The Perak deputy mufti, Zamri Hashim, warned Muslim husbands not to be weak and irresponsible, but to control their wives and daughters, otherwise they (the men) would not go to Heaven.

Is this the true face of modern Malaysia, which is attempting to be a high-income nation by 2020? Or is this medieval, misogynistic Malaysia, which is lost in a time warp in the sand dunes of Saudi Arabia?

Muftis, and other supposedly learned Muslims, are preoccupied with quoting Quranic verses about going to Heaven. Why not talk about fulfilling our moral and human obligations, here on earth, to do good to everyone, to be fair and equal, to others, regardless of faith and culture?

With all the reported crimes against women, including some very violent cases of domestic abuse, the message about being responsible should be directed at men. Not women.

Perhaps, the real threat to Malaysia is not from communists, Chinese or Christians. The real threat comes from the smug Malays who say and do nothing whilst the fires of intolerance rage in Malaysia. Their silence encourages the religious bigots to flourish and spread their warped values.

The office of the Perak mufti, Harussani Zakaria, has brought disrepute to Muslims. It has a habit of imposing controls on Muslim women. Why?

Women are perceived as a threat, and they keep insisting that women need protection. That much is true. Women need to be isolated from misogynists and men who refuse to respect women.

Sadly, some of the worst misogynists are women.

Did the majority of Malay women ignore the department’s attempts to manipulate their behaviour? Is that why the deputy mufti told Muslim husbands to ‘control’ their wives, daughters and female workers?

On March 25, Berita Harian reported that Zamri had warned husbands to keep a tight rein on their womenfolk. Weak men, who failed to control their women, would not go to Heaven.

Irresponsible husbands were defined as those who failed to ensure that their women covered themselves when going out, allowed intermingling of sexes, and then did not feel guilty if their children could not read the Quran.

He also said that men should not encourage women to do jobs which are not feminine, nor should they be allowed to enter beauty contests.

It is all very well to tell husbands to warn their wives and daughters to cover their ‘aurat’, but what about fathers telling their sons to respect women?

What about the following men?

A Malay vet was caught on CCTV punching his tudung-clad wife in front of their two children. His daughter, who tried to stop him from kicking her mother, was pushed aside.

Religion failed the thirty drug fuelled Malays who gang-raped two teenagers in Kelantan, a few years ago.

A ‘casanova cleric’ with three wives and eight children, still found time to impregnate a woman. He was reported to have been married 13 times, between 2003 to 2011.

What about the failure of divorced husbands to provide for their children?

What about the middle-aged married men who run off to marry their teenage brides in southern Thailand?

Nothing to do with dress code

These are not new stories. These were irresponsible men. Their behaviour had nothing to do with the dress code of women, or being unable to read the Quran, or the intermingling of the sexes.

The mufti’s office should get to the root of the problem of why there are so many irresponsible Malay men. Many abandoned wives and children are left without a father figure. Absent fathers, in polygamous and single-parent families, fail their children, especially their sons, many of whom grow up without a good role model.

Will the mufti’s office find out what makes Malay men resort to drugs? It was reported that 80 percent of drug addicts are Malay.

Muslim clerics come down hard on women and do little to rein in the activities of Muslim men. Rape victims are blamed, for not covering themselves. What is the explanation for rapes involving girls in tudung, elderly women and babies?

The Perak mufti, Harussani, claimed that marital rape was an invention of the Europeans. He told wives not to refuse sex with their husbands, even if they were on top of a camel.

He issues fatwas, like on people throwing confetti at a wedding. He banned yoga, the poco-poco dance and tried to ban football club badges with images of the cross and the red devil.

He allegedly caused a near-riot in a church in Ipoh when he said that Malay children were being baptised. He warned women about doing gymnastics, and told Muslims not to visit the homes of non-Muslims during festivals, like Christmas, Chinese New Year or Deepavali.

Last August, Harussani said that federal ministers should not issue statements based on logic and intellect, because these were derived from Satan.

In September, he was alleged to have told Najib Abdul Razak to ignore the non-Malays because of their refusal to cooperate, and said that there was no reason to appoint Chinese ministers. He allegedly said, “... Just let the Malays rule. We’ll show them.”

Actually, the slow destruction of Malaysia, has been accelerated by the silence of the Malay intellectuals, who do not censure bigots like the Perak mufti and his deputy.

Heaven can wait. Malaysia cannot.

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog , Twitter .