The silly season has come early this year. Over the past few weeks the petty squabbles and hair-splitting disputes between PAS and Umno have intensified even more, and once again Malaysia seems poised on the verge of yet another round of 'holier than thou' polemics - even though the polemics concerned seem to be full of holes themselves.
Some of us have ended up being caught in the crossfire between the two sides, and during times like these being a liberal Muslim puts one on the 'endangered species' very quickly indeed. After taking part in a few public debates and discussions on the thorny issue of the Islamic state and religious politics in Malaysia, I find myself being once again at the receiving end of a hail of nasty emails sent by unknown and unidentifiable 'defenders of Islam' whose courage and bravado stops short at putting their real names on the barbed and venomous epistles they have sent to yours truly.
Invariably, most of these nasty emails tend to say the same thing: The standard accusation is that I do not show 'enough respect' to the ulama and that I am a 'bad Muslim' simply because I do not subscribe to their belief that Malaysia should become a religious state where people are stoned to death or have their hands and feet chopped off for stealing things.
Islam as a weapon
But before these accusations spread and gain further ground, allow me to state my position quite clearly and frankly: It is not the question of the 'Islamic state' that worries me so much, but rather the use and abuse of religion by ulama and priests for obvious political reasons.
Nor do I oppose the concept of the Islamic state per se - I happen to object to the intrusion of any religion into politics, be it Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism or whatever. It has always been my belief that the entry of any religion into civic space will be a detriment to the democratic process and the secular principles upon which modern democracy is based. That is, and has always been, my personal opinion, and I am prepared to defend it both in private and public.
But what is worrying indeed is the fact that once again we see the supporters of certain religious parties and movements who are able and willing to use religion as a weapon against their enemies. When these unknown critics use Islam as a tool to silence the comments and ideas of others, and when they use Islam to label others as 'bad Muslims' we can see where this will all lead to.
The last time such a crisis took place was in the early 1980s when the leaders of the opposition party PAS claimed theirs was the only 'true' Islamic party in the country and that whoever did not support PAS was a kafir (infidel). This was a sad time in Malaysian history when the members of both Umno and PAS were trying to out-Islamise each other and to accuse the other side of being 'less Islamic' than them. Both sides resorted to the use of a politics and discourse of authenticity which framed Islam in crude essentialist and exclusivist terms that did little to improve the image and understanding of the religion itself.
The net result of this Islamisation contest between the two parties was that it helped to create a more conservative, reactionary and defensive Muslim society that grew even more paranoid and helpless. Today, this helplessness and paranoia manifests itself in the over-zealousness of some members of the Islamic opposition who seem to think that it is their sacred duty to 'defend Islam' from external criticism - even if that criticism comes from well-meaning individuals and the intention behind it is not to demonise Islam but to condemn the abuse of the religion by some of its followers.
This misguided zeal, fuelled as it is by a zero-sum logic of dialectical opposition that pits Islam and Muslims against external 'enemies' and 'threats' both real and imagined has also proven to be highly dangerous and counter-productive at times. Time and again, the project of political Islam has sealed its own fate when, Saturn-like, it devours its own sons.
Sad fate
One is reminded of the sad fate of Uztaz Abu Bakar Hamzah, the veteran PAS leader who criticised the tactics and behaviour of some of the PAS leaders and members in the 1980s whom he regarded as having gone too far.
Ustaz Abu Bakar had served in PAS all his life and was committed to what he regarded as the true struggle of PAS, which was to show that an Islamic way of life was not contradictory with modernity and development, and that an Islamic form of politics was compatible with democracy and justice. But unlike the other PAS leaders who came after him, Ustaz Abu Bakar was not a product of traditional Islamist madrasah (religious school) education - a factor which would cost him dearly later when the ulama and their adoring followers began to question and challenge his own religious credentials.
Ustaz Abu Bakar was one of the most prominent and vocal leaders of PAS during the 1970s and 1980s. An independent-minded thinker and activist, he managed to offend the leadership of the party during the Asri (1970-1982) era on many an occasion. During the 1960s and early 1970s, he rose within the party hierarchy and was elected as the head of the Youth Wing (Pemuda PAS) of the party and was made a member of the PAS executive committee. When PAS (under Asri Muda) joined in the Alliance (Perikatan) government in 1973, he was brought into the government as parliamentary secretary.
But Ustaz Abu Bakar opposed Asri Muda's plans to bring PAS into the Barisan Nasional coalition (on the grounds that PAS would lose its identity and sense of direction), and in 1974 he quit the party and stood as an independent candidate during the elections that followed (against a PAS candidate who was standing on a BN ticket).
