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Pieces by your columnist Fathi Aris Omar are much enjoyed and respected by readers of malaysiakini .

But his article Semua layak mengulas Islam while on one hand may be taken to be an all-embracing, all-inclusive expression on his part to discourse on Islam, could also be taken as naivete that borders on irresponsibility leading to more uninformed and bigoted free-for-all discussions.

I am frankly not so sure where Fathi is coming from with regards to his article in which he expounds that all and sundry from the non-Muslim community are not only invited but have the right to comment on Islam!

Islam is very dear to us Muslims and while we may consider participation on its discourse by non-Muslims, this must be premised on certain prerequisites which must include an unprejudiced mind-set and absence of a history of bad faith.

Time and again, we Muslims have witnessed so-called dialogues or discourses having centred around apostasy or that more Islam could only mean less for the non-Muslim. Not much on matters of common good and mutual benefit which responsible inter-religious discourses should rightly focus on.

Again and again from the seemingly 'intellectual' or 'learned' we have witnessed how matters pertaining to Islam were presented in a slanted, prejudiced manner sans reasoned analyses. The azan has been branded as 'noise pollution' while attempts by a local municipality to regulate dog ownership was simplistically branded as 'racist'.

We Muslims have to be careful what we wish for because we may very well get it. There are among us those who, when invited, to the most beautiful of gardens will not see the blooming flowers or the flapping butterflies or the fresh air or the manicured hedges.

They will instead will be quick to focus on the gutters and the drains. Do be very careful as to whom we invite into our 'gardens' as many with false hearts will only utter false words.

Which brings me to note a trend among some Malay Muslim contributors to malaysiakini .

A culture of self-critique of the Malays and Muslims is excellent and to be encouraged. Unfortunately more often than not some malaysiakini pieces step deep into the realm of self-rubbishing and self-ridicule sans any ingredient of constructive analysis.

Let me give some examples.

Ruhayat X's articles entitled Be an Arab and go to Heaven and the more recent Sex and the Siti were short on analytical substance but laden with negative innuendos on what the writer perceived the Malays and Muslims to be.

How many Malays does one actually see in earnest Arab attire in Malaysia? One has to honest and admit the fact that you would see by huge numbers of Malay folk in traditional attire than Arab black cloaks or the hijab. Surely.

How did Ruhayat X come up with this purported need on the part of the Malays to be more Arab?

In the other article of his, he has taken an extreme latitude in conjuring up some seedy, sleazy and slimy repressed sexual perversity on the part of the Malays just from purported comments from some purported Malay colleagues.

If at all these comments were in fact made, than trust me that they had very much to do with these people's perception of Ruhayat's sexuality and sexual preferences and orientation even. The quantum leap with which Ruhayat has taken to shape these purported comments into some inane, shallow and irresponsible commentary on Malay sexuality is truly mind-blowing.

Is this then, in fact, the manifestation of some needy, servile and pliant desire to be perceived as an open, liberal and moderate? By delving into the self-ridicule of one's very own community at large? Aren't these, in fact, symptoms of an immense case of inferiority complex?

It must be noted that the non-Malay contributors to malaysiakini often focus their pieces well as opposed to some of the Malay contributors which prefer to tread a path of self-ridicule for themselves and their community.

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