Last night's PROMUDA talk focused on Religion and Politics and featured the likes of:
1. Dr. Chandra Muzaffar, President JUST World Trust and former Vice President, Parti Keadilan Malaysia
2. Zainah Anwar, Chairperson, Sisters In Islam
3. Dr. Ng. Kam Weng, Senior Committee Member, MAJLIS
4.Senior representativeAzli Yusoff from MISNA (Islamic Society of North America)
Key issues that were raised included the rights of minorities to practice their religion, the need for religious neutrality in a pluralistic society, politicisation of religion and its impact on women as well as the not-so surprising point from the conservative from ISNA equating Islam to PAS.
A good point brought up by Dr Chandra was on the need to move towards a values-based adoption of religion, instead of the existing legislative/jurispudential approach that focuses on the mechanics rather than the principles. He cited the varying degrees of application of certain laws from the days of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), to the era of the Khalifahs - where while the penalties vary, the spirit in which it has enforced was upheld.
I learned something new last night about Islam and religious tolerance: Dr Ng highlighted on cases where government approval for renovations and building of Christian places of worship were tied up in bureacratic red tape for years, with the perpetrators claiming that it was against their religion to approve such plans.
The extent to which the 'no compulsion in Islam' rule stretched was surprising, at least to me. Dr Chandra cited historical examples from the days of the Prophet and the Ottoman empire where if a Muslim were to force a non-Muslim to convert, the punishment was severe, short of death in one time frame and death in another.
I still have to digest my notes (in scribbles) from the talk - it was very very stimulating (we stayed all the way till it ended at almost midnight).
Posted by Najah Nasseri at 2003年07月03日 09:18 | TrackBackThe name (spelling may vary) of the engineer cum-MISNA representative is Azli Yusoff.
Posted by: Mohammed Shakur at 2003年07月03日 09:47Najah..Pertaining to the christian church issue that was brought up by Dr. Ng in ur PROMUDA meeting, a main case in point would be the Shah Alam Catholic church where it has been tied up in god-knows how much red-tape with various bureaucrats haggling with the archdiocese of Malaysia about when to approve its construction Come on...where is religious tolerance which we freely preach and advertise to the world?
A interesting fact is that there has not been a significantly important church construction project in a LONG time. Could someone please correct me here!
I hope the government will change their views as this matter has gone on for too long now.
Posted by: Nicholas at 2003年07月03日 10:51My first Promuda event I attended and a good one perhaps. My analysis, though, I did not take notes, was that each speaker did his/her best in conveying their points. Of course, the ISNA chap, bless him, in my opinion, had legitimate points but did not convey them in a way that I think he should have. It was too short at times and abrupt. Unlike Chandra n Zainah, who were able to articulate their points.. I did chat to him afterwards n mentioned. Hopefully, he's taken a lesson abt it la.
Posted by: Pet at 2003年07月03日 10:56Hi Nick,
Not sure if you were there last night, but at the Q&A session, a PROMUDA member brought up a valid point, the possibility that the 'red tape' was brought on by Malay chauvinism rather than an intolerance on the part of Islam towards other faiths.
This was validated somewhat by Dr Chandra with regards to Qur'anic references and practices in the days of the Prophet in terms of how Muslims deal with non-Muslims - hence my reference to the consequences of compulsion - even if it 'favours' Islam.
Posted by: Najah at 2003年07月03日 11:42My first Promuda gig too..
I thought that the ISNA chap was trying too much to defend the sanctity of Islam , which isn't in question. He dropped the ball. He should have gone instead head on with Zainah who claims that an Islamic state would victimize women. Tell them that it isn't so, that the rights of women will be protected. I am sympathetic to the idea of an Islamic state, if the Islamic state that can be conceptualised is fair and generous to all.
Islam is a religion of tolerance and kindness. Often in our pursuit of the dogmatic, we neglect the spiritual side of it- the one of justice , equality and tolerance. There is no complusion in religion.
Posted by: speed at 2003年07月03日 12:31Hey Najah,
I hope that i have not implied that the Islamic religion is the cause for why there is some form of unfair treatment for the construction and renovation of places of worship for the christian community.
I have very close discussion with my dear muslim friends and they were very kind to share some views that Islam actually promotes the tolerance and understanding of other religion and in some way, Christianity also preaches religions tolerances towards other forms of godly worship.
Am i safe to say that the teaching of Islam has been misconstrued or misunderstood here for the purpose of Malay hegemony in Malaysia?
I love this country and i want to see my children grow up in a land where religious, cultural and social integration is a way of life and not a dream.
BTW, how are you? Will you be at the Blogger's meet this Sat?
Hi Nick,
No, I didn't get that impression at all, was just highlighting a point that a member made about the cause being cultural/racial rather than religious. Curious enough, they use religion as an excuse in the same way politicians do.
I guess there are many root causes to this approach to Islam in Malaysia - a lot of it dissected at the session last night. I have some notes, but haven't had the clear moment to look it through. Perhaps others who attended the session can elaborate further.
p.s. I'm fine. Not sure abt the blogger meet tho'.
Posted by: Najah at 2003年07月03日 14:36Najah,
Thanks for your comments!
But i'm happy that when people get together to talk about the issues that plague the very fabric of our culture, its a great big step in actually doin something about it.
But the hardest part to defeat is procastination.
Do take care and God Bless!