In 1976 he left the world of Malaysian politics momentarily and travelled abroad to continue his studies. He studied in several colleges and universities in the Middle East and Europe, and returned in 1981 to take up a post as an academic at University Malaya. He also rejoined PAS thanks to the help he received from other PAS leaders like Ustaz Pak Nik Lah.
Soon after Ustaz Abu Bakar turned against the leadership of his own party when the 'Ulama faction' led by men like Yusof Rawa, Nik Aziz, Fadzil Noor and Hadi Awang took over in 1982. In particular he criticised the ulama for their overdue emphasis on loyalty and blind obedience to the religious elite.
He grew increasingly worried about PAS' new tendency to put its faith and trust in the ulama exclusively and he opposed the more extremist tactics that were employed by some of the new PAS leaders and members.
He attacked what he regarded as the excessive dogmatism and fanaticism of PAS members (which he claimed was encouraged by the PAS Ulama themselves) and criticised Yusof Rawa for his promotion of the ulama to such as elevated status. (2)
New fanaticism
When PAS began to accuse Umno of being un-Islamic and of being 'bad Muslims', Ustaz Abu Bakar registered his protest in the strongest terms. He argued that this sort of intolerance had no place in Islam and that it was wrong for the ulama to use religion is such a blatantly political way to attack their opponents in the other camp. He condemned what he saw as the new fanaticism and extremism among PAS members. In one of his articles he wrote thus:
'Memangnya perangai orang-orang PAS sekarang ini suka mengafirkan orang lain, suka pulau-memulau, suka rasa dirinya sahaja yang beriman dan bertakwa, sedangkan orang lain adalah kafir belaka. Perangai biadab seperti ini masih berleluasa dalam PAS dan para Ayatollahnya gagal membendung, malah agaknya mereka suka melihat anak buah mereka suka kafir-mengafir, pulau-memulau dan merasa diri mereka beriman tampa orang lain. Perangai jahiliah beginilah yang akan meruntuhkan perjuangan PAS'. (3)
For his labours, Ustaz Abu Bakar was marginalised and silenced in his own party. Condemning the ulama whom he called the new 'Ayatollahs' of PAS, Ustaz Abu Bakar angered many of the younger members of the party who in turn accused him of being a kafir (infidel) and munafik (hypocrite).
In 1985, he was booed and jeered at by the 'Young Turks' of PAS at the annual Mukatamar (Assembly). In the following year (1986) his membership of PAS was suspended and he was forced to give up his posts within the party. (4) He continued writing for newspapers and magazines like Mingguan Islam and Watan but his days in PAS were effectively over.
If PAS leaders and members could do this to one of their own members, how far would they go to attack others who do not belong to their party? The nasty emails and letters I have been receiving of late make me think of the unfortunate Ustaz Abu Bakar whose political career was cut short by the fanatics in his own party. His story teaches us one valuable lesson which is relevant till now: It is that fanaticism - be it in politics or religion - will eventually devour everyone including the fanatics themselves.
The intolerance and close-mindedness of some supporters of the Islamist parties and movements in this country may one day do untold damage to the democratic culture of our country. But not before all the liberal voices have been silenced once and for all.
Endnotes
1) To the mysterious individual who goes by the name 'Mujahid Sebenar', I would like to point out that anthrax cannot be sent by email, no matter how hard one tries. I take it that the effort was carried out in the spirit of (albeit bad) humour.
2) See: Ustaz Abu Bakar Hamzah, Mengakui Kebenaran Suatu Kewajiban. Watan , July 21, 1988.
3) See: Ustaz Abu Bakar Hamzah, Tidak Kenal Mata Hati Dan Ditimpa Perasaan. Minggguan Islam , June 17, 1988.
4) Though he was branded a hypocrite and a traitor by his fellow party members, few of Ustaz Abu Bakar's critics cared to remember the fact that he was one of the few PAS leaders who had stood up to Asri Muda and who opposed PAS's entry into the Barisan Nasional government. (While Yusof Rawa and Nik Aziz had both accepted the offer and were even given prominent positions in the Barisan government.)
Unlike many other PAS leaders who rebelled against their own party, Ustaz Abu Bakar did not imitate the amphibian quality of frog-like politicians by jumping from his party to another one even after his membership to PAS was suspended. The same could not be said of Asri Muda, Osman Abdullah and Nakhie Ahmad - all of whom joined Umno in the end.
