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.

Sep

29

To all my fellow Malaysians, regardless of race or religion, I would like to share passages from two books — one written by a Muslim and the other by a Jew.

The passages from The Eternal Message of Muhammad by Abd al-Rahman Azzam:

“In its modern form, nationalism is a new evil, and racism is worse still; and there is no cure for either except to uproot tens of millions from their present places of residence and confine them to specific geographic areas.”

The Message of Muhammad recognizes neither nationalism nor racism in their modern contexts; the fatherland of the Muslim admits no geographic delimitations—it coextends with the faith. In reality, it is a spiritual fatherland, just as religion is a spiritual matter.”

“Racism, or a fanatic attachment to tribe, nation, color, language, or culture, is rejected by the Message as a product of pre-Islamic idolatry. The prophet declares, “He is not of us who preaches bigotry.” Islam rejects every form of bigotry. All loyalties are directed to the word of God, and no relation above the spiritual is recognized.”

And now, the passage from Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl:

“From all this we may learn that there are two races of men in this world, but only these two—the “race” of the decent man and the “race” of the indecent man. Both are found everywhere; they penetrate into all groups of society. No group consists entirely of decent or indecent people. In this sense, no group is of “pure race”—and therefore one occasionally found a decent fellow among the camp guards.”

Both of these men stand on opposing sides of “racial and religious divides”. Both of these men are renowned in their own right. Yet, both of them affirms the irrelevance of race as we know it.

On the eve of Hari Raya Aidil Fitri, I humbly implore all of you, my fellow Malaysians, to discard the old life of living in racial boxes and start life anew living as Malaysians.

Salam.

Dec

21

tagore.jpegThose who in the name of Faith embrace illusion,
Kill and are killed.
Even the atheist gets God’s blessings –
Does not boast of his religion;
With reverence he lights the lamp of Reason
And pays his homage not to scriptures,
But to the good in man.

The bigot insults his own religion
When he slays a man of another faith.
Conduct he judges not in the light of Reason;
In the temple he raises the blood-stained banner
And worships the devil in the name of God.
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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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