Malaysians live with Islam as the official religion but must they live with religious zealotry?
Zealots shift the goal posts and rules of the religious game and unfairly foul others with the government turning a blind eye.
Ordinary Muslims mind their own business and don’t trouble others.
Zealots pose a real threat to the future of the country. They scare off investors and tourists and make life difficult for others with their intrusive and dogmatic ways.
The encroachment is not about making the country more moral or Islamic. It is not about stopping corruption and moral sins. It is about imposing their will, not Islam as we understand in the Quran, on others.
The result is the country is now in a state of disunity and confusion. Years of hard won social harmony have been lost because of the unnecessary ‘Allah’ controversy and the unconstitutional and fear-mongering raid by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) on the Bible Society of Malaysia.
And while the government fidgets and fumbles, the fires of bigotry burn.
Father Lawrence Andrew, Editor of The Herald Catholic Weekly, is unfairly subjected to a ‘Malaysian inquisition’ as a ridiculous charge of sedition hangs over his head.
It will not succeed because he has not done anything wrong.
The ‘Allah’ controversy is not only confusing Muslims but non-Muslims alike. Even the fledgling National Unity Consultative Council says it “may not find a solution” after opining that the Jais raid on the Bible Society was “regrettable”.
BN’s Sarawak Land Minister Dr James Masing has jumped on the bandwagon of critics. He criticises his federal peers for failing to lead the country out of the dilemma and alluded to its effects on Christian rights in his state, and rightly so.
Sarawak has reason to feel the injustice from the encroaching hegemony over its Christian communities. There is much they can teach others about religious and racial harmony. They did not bargain for the re-colonisation of their state.
The Buddhists alarmed by the Jais raid prompted one Buddhist leader to go public to say, “It could happen to us, too.”
And everyone should be concerned because you don’t know what the zealots will do next if they do not follow the Quran script and simply take matters into their own hands. The world under zealotry can be unpredictable, even dangerous. ,
A law unto themselves
It seems they have become a law unto themselves and their words and deeds have only caused further tension in the country, like the one who urged Malaysians including Muslims to be killed because he arrogantly judged them “traitors”.
Some of their ideas are wishy-washy and have nothing to do with Islam. Many Muslims themselves are upset that condoning such actions gives Islam a bad name.
The teaching from Surat Al-Baqarah 2:256 clearly states, “There is no compulsion in religion”. The Angel Gabriel supposedly gave this verse to Muhammad when the Muslims were dominant and lived among Jews, Christians and idolatrous Meccans.
The promotion of the idea that Islam is under siege and Christians are the enemies of Muslims is not only silly and irresponsible but highly inflammatory.
Now a report says there are plans afoot to change Jais’ operational procedures and it must inform the state government before doing something sensitive. Honestly, I think they need to entirely revamp Jais so that it focuses on Islam and Muslims, not other religions.
Mind your own religion and live and let live are ideas found in all religions and is the recipe for peace.
Jais should be focusing on ways to keep Muslims on the right path. It should inculcate into Muslims that corruption is not only a crime but a sin, like slander, lying, murder, rape, adultery and taking bribes from criminals.
Reports that 60-odd KL policemen are being investigated by the MACC for taking money from illegal operators of massage parlours, illegal gambling and vice dens, and it is only the tip of the iceberg, should goad Jais into action.
The police racketeering involving millions of ringgit is proof Malaysians have been right all along in their allegations of police colluding with criminals.
The wayward policemen need counseling and rehabilitation and of course they need to be dealt with by the law. They may be pleased hudud punishment is not in full force.
It is time the government makes a strong stand on religion in the country. Whatever stand it takes it cannot evade the fact the constitution is very clear on religious freedom.
Why allow anyone to rock the boat after so many decades of peace?
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (Pak Lah) never got far with his Islam Hadhari but I believe he was trying to leave his imprint on Malaysia’s Islam that it must be peaceful, tolerant and accepting of others. This is the Malaysian way, not zealotry.
An exemplary Muslim
Marina Mahathir in standing up for Christian rights is seen as an exemplary Muslim, but is being unfairly pilloried and demonised.
With about 40 others, her symbolic support of Christians at last Sunday’s church service is what Nelson Mandela would have done and it was a giant leap for Islam’s image, human rights and Muslim-Christian relations.
The government must dispel the growing paranoia fanned by zealots who spread lies that Christians are out to evangelise the Malays.
It is common knowledge churches in Malaysia leave the Malays alone (the Special Branch will attest) which is somewhat sad because we need to reach out to one another in love and understanding, as Marina Mahathir has shown.
Live and let live is not the same as divide and rule. National unity comes from people sharing with one another their lives and helping one another regardless of race, religion or rank.
Jais’ intrusion such as in the DUMC Dream Centre fiasco some years ago does not encourage the building of cooperation between Muslims and Christians. Surely Muslims aren’t that paranoid that they see evangelism on every church? It is the false idea the zealots want to spread through the creation of the Christian bogeyman.
The Selangor government has to rein Jais in and Malaysians of all races and religions need to send a strong message to the zealots that their vision of Malaysia is neither Islamic nor Malaysian and has no place in a peaceful country of ‘moderates’.
Any usurper of the authority of the constitution - the supreme law of the state - is the real enemy of the nation.
The panic over 300 copies of the Alkitab must have left egg on the faces of the Jais raiders after the Syariah Lawyers Association has confirmed they could find no proof the Bible Society was involved in any evangelism activity among Malays.
Just as well because what impact could anyone make with 300dopies of the Bible in a population of millions and when the readily accessible Internet offers a more convenient treasury of different types of Bibles and banned Christian books?
Jais was simply barking up the wrong tree and creating unnecessary hysteria. The decent thing for them to do is apologise for their mistake and not repeat it.
Leave the Alkitab alone and stop the persecution of Christians because history tells us those far stronger and more dangerous have all tried but failed.
In the end one of their own leaders among those that persecuted Christians warned them, “You don’t want to end up fighting against God”.
Zeal without justice is tyranny.
STEVE OH is author and composer of the novel and musical ‘Tiger King of the Golden Jungle’.
