ISLAMIC VALUE SYSTEM,

ACCOUNTABILITY AND
TRANSPARENCY IN THE PUBLIC
SERVICE
By

Prof A.S Mikailu

Department of Accounting
Faculty of Management Sciences
Usmanu Danfodiyo university, Sokoto

&

Dr Malami Muhammad Maishanu

Department of Business Administration
Faculty of Management Sciences
Usmanu Danfodiyo university, Sokoto

Islamic Value System, Accountability and Transparency in the Public Service

ISLAMIC VALUE SYSTEM, ACCOUNTABILITY AND

TRANSPARENCY IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE
Everyone is accountable.
Nay! Man is evidence against himself,
Though he puts forth his excuses. (75:14-15)
1.0

INTRODUCTION

Islam is a complete religion comprising of not only religious rites and rituals
but also mundane affairs comprehensively packaged for fashioning human life
and uplifting human spirit. To build a society that is just, egalitarian and
civilized, human life and human spirit must be respected and protected
through social justice, compassion, equity and devotion to Allah. To achieve
this, Government through its agencies is expected to effectively utilize or
manage public wealth entrusted in its care. In the same vein, it is expected to
fight

corruption

which

impedes

economic

growth

and

promotes good

governance.
In Nigeria, successive administrations and indeed the present one have in so
many ways attempted to promote accountability and transparency as means of
fighting corruption, but the war is far from being won. This paper explores the
same thread but using an Islamic framework.
The paper is presented in five different sections. Section one is this brief
introduction.

Section two discusses the Islamic value system. Section three

dwells on the twin concepts of accountability and transparency. Section four

examines the consequences of lack of accountability and transparency in the
public service.

The last section provides some recommendations and

concludes the paper.

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Islamic Value System, Accountability and Transparency in the Public Service

2.0

ISLAMIC VALUE SYSTEM

Islamic value system is founded on three basic principles:

Tawhid or unity of God, the Almighty. Tawhid signifies not only the
oneness of Allah Who is the Supreme Being but also the uniqueness of
all His sublime qualities. No creature can be comparable to any of His
infinite sublime qualities for it is He Who created all. This difference
clearly distinguishes between the only omnipotent God and all His
Creations. The principle of Unity, for example, which defines mans
attitude and manner in which to behave, will discourage him from
inflicting any harm to other man or for that matter any other creations of
God. He is to uphold truth and reject falsehood.

Khilafah or vicegerency - The principle of vicegerency similarly will

require man to perform his duties in accordance with his status as the
vicegerent of God.

The human being principally has been assigned to

safe guard this world which belongs to Allah (Quran 2:30). And, on the
day of reckoning every human being will be accountable for his or her
conduct in this world (Haniffa:2002) which will determine their final
abode: whether to heaven or to hell. The term Khilafah has stem four
implications which are universal brotherhood, trustees for Gods
resources, humble lifestyles and human freedom in Islam (Chapra 1992).

al-`adl or justice - The principle of Justice demands that man should not
inflict any form of injustice even to his bitterest enemy.

These three basic principles form the world view of Islam which is manifested
in all forms of human practices and in all spheres of life. A Muslim is therefore
required to strictly adhere to the Islamic codes of conduct in all his activities be
they in the realms of his rituals or his mundane affairs. The Islamic values
which emanate from this world view have to be compatible with man's needs in
this world as a preparation for his life in the hereafter. Such system of values
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Islamic Value System, Accountability and Transparency in the Public Service

cannot depend on norms and practices of societies which tend to be situation
specific and changing over time depending on societal standards and
acceptance. The transcendent nature of Islamic values is what makes it to be
in tandem with the basic principles of human existence and ultimate aim in
life.
A Muslim therefore cannot but belief in all the articles of faith. These articles of
faith provide the anchor that steers him in the right direction. He is always
reminded of the existence of the Omnipotent Being from Whom he receives
everything and to Whom he gives nothing except that he has to continually
behave in the most subservient manner. A deviant behaviour is not acceptable
and needs immediate remedial and corrective action. Islamic value system is
therefore central in the context of good governance, accountability and
transparency.
3.0

ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY IN PUBLIC SERVICE

Accountability, transparency and good governance are mutually reinforcing

concepts that assume wide currency today. Development of any kind cannot
occur in the absence of a system that is accountable and transparent. It is
worth noting that throughout Islamic history, the majority of Islamic scholars
and jurists have opined in favour of transparency and accountability.

