Divine Integrity: Anti-Corruption Lessons in the Holy Qur’an

Submitted: 07 July 2025
Accepted: 18 November 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.70139/rolacc.2025.2.1

Ibrahim Jallow
Legal Practitioner & Anticorruption Policy Analyst, Gainako Law Chamber LP, Banjul, The Gambia
ibrahim.jllw012@gmail.com
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-1280-7420

ABSTRACT
The Holy Qur’an is regarded by Muslims as the literal words of Allah (God). It offers believers, adherents, and readers a comprehensive guide for living a life based on the principles of justice, integrity, honesty, accountability, transparency, and spiritual fulfillment. Despite the Qur’an’s emphasis on moral conduct, many Muslim-majority nations or states, and indeed non-Muslim majority nations, continue to struggle with corruption in governance and daily affairs. The article aims to examine the Qur’anic stance on corruption by analyzing selected verses alongside interpretations (tafsir) and authenticated hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad to align divine anticorruption teachings in the Qur’an with human behavior. Using the qualitative analytical approach, the article explores how the Qur’an’s ethical principles and teachings can serve as a foundation for assimilating and instilling integrity in persons (both academic and professionals) and inform states’ policy reforms aimed at combating corruption. The findings reveal that the Qur’an provides timeless guidance on justice, accountability, and civic responsibility, which extend beyond religious lines, and can enhance global anti-corruption strategies across diverse cultures and governance systems.

Keywords
Holy Qur’an; Islam; corruption; taqwa; anti-corruption; ethical governance; cross-cultural reform

© 2025 Jallow, licensee LU Press. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cite this article as: Jallow I. Divine Integrity: Anti-Corruption Lessons in the Holy Qur’an, Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Center Journal, 2025:2, https://doi.org/10.70139/rolacc.2025.2.1

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