I refer to the malaysiakini report Actress apologies over Prophet's wife comment about the actress Rosnah Mat Aris who was accused of insulting Prophet Muhammad's wife.

The issue of an older person marrying a younger person is usually the butt of jokes and in no way constitutes an insult. The comments were not even about Prophet Muhammad but even if you did say something unkind about Prophet Muhammad's personal life, it's no big deal. It is important to differentiate between the man and his teachings.

The cartoons that appeared in the Danish newspaper Jylland-Posten were considered offensive because they insulted the religion of Islam suggesting that terrorism and Islam are part and parcel of each other. While there was justification for Muslims to demand an apology from Jylland-Posten , asking Rosnah Mat Aris to apologise for her comments is shallow-minded and unfair.

In fact, it is damaging to the image of Islam because it causes Islam to be seen as a rigid and frightening religion which does not allow any healthy discussion of ideas. Nothing is further than the truth. In Islam, there is actually no such concept as priesthood or religious hierarchy, so nobody can tell you how to interpret the religion.

It is brutally oppressive Muslim regimes who desire the power of authoritarianism who create Islamic institutions with draconian legal powers. Such as the Syariah courts which have the power to issue 'fatwas' (religious edicts) and jail anyone who doesn't agree with them. In fact, some of the fatwas issued in Malaysia and abroad can be downright insulting to the Muslim population.

Examples are the fatwa banning Kongsi-Raya celebrations in Malaysia, the fatwa against Salman Rushdie in Iran and the fatwa that 'democracy is against Islam' in Saudi Arabia.

It is disheartening that the present generation of Malaysians are more narrow-minded compared to their parent's and grandparent's generations. Our education system has become very inflexible over the last two decades and students are discouraged from being overly critical. There is less emphasis on 'substance over form' in religious matters and students are being moulded into repressive non-thinkers who will obey the law without question.

The attendance at mosques has fallen despite the fact that more Muslim women are covering themselves up compared to 30 years ago. Obviously, we are becoming an image-conscious society where perception and illusion is more important than reality.

It is time that we revamp our education system to include more analytical thinking rather than just the memorising and regurgitating of facts. Most times, students are not even aware of the philosophy behind what they are learning.

Which is why it is important that our university students are presented with a more wholesome syllabus including the basics of psychology, sociology, ethics, civics and self-expressionism in art, literature and music.