QUESTION TIME Malaysia is multi-religious, multi-cultural, and multi-racial with roughly 61 percent of the country Muslims and some 55 percent Malays. That has not stopped the economic progress of the nation which basically requires stability, peace and the rule of law with people largely abiding and agreeing with rights granted by the federal constitution.

But increasingly, religious sensitivities on top of racial ones are becoming a major problem, a reflection of the political times when red herrings are raised to divert attention from the many pressing issues facing the country. Others go the extra mile to prove themselves to be religious and racial champions.

That is a dangerous game of brinkmanship that we can do without for if it barrels out of control for any reason, the price that is paid in terms of damage to the country economically, socially and in terms of quality of life will be very considerable - and needless.

Of particular concern in the  emerging scenario of raising contentious issues and temperatures in the process is the move by Islamic party PAS to introduce hudud or conservative Islamic law. That’s sent shivers down the spine of many, including Muslims, because it considerably increases state interference and punishment of acts which are in the personal realm.

It reflects a conflict between secular and Islamic law in the Malaysian context but for centuries before that the same was experienced in European countries with Christianity. There, the forces in favour of religious laws were turned back and secularism prevailed where laws were made according to societal rather than religious norms.

There are different views of secular law but for a lot of us it simply means law based on a balance between what is for the greater good of society and individual rights. Thus, taking another life and going unpunished means great disorder in society while at a personal level it is gross violation of the victim’s rights.

Over the years, this has seen granting more and more rights towards individual behaviour so long as this does not result in harm to others and and to the person involved, and does not threaten the social fabric upon which society is based. To be sure this is different from country to country.

Coming back to Malaysia, the supreme law of the land is the federal constitution which governs broad aspects of religion. Some people may take issue with the title of the article which presupposes that Malaysia is secular.

The constitution expressly states in Section 3, Clause 1 that “Islam is the the religion of the Federation; but other religions may be practised in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation.” Some have interpreted this to mean Malaysia is an Islamic state but others differ.

My layman’s point of view is that the legal system does not derive from Islamic law except for some laws which apply only to Muslims. The laws are instead based on the western system of secularism which combines common good of society with individual rights. Thus it is secular.

Constitution guarantees freedom of religion

Also, the constitution guarantees freedom of religion. Section 11 Clause 1 says “Every person has the right to profess and practise his religion and, subject to Clause (4), to propagate it.” It is unambiguous - every person can profess and practise his own religion, notwithstanding court cases which have decided otherwise.

Clause 4 restricts propagation of other faiths to Muslims: “State law and in respect of the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya, federal law may control or restrict the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among persons professing the religion of Islam.”

Finally Clause (5) provides for all religion to be based on societal norms when it says: “This Article does not authorise any act contrary to any general law relating to public order, public health or morality.” That essentially means that no person can commit any unlawful act in the name of religion. No matter what religion he professes, he is always subject to the laws of the country.

Now that’s a nice neat arrangement that not only provides for protection of freedom of religion, which by extension also means there is a right not to believe in any religion too if a person is so inclined, but also provides a special position for Islam which is the religion of the federation.

So why go tinkering around with things when this has served us so well for more than half a century. The problem arises when there is pressure to assign any religion more rights than others under the law or using pressure to get such rights by extra-legal means. This is something that the authorities must resist to maintain religious harmony in the country and the intention of the constitution.

Thus in the recent incident where a church was forced to take down a cross and pressured to not operate in a particular area is clearly unconstitutional for the constitution provides that any religion can be practised anywhere in the federation.

By a bit of a stretch, one may try and argue that the presence of a church in a particular area may be propagation of religion but in this particular case it was a church in a commercial area.

Meantime, PAS has been pushing its agenda of introducing hudud law into Malaysia, successfully passing legislation through the Kelantan legislative assembly for its introduction there with the full support as well of Umno assemblymen present for a unanimous decision. Of course, unless there are amendments to the federal constitution, that will not be possible.

Now it is threatening to do the same in Parliament by appealing to all Muslim MPs to do the same. Presumably it will also at some point try to get amendments to the constitution by the same means which will require a two thirds majority. Numbers indicate that will be difficult.

Fear of increasing interference of clergy

While so far hudud law is to apply to Muslims only, there is a fear among many Muslims of the increasing interference of clergy in lawmaking and enforcement while non-Muslims fear that it is a matter of time before they will also have to submit, assuming hudud law for Muslims is successfully introduced.

Such laws, which provide severe punishment such as amputation of limbs for stealing, stoning for adultery, and crucifixion for adultery, does not sit well with many Muslims while non-Muslims are likely to be almost totally opposed to it.

Basically, it is based on Islamic beliefs, although some would dispute even that, and not on societal norms which have developed over the years. It would also represent imposing Islamic beliefs and practices on everyone effectively negating the freedom of religion that the constitution guarantees.

Laws deriving from one religion, no matter what religion, should never be imposed on everyone. Everyone anywhere in the world should be allowed to practice their own religion without interference from the state as long as laws are adhered to. That includes Muslims who stay in non-Muslim majority countries.

That means, everywhere, including Malaysia, laws should be secular and should not reflect the beliefs and value systems of any religion. Religion is a very personal matter and the individual is given the right to practice it any which way he wants or not at all so long as what he does is within the law.

It is only secular law which will give freedom to all religions and secular law which will  guarantee freedom of religion to everyone everywhere, no matter what the religion.

P GUNASEGARAM is founding editor of KINIBIZ which produces an online business news portal and a fortnightly print magazine.