3.1

Accountability -

In the Holy Qur'an, the word hesab is repeated

more than eight times in different verses (Askary and Clarke, 1997).
Hesab or 'account' is the root of accounting, and the references in the
Holy Qur'an are to 'account' in its generic sense, relating to one's
obligation to 'account' to God on all matters pertaining to human
endeavour for which every Muslim is 'accountable'. The importance of
accountability to mans life also has been manifested by the prophet of

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Islamic Value System, Accountability and Transparency in the Public Service

Islam (peace be upon him) as: Each one of you is a guardian and each
guardian is accountable to everything under his care.
All resources made available to individuals are made so in the form of a
trust. Individuals are trustees for what they have been given by God in
the form of goods, property and less tangible 'assets'. The extent to which
individuals must use what is being entrusted to them is specified in the
shari'a, and the success of individuals in the hereafter depends upon
their performance in this world. In this sense, every Muslim has an
'account' with Allah, in which is 'recorded' all good and all bad actions,
an account which will continue until death, for Allah shows all people
their accounts on their judgement day (S4:62).
In terms of accountability, Muslims believe that they will be held
accountable for whatever they do in this world in the hereafter (life after
death). In Islam, Muslims have to fulfill the will of Allah in order to seek
his rida (pleasure) and the promised rewards in the hereafter. Thus, it
requires that every deed and word in this world must be in line with the
Islamic teachings. It does not matter what activity the Muslims do, either
ibadah or purchasing shares in the stock market, they must follow the
Islamic teaching framework carefully.
Many contemporary thinkers regard public accountability as the
cornerstone of ethical governance. For example, following the prophets
example, the second Caliph, Umar al-khatthab, ensured that every
aspect of personal conduct that impinged upon the well-being of the
people was subject to public scrutiny. Hence, that remarkable instance
of Umar seeking the permission of the people to use a bit of the medicine
kept in the bait-ul-mal for his ailment.

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Islamic Value System, Accountability and Transparency in the Public Service

Accountability in governance is basically about holding public officials
responsible for their actions.

It is concerned with the need to ensure

that public funds are spent for the purposes specified and without
personal gain to any private individual beyond fair compensation for his
or her services.

Accountability is imperative to make public officials

answerable for government behavior and responsive to the entity from

which

they

derive

their

authority

while

consciously

aware

of

accountability before Allah in the hereafter

3.2 Transparency The concept of transparency has been divulged by

Allah in the following verse: O you who believe! When ye deal with each
other, in transactions involving future obligations in a fixed period of time,
reduce them to writing. Let a scribe write down faithfully as between the
parties (Al-Baqarah 282, Beginning of the verse). This verse states that
every transaction must be written to avoid injustice.

Transparency is the requirement for openness in all gamuts of public

affairs.

Transparency allows stakeholders to gather information that

may be critical to uncovering abuses and defending their interests.

According to Ayee (2000:13), transparency entails that:
citizens have a right to available information pertaining to,
for example, award of contracts, privatization of state
enterprises, rules against corruption or the funding of
political parties. a transparent government is that which
offers opportunity to citizens to find out the true facts at
first hand, without the information being filtered or
presented through a distorting mirror.

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Islamic Value System, Accountability and Transparency in the Public Service

In

essence,

transparency

is

basically

concerned

with open

and

institutionalized system of government, the eradication of corruption and

the institutionalization of a system that is fair, just and based on the rule
of law.
Transparency or openness in governance is significant in the process of
development.

It is critical in the elimination of corruption and the

promotion of accountability in the conduct of government business.

Today, the quest for transparent behaviour has become a world-wide
phenomenon with the Transparency International, set up in 1993,
forming the vanguard of the global coalition against all manner of
corrupt practices.
4.0

CONSEQUENCES OF LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY AND

TRANSPARENCY IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE

Since Nigeria attained nationhood on October 1, 1960, one of the major issues
of concern has been on how to ensure a system that is fair, open, accessible
and accountable to the people. Up to now, the battle is still on. Today, an
efficient delivery of public services is a major concern of the society. The public
is clamoring for greater efficiency and speedy delivery of Public services.
Unfortunately, the service delivery system is far from being efficiency and
speedy. This may be due to a number of reasons which include:

Bureaucratic delays and procedures have caused slowness in the

delivery of public services. Slow delivery may breed the seed of
corruption, because the affected parties may feel that the officials are
angling for a bribe to expedite decisions.

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Islamic Value System, Accountability and Transparency in the Public Service

Corruption has unfortunately almost become the norm today.

Its

dimensions include, among others, the inflation of contracts in return for

kick-backs, frauds and falsification of accounts in the public service, and
the taking of bribes and perversion of justice and fairness at various
levels.
As observed by Ayagi (1998), many people holding public trust in Nigeria
flagrantly divert public funds for personal use. For example, what has
come to be known as zero-sum contract has become a framework
through which official thievery on a horrendous scale takes place. Here,
a contract is paid for in full with all papers indicating successful
completion of all terms of a contract.

