Tuan Ibrahim defends PAS Youth leader's 'cows and women' analogy

Summary

• PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man finds nothing wrong with a remark made by one of the party’s youth leaders, who equated women in leadership roles to cows.

• He says such analogies are widely used in literary works and are not meant to degrade women.

PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man defended a party youth leader’s remark equating women in leadership roles to cows.

According to him, Maran PAS Youth information chief Salman Al Farisi’s statement was in tandem with analogies usually used in literary works and not meant to degrade women.

“I don’t see anything sexist about the remark. It’s an analogy based on his (Salman) perspective, not meant to degrade women.

“Perhaps, some quarters may have felt offended by it,” he told Malaysiakini.

Two days ago, Salman took to social media to stress the importance of men in leadership roles, using his experience in livestock farming as an analogy.

Salman said that based on his observation, a cow usually leads the herd - deciding on where to graze, when to rest, and when to head back to the shed.

Bulls, on the other hand, only serve to protect the herd.

“That is why, if possible, we don’t become ‘bulls’ that turn ‘cows’ into leaders.

“Guys should become leaders, and it is in line with the Quran, according to Surah an Nisa, verse 34.

“When ‘cows’ become leaders, they will decide everything…with the ‘bulls’ only knowing how to reap the yields. We may even be asked to ‘lock horns’ with foes,” he added.

Salman’s comments received brickbats from Pertubuhan Kebajikan Bidadari Malaysia founder Napsiah Khamis Maharan, who described the statement as sexist and rude.

She also said Salman’s remark signifies a regressive mindset, adding that such thinking would stall societal progress.

‘Nothing new in literature’

However, Tuan Ibrahim said using such analogies was nothing new.

“Such analogies are nothing new, and it depends on how we look at it.

“In Islamic literature in the past, there are works such as ‘Kalilah wa Dimnah’, which is filled with analogies and stories about animals - used to convey teachings and moral values,” the Kubang Kerian MP added.

According to the Library of Arabic Literature website, “Kalilah wa Dimnah” is a collection of stories designed not only for moral instruction but also for the entertainment of readers.

The stories, which originated in the Sanskrit Panchatantra and Mahabharata, are about inculcating virtues and discernment in rulers and warn against flattery and deception.

Not the first time

This is not the first time a PAS leader has come under fire over the use of animals to describe certain people.

Last month, PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari came under fire after he uploaded a picture depicting a goat and sheep fighting over a banana, with a monkey presiding as a judge.

The Pasir Mas MP added the caption: “A monkey need not preside over the case involving a goat and sheep fighting over a banana”, while accompanying it with an article on the Thailand-Cambodia conflict.

The Pasir Mas MP had refused to apologise for his remarks despite demands, adding he would leave the matter to the authorities to investigate.

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