COMMENT A news article titled, ‘Bananas are a no-no, Islamic cleric tells Muslim women’ has gone viral on social media since it first appeared in bikyamasr.com on Dec 6, 2011.

It quoted a Muslim cleric based in Europe, who warned Muslim women to stay away from bananas in order to avoid “sexual thoughts”. The unnamed sheikh had claimed that bananas, carrots and zucchini “resemble the male penis”.

The article came back into circulation locally, after the sight of white crosses on rooftops in Langkawi caused another brouhaha .

I cannot help but agree with Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin that Malaysians - in particular, those connected to his own party - are simply wasting too much time on unimportant issues, instead of addressing mega scandals affecting the nation that also bring a bad name to their religion.

They should be more concerned about corruption in the corridors of power instead of destroying the social fabrics of our religious and cultural diversity. We have too many of such incidents that do not help in fostering the muhibbah (goodwill) spirit.

We cannot help but to be reminded that this is obviously the same reason used for a group of Umno members from Kampung Medan who also protested against a small church with a cross on its building façade. Despite not having a police permit, they (including the present inspector-general of police’s elder brother) were let off with a slap on the wrist .

Unless the moderate Muslims speak up, it will be a sad case of allowing evil to triumph because good people chose to do nothing.

Such remarks made are often uncalled for in this day and age, especially when the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims has been marred by religious extremism and violence that are linked to terrorist groups.

Ridiculous, but true

In a separate article, which a friend sent to me, a Salafist group from Egypt had warned Muslims against eating tomatoes, claiming that "eating tomatoes is forbidden because they are Christian. (The tomato) praises the cross instead of Allah and says that Allah is three (a reference to the Trinity)."

According to the Now Lebanon website, the Muslim traditionalist group - known as the Popular Egyptian Islamic Association - had found the tomatoes “offensive” when they are cut in such a way that reveals the shape of a cross.

That is how obsessed people can be with a symbol. You may think it is ridiculous, but there are people who see it fit to ban even tomatoes in the name of religion. To quote a friend’s WhatsApp message, he said that Siddharta Gautama Buddha had taught his followers: “Anything in excess is poison.”

When people read too much into what a symbol represents and stretches its meaning beyond what is common sense, it leads to extremism.

One must not forget that symbols are mere symbols. It can mean different things to different people.

Perhaps, many of us never knew that the crescent moon symbol, for example, was a Byzantine ‘Christian symbol’ of the church. It was only appropriated by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) when Islam ruled the Byzantine world.

And the cross? The cross was an executioner’s tool used by the Romans, similar to an electric chair in modern times. There, on the cross, they crucified Jesus. We Christians uphold the cross, because it is in the cross that we understand the price God had to pay when he said, “I love you with an everlasting love.”

Mythicism linked to sheer ignorance

It is not for me to comment about how Muslims want to interpret the Quran, but what they or their clerics say in public will affect people’s opinion towards the religion.

However, I can comment on this based on the church's history.

Going back to its fundamentals, religions are much more novel than mere superstitions and mythicism.

In medieval Europe, there had also been a lot of superstitions. Religion was mixed with mythicism, and witchcraft had a prominent influence in the lives of the ordinary people. This is where the idiom, ‘A little knowledge is a dangerous thing’ applies - especially when clergymen started to mix religion with mythicism.

It was not until the Protestant reformation that ordinary peasants read the Bible for themselves. Before that, they depended on clerics to feed them with religious knowledge, who then taught that there was power in the signing of the cross.

As such, the cross and the Bible were used as paraphernalia for exorcism. Holy water and little pieces of wood, supposedly from the original cross on which Jesus was hung, had been sold to the people.

Thanks to Johannes Gutenberg, the first bibles were printed and distributed throughout Europe. Thereafter, people were enlightened after they started reading the bibles themselves. The holy vestments and the use of formulaic chants, indulgences, the merit system (to enter heaven), and a host of other paraphernalia are now being frowned upon - even by the Roman Catholics themselves.

Since the Protestant reformation, things have been put in the right places. The Bible teaches that evil spirits can be cast out by appropriating the authority that is in the name of Jesus, not the wooden cross or by using a copy of the Bible.

Since then, people began to understand that by simply putting faith in the Saviour, salvation is a free gift - not one that is earned through merits.

For that reason, the medieval crusaders were wrong. They thought that by joining the army to fight against Muslim invaders, they could win themselves merit points to enter heaven. For these ignorant, brainwashed nominal Christians, Lao Tzu has this to say: “It is only when you see a mosquito landing on your testicles that you realise that there is always a way to solve problems without using violence.”

We are our biggest enemy, not others. The influence of mythicism in the teachings of the church has caused millions to be misled during medieval Europe by the clergymen in their days.

If left unchecked, comments like ‘having sex on a camel’s back’ such as that made by a state mufti can be misinterpreted and thus bring further embarrassment to the religion. Muslims should read their Quran for themselves to understand the context of what the Prophet had taught, instead of allowing one man and his biases to influence their religious beliefs.

This is why I say perhaps Muslims should read the Quran for themselves to see what it says about some politicians using mediums to sustain their political powers - and what it says about corruption and violation of human rights - rather than delving into symbols that are meaningless until given the meanings.

Let 2016 be an awakening for the Muslim community in this country, to stop the ideology of deviant groups from taking a foothold in this country. Apart from this, I shall not comment more.

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.