Religions are not judged by what’s written in their holy books, but by the words and deeds of the practitioners of those religions. This is because actions speak louder than words, and that seeing is believing. Not surprising, for the sense of sight is the most powerful of our senses, with hearing coming next.  

Launching the 'One Soul, One Quran' project at the Kuala Lumpur Tower on Jan 8, The Star reported Dr Mahathir Mohamad as saying that “misleading interpretations of Islam as a cruel religion have sparked a fear of Islam in Malaysia”.

It is not only in Malaysia that there is a growing fear of Islam.

This has become a worldwide phenomena, what with the Islamic State (ISIS) on a mindless, murderous mission of destroying anyone who does not bow to its brand of Islam, and other mindless, brutal killings of men, women and children in various other parts of the world by Islamic militants.

Such incidences are happening at a heightened pace, the most recent being in France.

Dr Mahathir attributed this to “many interpretations and teachings on Islam these days, that were not actually based on the religion".

“They like to portray Islam as a cruel, unreasonable or unjust religion and that makes non-Muslims in Malaysia afraid of Islam, when the reality is, there is nothing to fear.

“There are so many interpretations now by so-called leaders and we get obsessed with the leaders and what they say, when the truth is, their interpretations do not follow the real teachings,” he added.

Explaining the “One Soul, One Quran” project, Dr Mahathir - who is the patron of this project organised by the Islamic Information and Services Foundation - said it was aimed at lessening the misconception and alleviating fear of Islam amongst non-Muslims.

This will be done by producing one million copies of the Quran that will be translated into Tamil, Chinese, English and Malay, and distributed to the public.

Will this work? Where is the real problem? Who created the problem - the non-Muslims by not understanding Islam, or the bigots and fanatics who interpreted the Quran to suit their own ends?

Religion is not a book

That one million copies of the Quran in Tamil, Chinese, English and Malay would correct the perception of Islam as a "cruel religion" is just a perception, an illusion.  

Religion is something that has life, and is seen and heard by people. It is not an object, a book. It is how the adherents of any religion live their lives that matters. How do they conduct themselves in word and deed?

Prayer, for instance, is supposed to be a solemn affair. But how often have we heard sermons from the loudspeakers in tones and words which are disquieting to non-Muslims? And these are prepared by a religious authority under the Prime Minister’s Department.

When a “fundamental Muslim” professor puts pen to paper and says that there is no such thing as moderate Muslims, why is he not stopped from talking such nonsense - for what he is saying of Islam is contrary to what the Prophet preached?

Compare his contorted view of Islam with what the Perak sultan said in his recent Maulidur Rasul message: “Religious tolerance was demonstrated very clearly when Prophet Muhammad signed an agreement with monks at the St Catherine monastery in Mount Sinai in 627AD where the Muslims provided a guarantee to protect the Christians, their homes and their place of worship”.    

When Perkasa (an NGO of which Dr Mahathir is also the patron) president Ibrahim Ali said that the Bible should be burned, why was the law of the land - which makes it an offence for anyone to say or do things that “is likely to cause disharmony, disunity, or feelings of enmity, hated or ill-will” - twisted around so that he had not been charged?

Someone defended him, saying he had only said those words but that no bibles were actually burnt, and therefore there was no evidence to show that the words had actually caused any of those effects.

It is therefore naïve to think that the mere distribution of the Quran in the main languages in Malaysia would prevent non-Muslims from fearing Islam.  

If there was no issue in the 50s and 60s when Muslim children would sit beside their non-Muslim friends and have their respective halal and non-halal meals during recess, why is it such a big issue today?

Indoctrination, that’s why.

So, why the indoctrination? Who is responsible for it?

Is it not the duty of the government of the day to ensure that no bigots and racists are free to preach their own brand of Islam to the detriment of peace and harmony?

Who then is supposed to stop the “many interpretations and teachings on Islam these days that were not actually based on the religion”, as said by Dr Mahathir?

Could we start by de-religionising the national schools?