Yet, there is absolutely little or

nothing on the ground. In some cases there are multiple payments for
one contract which even if it exists does not meet the requirements.

Corruption does not only mean inflation of contracts or taking of bribes.

Were there is no equal treatment, equal opportunities, justice and fair
hearing, certainly there would emerge corruption.

Need-Greed-Opportunity triangle is another possible cause of corruption

in public service. When the expenditures far exceed the income level of a
civil servant, his daily needs could be the motivating factor of his ethical
compromises. He is always on the lookout of opportunities to supplement
his income without pausing a while to consider the legality or integrity of
certain acts. Over time, such compromises would grow into a greed
culture where the dictum every man has a price comes true. On the
other scale, corruption could also exist when there is so much
discretionary power being exercised by a certain party, especially in a
monopolistic environment such as license-approvals procedures, where a
persons accountability is least being demanded.

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Islamic Value System, Accountability and Transparency in the Public Service

Corruption is one of the manifestations of absence of transparent rule.

The most obvious consequence of corruption is the undermining of the
development process.

This is precisely because resources meant for

development are diverted for private ends.

Corruption also exacerbates poverty.

In 1997, the Annual Abstract of

Statistics published by the Federal Office of Statistics showed that some

55.8 million Nigerians are poor or poverty-stricken. The implication of
this is that people are likely to develop a tendency to be corrupt or at
least subsume public interest for pecuniary gains. Such a state of affairs
makes it almost impossible for the poor to fully exercise their rights, as
matters of subsistence will take precedence.

For example, even as

voters, the poor are almost always susceptible to being bribed to vote in
a particular way.

The absence of transparency in governance also leads to personalized

rule under which the conduct of rulers and government functionaries are
not open to scrutiny.

Absence of transparency also makes it virtually impossible to have

accountability in government. It then means that public officials could
not be held responsible for their actions.

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Islamic Value System, Accountability and Transparency in the Public Service

5.0

RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION

In the light of what has been discussed so far, there is undoubtedly the need to
make

some

recommendations

on

how

to

improve

accountability

and

transparency in the public service.

The efficiency and effectiveness of the public service delivery system is
dependent on the quality of the public sector workforce. The Government
should intensify measures to upgrade the competency and skills of its
workforce through effective training programmes. In this regard, the
capacity and capability of public training institutions should be
strengthened to cater to the training needs of the public sector work
force.
The Government should ensure that public complaints are managed
effectively to enhance service delivery. Customer complaints will continue
to be utilized as a means of rectifying weaknesses and preventing
recurrent service delivery shortfalls. In line with this, the management of
customer complaints in the public sector will be further enhanced
through

more

responsive

and

proactive

mechanisms

including

implementing computerised public complaints management systems to

receive, address and monitor all public complaints.
Government

should

promote

and

recognise

excellence

among

organisations perhaps through a quality award programme. Quality

Award should reinforce quality and service delivery among agencies with
emphasis on output, management of processes, resource utilisation and
top management commitment.
Government should strengthen the capacity of all those bodies that play
important roles in anti-corruption programmes.

The institutions here

include the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Code of

Conduct Bureau (CCB), the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission

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Islamic Value System, Accountability and Transparency in the Public Service

(ICPC) and the offices of the Accountant-General and Auditor-General.
These bodies need to be adequately funded and allowed to carryout their
assignments unfettered.

There is also the need for rigorous re-

orientation programmes for all the personnel of the affected bodies.

There must be enforcement of stipulated punishments for all corruption
related offences.

This is a sine qua non for transparency to be

entrenched in the country.

There is no way we can have transparent

rule if corrupt functionaries in whatever level of government are not

prosecuted and punished. It is important that this punishment should
extend to companies and firms that have defrauded government either by
conniving to inflate the cost of contracts or abandonment of work after
payment has been received.
Government at the Federal, State and Local levels and their respective
agencies must make information available to the wider public in order to
allow for the scrutiny of their actions.

This is the hall-mark of a

transparent system. The broad outline of financial subvention to each

tier of government should be widely published to enable people monitor
things themselves as well as raise pertinent questions.

This should

include information on budgetary allocations and actual spending on the

different sectors of the economy.

Measures also need to be taken in

respect to all governments and their respective agencies that did not turn
up their annual audited accounts as required by law.

As things are

today, many agencies and/or governments never had their accounts

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Islamic Value System, Accountability and Transparency in the Public Service

audited for long. Adhering to approved procurement procedures is very
important especially given the fact that a lot of corruption takes place
through abuse of the contract system.
The pay package should be attractive not only to enable employees to
really work but also stem the tide of corruption in the public service. For
long, many paid public servants can hardly afford the necessities that
make for a descent living.

