Recent controversies on the issues of the Islamic state and religious scholars reflect the coarsening of public discourse in Malaysia. Such public discussions, far from enlightening the citizens and bringing us together, merely succeeded in deepening the polarisation and aggravating existing divisions. The blame for this sorry state of affairs goes to both the organisers and participants of such events.

Take the issue of Islamic scholars. Much of the confusion and the ensuing controversies revolve around the different meanings of basic terms. I can best illustrate this by using the example of surgical scholars.

In the academic department I was once associated with, among my colleagues were a veterinary doctor, a biochemist and an engineer. In standing, pay and prestige, these professors of surgery were no different from the other operating professors of surgery.

They taught medical students and would-be surgeons, and published in surgical journals. But if one were to have appendicitis, one would not ask these non-operating professors to operate. If someone were stupid enough to do so, he or she would be politely if not embarrassingly referred to the real surgeons in the department.

Similarly there are Islamic scholars and there are ulama . One can learn a lot about Islam  both the discipline as well as the faith - from Islamic scholars; but in performing funeral rites or reciting the Surah Yaseen (requiem), one needs the ulama .

In medicine there are strict rules as to who can treat a patient. Apart from specific training, he or she has to be properly licensed. Anyone not so licensed, no matter how competent, could be charged with fraud and criminal assault.

Turf conscious

No such statutory delineations occur in the practice of Islam, and rightly so. Islam, unlike other religions, lacks a proscribed clergy class. In Islam it is we mortals and Allah, there being no need for an intermediary. There are no priests, bishops or pope in Islam.

Sure we have an imam , but to paraphrase an ancient saying, he is an imam because we, the flock, call him so. His power and prestige are derived from and not imposed upon the congregation.

The bureaucratisation of Islam, with ulama placed on salary schemes and acquiring other accouterments of the civil service, is purely a Malaysian phenomenon. No surprise then that these modern-day ulama behave like their petty counterparts in the civil service  very conscious of their turf.

Thus instead of engaging in a scholarly fashion with those who disagree with them, they treat new ideas as potential threats. Hence the ugly spectre of the president of the Muslim Scholars Association filing a police report against writers he disagreed with, instead of publishing his own scholarly rebuttal!

This is not a surprise. Ulama are not so much being educated as being trained. The quality of their scholarship, certainly when viewed from the vantage point of western scholarship adept at critical thinking and deconstruction, is severely wanting.

Their training is akin to that of students of classical music. Classical musicians are trained not to interpret but simply to follow the path of their masters before them. Improvisations or novel interpretations are not expected or welcomed. If you do, you may end up playing for the local jazz band instead.

Only when you have become a Glenn Gould could you establish your own style. Until then, no fancy incidental notes or flourishes in phrasing. Follow the score as it is written.

Exquisite danger

Likewise our ulama ; they are not expected to put forth any thought or to question. Indeed such critical thinking and novel interpretations are viewed suspiciously as the devils machinations.

Occasionally one may get an alim , who, having mastered the existing state of knowledge, goes on to make his own seminal contributions. There are many such individuals in the history of Islam.

Some were successful in blazing new trails in the understanding of our faith, but most ended up being marginalised or worse, labelled as apostate  and treated accordingly.

What is threatening the world of the traditional ulama today are not orientalist Islamic scholars like Dr Patricia Martinez and Dr Farish A Noor (two of the writers attacked by the ulama ), but rather the emergence of ulama trained in the traditional madrasah system who then went on to be exposed to the rigors of western scholarship.

In the past such scholar- ulama were denigrated back in their native lands, but with the heightened interest in Islam in the West, these individuals are now eagerly sought after by leading Western universities.

From their vantage point in the West, with its superior supporting structures and generous funding, this new breed of scholar- ulama are spreading their views onto the wider Islamic world. With their madrasah credentials, they are as erudite and exquisite in their tajweed (rendition of the Quran) as the best of Al Azhar.

Enlightened legislation

The other hot issue is the Islamic state. This is the reason PAS exists. Yet when challenged on the specifics, PAS is sorely unprepared. Surely after championing the issue for the past half a century, its leaders should have a pretty clear idea of their goals.

If by Islamic state they meant one based on the ideals of justice and morality of the Quran, then all Muslims and many non-Muslims would agree. But if they want a state based on the Syariah (Islamic law) in its current form, many Muslims and certainly non-Muslims would demur.

The Syariah took three centuries to formulate and consumed the best intellectual talent of the Muslim world at the time. Although based on the Quran and Sunnah (ways of the Prophet [peace be upon him]), it remains the creation of mortals and as such, carries all the imperfections implicit in such endeavors.

To ascribe to it the reverence and perfection we reserve for the Quran means that we ascribe those very same qualities to the mortals who crafted the Syariah .

In its time the Syariah represented an enlightened piece of legislation. Its treatment of women in particular was light years ahead of its time. It recognises for women their rightful inheritance.

Granted women are not treated quite as equal to men, but it is well to remember that at the time women were part of the inheritance, to be disposed of at the whims of their husbands heirs. The Syariah s treatment of slavery and indentured labour, too, represented a quantum leap over the prevailing ethos.

But that was then. Societies change and so, too, must our laws. The more pertinent question, and one rarely asked, is how adept is the Syariah in meeting present universally accepted norms.

Trappings, pretensions

Our Prophet (may Allah bless him) in his wisdom clearly separated the divine revelations he received from his own views. With the former, he made sure that they were accurately memorised and transcribed by his followers.

But he specifically forbade them to record his own words lest later Muslims would confuse the two messages. Had the Prophet (peace be upon him) focused on himself and his views, imagine the ensuing personality cult he would have created.

Much of our present understanding of Islam comes from the works of dedicated scholars, Muslims and non-Muslims alike. We should value their contributions. They complement our ulama .

Confusion arises only when scholars try to assume the trappings of an alim , and when ulama take on the pretensions of a scholar.