaya Bulan (literal: Moon-Lit Beach)

Indeed the above are nice words for one of the many prominent leaders in Pas who has helped transformed the party to its present status today. Once upon a time, Pas was ridiculed and frowned upon as the voice of religious extremism, especially by political opponents.

And speaking of political opponents, here is something quite memorable from TGNA:


“May I inform you, brothers and sisters, since we took over this state in 1990 and till this day, the federal government has sent its troops called JPP, Jabatan Pembangunan Persekutuan (The Federal Development Department). We elect the head man, they (the federal governmet) elect a head man, we elect the village head, they elect a village head. We have a District Officer, they have a District Officer. We elect a Chief Minister, they elect a Chief Minister.

Before, they accused us of having two imams (an iman is one who leads the congregational prayer). Now they have doubled everything. Two head men, two village heads, two District Officers, two Chief Ministers. And millions have been spent on wages and these are but mere wastage of funds ― accountable in this world and in the Hereafter...”


To many this is indeed the model ― the first seedling of a spiritually-driven leadership philosophy for the future.