There are, to be sure, implications for the

economy of continued salary increase but the relationship of poor pay to

corruption remains.
The presence of a God-fearing leadership is critical to having transparent
rule.

This is critical in securing peoples confidence and trust in

government. This confidence and trust in turn help maintain political

and social order which is indispensable for development to occur.

In

other words, a leaders respect for that which is in the public interest as
well as his personal integrity, honesty, fairness and justice and above all
fear of God, the Almighty, would provide sufficient motivation for him to
behave in ways that are in the interest of national development. Thus,
when leaders are not God-fearing and morally responsible, they tend to
become corrupt and at time dictatorial.

It is thus very important for

public functionaries to adhere to the values of their religions. Islam and

Christianity, Nigerias major religions, have each provided a number of
ethical values relevant to ensuring transparency and accountability in
government. Islam for example, emphasizes accountability both in this
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Islamic Value System, Accountability and Transparency in the Public Service

world and in the life after death.

For example, Suleiman (1986) wrote

that
On the day of judgement, every human being will give his account before
God. The ruler will in addition account for his stewardship: how he
tackled poverty and spread happiness, battled against injustice and
initiated or facilitated the flow of justice, by how far he had curbed the
excesses of the rich and powerful and protected the poor and the week;
how he had taken care of the citizens, particularly the children, the old,
the sick, and the most important of all, women. In addition, he will have
to account for the three most important issues of government and of
human society: The blood of the citizens, their property and their
honour. In essence, the ultimate source of restraint for a ruler in the face
of enormous power at his disposal is his inner self, his conscience and
his consciousness of God.

In essence, our actions as public functionaries must be moderated by the fact

that we shall all be called upon to account before God for all our good or bad
deeds in the hereafter and will be rewarded or punished accordingly.
Generally, we seem to loose sight of the very fact that leadership itself is a
sacred trust and the powers bestowed upon a leader is to mainly be utilized for
the common welfare of all.

In conclusion, it should be emphasised that it is very clear that where a system

is not transparent and accountable, development will remain an illusion. This
is because corruption, which is one of the indicators of lack of transparency
and accountability, will be the order of the day.

And corruption in all its

ramifications certainly negates efforts to develop.

In our efforts to be transparent and accountable as public functionaries, it is

always very important to know that the religion of Islam and other religions of
the world preach honesty, truthfulness and transparency. Thus no matter the
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Islamic Value System, Accountability and Transparency in the Public Service

institutions that are put on the ground (EFCC, ICPC, CCB, etc) to address the
issue of transparency, if people do not have the moral commitment to that
effect, it will be very difficult to achieve that.

In a nutshell, public officers should always have it in mind that, if the larger
populace has kept mute without checking them on the issues of transparency
and accountability, certainly Allah is all-knowing and they will account for
their actions in the hereafter.
REFERENCES
Askary S. and Clarke F. (1997), Accounting in the Koranic Verses, proceedings
of International Conference, The Vehicle for Exploring and Implementing Shariah
Islami iah in Accounting, Commerce and Finance, Macarthur: University of
Western Sydney.
Asri M. and Fahmi M. (2004) Contribution Of The Islamic Worldview
Towards Corporate Governance
Ayagi, I. (1998), Public Trust and Accountability from the perspective of Islam
and Christianity, lecture delivered at an Inter-Faith Symposium held at Abuja
Ayee, J. R.A., Making Governments Transparent in Africa: The Ghanaian Case
Study, Studies and Documents, No.11, CAFRAD, Tangier, Morocco, 2000, p.13.
Chapra, U.M (1992), Islam and the Economic Challenge, Leicester, UK: The
Islamic Foundation
Dandago K.I (2007), Public Wealth And Accountability In Islam: A Case Study Of
The Shariah Administration of Shekarau In Kano State, Nigeria, Public Fund
Digest The International Consortium On Governmental Financial Management
Washington, DC
Haniffa R (2002), Social Reporting Disclosure: An Islamic Perspective,
Indonesian Management and Accounting Research, Vol. 1 (2): pp. 128-146

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Islamic Value System, Accountability and Transparency in the Public Service

Lewis M. K (2006), Accountability and Islam, Fourth International
Conference on Accounting and Finance in Transition
http://www.unisa.edu.au/commerce/docs/Accountability%20and%20Islam.pdf.

Mikailu A.S (2003), Transparency and Accountability. A text of a speech

delivered at a conference on Good Governance, Transparency and
Accountability organized by the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN) at
Arewa House, Kaduna, 12th 13th March
Sulaiman I. (1986) A Revolution in History: The Jihad of Usman Danfodiyo,
Mansell Publishing Ltd., London

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