Nick
Posted by: Nicholas at 2003年07月03日 18:08Zainah Anwar – searching the true meaning of `uswatun hasanah’.
(A response to “Ending the Patriarchy”)
Reading, the first paragraph from Zainah Anwar’s article, published by Time Magazine, for the 10th March 2003 issue, could silence those who took up religious study and the protectors of Malays’ values for a few seconds. In her article, entitled “Ending the Patriarchy”, Zainah wrote; “I also love the Beatles, I dance, swim, dive, hug and kiss my bosom buddies— male and female. I am a feminist and I am an activist.”
Actually, each and every times the quarters, which are represented by Zainah and those, which are represented by Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat express their thought, we are made worry that their thought might confuse the mind of the genuine truth seekers. This is because both quarters claimed that their thoughts are Islamic based, although they have gone astray from the true soul and spirit of Islam.
One quarters tried to describe Islam according to what they believe as `fundamental’, and on the other hand, the other tried their level best to `liberalise’ Islam via the approach of the `liberalist’.
Are we being made confuse? Al Hassan al-Basri had once warned “religion will be lost as a result of the practice of both the excessive and negligent.” The former tend to prohibit almost everything and the latter will make everything lawful and permissible.
We are facing two extremist groups, which are opposite to each other. Both are far from the true `ummatan wasatan’ or `moderate Muslim’ model. One group is holding tight to rigid traditional interpretation, whereas the other depends too much on plastic kind of logic. In another word, the first bear a resemblance to the `wahhabies’ and `kharijites’, the latter resembles the `qadariites’ and `muktazilites’.
The neo-qadariites and neo-muktazilites frequently use mind logic above other sources, even though sometimes their arguments do not come from Islamic tradition and are purely rhetorical. Based on the logic hold by one of them; “…Islam is an egalitarian creed that recognises no essential hierarchy between individuals. The universal message of Islam was sent to mankind as a whole and not to a select grouping only. The emergence of the ulama — now with their costumes and accessories—is a later phenomenon which has no basis in Islam.”
This argument is not solid. As we understood, Al-Quran was revealed in Arabic. Although it was sent to the mankind as a whole, the least assistance that a non-Arabic speaking people need would be the translation from Arabic to their language. Islam was not sent to the Arabs only, but they have the advantage to understand the Quran instantly since it was revealed in their mother tongue.
The language of the Quran is not ordinary to the Arabs. It possesses high literature value. The Arabs, themselves need assistance to comprehend the Quran. An ordinary `badouin’ would not be able to understand fully the teaching of the Quran although they could understand it literally.
As we also know, the Quran does not reveal Islamic teaching in detail manner. Therefore a messenger, the prophet Muhammad SAW was sent to explain the teaching in detail. The best description of the teaching was well observed by his closest companions. His companions learned what he taught by heart and after his demise, they wrote them on goats skin. They practiced, recited and passed his teaching to the next generations.
Along the way, of course there are people who tried to distort the teaching by creating things that were never said, or done by the Prophet in order to support their own interest. Due to this, the previous ulamas such as at-Tabari, al-Baghawi, al-Khazin dan al-Baydawi have created methods and come out with regulations and conditions to eliminate such falsehood. With the solidness of their arguments, these ulamas managed to eradicate the arguments brought by the literalists.
May be, due to the excitement to interpret Islam without concrete methodology, these quarters end up having the conclusion such as “ketaatan kepada Rasulullah SAW hanyalah kerana beliau dilihat sebagai pemimpin kabilah” (Farish Noor). Or, the saying that “Allah sendiri tidak meng`ISA’kan Iblis, walaupun Iblis menderhakainya, disebabkan itu ISA tidak diperlukan dan bukan merupakan sesuatu yang Islamik.” (Chandra Muzaffar)
We accept the fact that, ‘wisdom is not monopolized by any individual or any group’. Anyone, from the Greek, Athens, Indian, Persian or Chinese civilizations could come out with his own wisdom to deal with various problems arise every day in the world. One of the occasions, where they might fail is when they try to `find, describe and illustrate god’. The other that might make them slip away is when they try to determine `akhlaq’ and the virtues of a human.
On these matters, to the Muslims, the Quran is the best guide. But, any effort to interpret it should come with `adab’. `Adab’ in the sense that, those involved must give due respect to specialty, express thought in civilized and sincere manner, and respect the methodology used by the faculty of knowledge.
Above others, the most important aspects that should be given priority are the `taqwa’ and carefulness in the quest to find Allah’s blessing. (Above all the desire for recognition, respectful position and wealth.) This is the true `soul’, which the companions were adhere to when performing `ijtihad’ after the demise of the Prophet SAW.
We agree to the opinions from this quarters that ` Islam, is simply too important to be left in the hands of the ulama.”(especially the kind of Nik Aziz). However we also believe that, `Islam is much too important to be left to any Tom, Dick and Harry to come out with an edict, especially when they do not have appropriate knowledge.’
May be in Zainah’s world, Islam has the elasticity like a plastic. She may pull, stretch, bend and curve it the way that she wanted to. In her excitement, Zainah might forget about the `hadd’ (limits), regulations and the basis of `taqwa’. To hug and kiss my bosom buddies— male and female, is not a good example to other Muslim. Zainah, may be able to do wonders in her plastic `Islamic world’, but she can never do one thing – being the `uswatun hasanah’ or good example to other Muslims.