Oct

22

If not for the fact that the writer that I am about to quote is an Arabic Muslim of some international repute, I would probably be charged with sedition for insulting Islam. I have previously quoted Abd al-Rahman Azzam in one of my earlier postings.

The book that I am reading was found in a bargain bin and the title is “The Eternal Message of Muhammad”. I was reluctant to buy it because it was still not cheap despite the hefty discount. However, the benefit of hindsight tells me that my instinct was right.

Anyway, I am sharing the following passage with my fellow Malaysians because:

1. most Malaysian non-Muslims far too often have a misguided impression of what Islam is; and
2. the political stand of many Malaysian Muslims, especially in regard to racial equality, is contradictory to the faith they profess.

Here’s the passage:

“… Muslims in Africa and Asia are still confused and disturbed. They have known for a long time that they have a faith, a revealed Law, a society, and principles which call for a state that is neither secular not theocratic but possibly both, and that is neither autocratic nor demagogic. Muslim society is based on the freedom of the individual and the equality of everyone. Muslim society is in its essence a free, classless society. It is classless not on the basis of any economic theory but on the basis of its egalitarian laws and its refusal to recognize distinction and honor except through piety and submission to the revealed Law, whose fundamental principles are universal, humane, and democratic. Nothing that is preached by the East or West is new to the Muslims. Reason is essential in judging even their dogmas and matters of faith, just as independent reasoning is one of the four sources of their jurisprudence.”

I must say that the misguided impression of Islam that non-Muslim Malaysians have is actually quite understandable. We are like deep-sea fish that do know the meaning of salt water until we are out of it.

Whatever it is, all Malaysians ought to try harder to understand their own religion and those of others.

Salam.

Oct

14

I don’t know if there is such a thing as magazine reviews but I really want to recommend Off The Edge to all Malaysians who want to read something different, i.e. not FHM, Women’s Weekly or even Malaysia Today.

Just ask my friend Ja’a — I’ve been meaning to subscribe to this magazine but I keep putting it off and I end up buying it from the stands every month…

Anyway, I felt the urge to recommend this magazine on my blog after reading two letters in the current issue of the magazine. Look out for the above magazine cover at your local mamak newsstand.

Here are a couple of quotes from the two different letters:

“It’s time politicians like those following in the footsteps of Abdullah Ahmad to wake up to the fact that the non-Malays are here to stay. Malaysia is our home, where we were born, grew up, make a living, raise families and will die. We are certainly not going to balik ke China, India atau lain-lain tempat.”

“There is a tendency to interpret the word Islam as a noun — as if it were a club; you were either ‘in’ or ‘out’. The word Islam was originally used as a verb, meaning to submit to God. Shouldn’t we allow for the possibility that followers of other faiths are also submitting to God?”

Quite apart from the well-written letters and articles, you’ll find that the interviews of politicians are more incisive than most Malaysians are used to. I’ve only read Ong Tee Keat’s interview so far but I can see that Sharon Tan and Jason Tan are not going to let our politicians off so easily.

Check it out. Only RM6 mah…

Dec

8

Fascism & fiction

December 8, 2007 | 1 Comment

nazi.jpgI found a definition of fascism at PublicEye.org, which says, amongst other things, “fascism is a form of extreme right-wing ideology that celebrates the nation or the race as an organic community transcending all other loyalties… It seeks to forcibly subordinate all spheres of society to its ideological vision of organic community, usually through a totalitarian state. Both as a movement and a regime, fascism uses mass organizations as a system of integration and control, and uses organized violence to suppress opposition…”

And according to Wikipedia, “fascism is also typified by totalitarian attempts to impose state control over all aspects of life: political, social, cultural, and economic, by way of a strong, single-party government for enacting laws and a strong, sometimes brutal militia or police force for enforcing them. Fascism exalts the nation, state, or group of people as superior to the individuals composing it. Fascism uses explicit populist rhetoric; calls for a heroic mass effort to restore past greatness; and demands loyalty to a single leader, leading to a cult of personality and unquestioned obedience to orders.”

The above descriptions sound eerily like what’s happening in Malaysia. And, mind you, the Abdullah regime is not the first in Malaysia to be compared to the fascists. An ex-colleague of mine created a clever photoshop image of a Hitler-like Mahathir about ten years ago.
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Aug

7

raja-nazrin.jpgThis morning, on a whim, I checked out our Opposition Leader’s website, and chanced upon a hot-off-the-press posting by Dr. Chen Man Hin. In his posting, Dr. Chen suggested that the Prime Minister invite Raja Nazrin Shah, the Crown Prince of Perak, to be his personal adviser, in light of the latter’s speech at the first Malaysian Student Leaders Summit 2007.

For what it’s worth, I must say that that’s an ingenius and interesting idea from Dr. Chen. I wonder what Raja Nazrin thinks. (By the way, Raja Nazrin’s credentials are quite impressive. Check out the link to his entry in Wikipedia above.)
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Jul

24

chandra-muzaffar.jpgOnce again, I’d like to comment on Dr. Chandra Muzaffar’s article, but this time, I agree with what he’s saying.

Basically, I agree that “when we go beyond labels such as ‘secular’ and ‘Islamic’ and connect with the substance of our three principal documents we will discover that there is a degree of congruence between the two positions.” And the three documents that Dr. Chandra is talking about are the Federal Constitution, the Rukunegara and Vision 2020.

Now, my question is, how do we move forward from this apparent impasse? It’s very obvious that the current hooha is created by the Deputy Prime Minister for political reasons. Indeed, it’s so idiotic for him to make such a statement that I won’t even go into the so-called debate.
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Jun

7

lina-banner.gif

I was just at a DAP forum on the Lina Joy case. I must say that I am both disappointed and encouraged by what I saw and heard.

On the one hand, some of the speakers were terribly disappointing. To be fair, I shall not point them out. On the other hand, the turn out, which could have been anywhere between 700 to 1,000 people, shows that many Malaysians still care and dare to speak their minds.

Well, considering there were so many lawyers, politicians and Islamic scholars at the “dialogue”, I just had to say my two sens’ worth and ask the panel a few questions.
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May

31

lady-justice.gifIt appears that not only are some people in the Barisan Nasional government stupid, some judges in the judiciary are equally stupid.

Article 11(1) of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia – the supreme law of the land, the last time I heard – clearly states that “every person has the right to profess and practise his religion and, subject to Clause (4), to propagate it.”

I’m not all that familiar with the intricacies of the Lina Joy case, but I do know that she converted to Christianity by her own choice.

Without even reading the judgments of Federal Court, I believe it’s safe to say that the Malaysia Boleh! spirit has done it again - do something stupid that no one in their right mind would.
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