The Department of Islamic Development Malaysias (Jakim) call to ban writers with no in-depth knowledge from expressing their views on Islam is tantamount to theocratic dictatorship, said a Muslim womens group today.
Such a move seems to be an attempt by the religious authorities to monopolise the discourse on Islam in Malaysia [restricting it] to only those who subscribe to one particular point of view in Islam, read the statement released by Sisters in Islam (SIS).
SIS calls on the Prime Minister and the Cabinet to take a strong stand to stop this headlong descent into a theocratic dictatorship pushed by those in religious authority, both in government and in the opposition, the statement added.
According to a report in The Star today, sources were quoted as saying that freelance Islamic writers and columnists would have to go through a process with Jakim assessing their credentials.
The article added that newspaper editors would also be briefed on the move to prevent writers with a shallow grasp of Islam to disseminate their ideas to the public.
The Star also mentioned that the move came in the light of recent controversial writers who had allegedly denigrated Islam and Prophet Muhammad.
On Wednesday, SIS executive director Zainah Anwar who met with Jakim to discuss the controversy, described the meeting as having gone very well .
The meeting was prompted by a Feb 4 memorandum by the Muslim Scholars Association of Malaysia (PUM) to the Conference of Rulers urging for action against several individuals said to have insulted Islam in their writings.
Those named in the memorandum are Zainah, malaysiakini and New Straits Times columnist Dr Farish A Noor, former The Sun columnist Akhbar Ali, writer Kassim Ahmad, Universiti Malaya researcher Dr Patricia Martinez and lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar.
Need for debate
In the statement SIS also said there has to be a public sphere for engagement and debate for Malaysians who disagree with Islamic scholars and preachers who perpetuate intolerant and misogynistic Islam through the media as well as in mosques, surau and homes.
Why is their right to publicly preach injustice, discrimination, intolerance and extremism protected while the right of other citizens to preach justice, equality, tolerance, respect and moderation in Islam denied?
Why are their credentials to teach hatred and misogyny never questioned while our credentials to speak and write on Islam continually questioned? the statement added.
SIS also said it was a tragedy that many moderate Muslim scholars were reluctant to speak up for fear of being embroiled in any controversy or accused of being anti-Islam by colleagues in the fraternity .
It is then left to womens groups and lay-Muslim-scholars and activists to claim the public space and right to offer an alternative view of Islam as a religion that upholds the principles of equality, justice, freedom and dignity.
These are the groups that are often accused of having no knowledge of Islam even though their effort to offer alternative views is done after much in-depth research and study of Islam and consultation with highly qualified Islamic scholars, SIS said.
