Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has stressed that past contributions should never be used as a justification for corruption or to shield individuals from accountability for plundering public funds.
PETALING JAYA: Past contributions should never be used to justify corruption or shield anyone from accountability for plundering public and national assets, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said.
He said compromising on corruption on the grounds of past services was contrary to Islamic teachings and would only undermine the country.
“‘Tolerance for evil’ is what destroys us. Those of us who hate and oppose corruption must speak out more loudly and send a clear message that those who commit corruption belong in prison,” he said in a Facebook post today.
In a separate post, Anwar shared a hadith narrated by Aisyah RA, highlighting Prophet Muhammad’s firmness in enforcing the law regardless of a person’s status or background.
The hadith explained that previous communities were destroyed because influential individuals who committed theft were spared punishment, while penalties were imposed on those from less privileged backgrounds.
“Indeed, what destroyed the people before you was that when a person of high standing among them stole, they let him go unpunished. But when a weak person among them stole, they enforced the prescribed punishment upon him.
“By Allah! If Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad, were to steal, I would certainly cut off her hand,” he quoted the hadith.
The posts came a day after the Kuala Lumpur High Court allowed former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest until Aug 23, 2028.
