It’s all about belief

Muslims, for example, like the IGP, AG, CJ, and so on, believe they will go to heaven even if they do bad things in this world. And this is because they are Muslims and all Muslims eventually go to heaven — never mind how bad they have been. At worse they will spend a short stint in hell. But after they serve their sentence they will get transferred to heaven.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Someone sent me an e-mail saying that he disagrees with my view on forgiveness. He then quoted a passage from the Bible to support his argument. His contention is that the Christian view of forgiveness differs from my view and therefore I am wrong in my assumptions.

Fair enough. I would not want to even begin debating the correctness or otherwise of the Christian view. For starters, I am not a Christian. So definitely I would not understand Christianity as well as this person who sent me that e-mail. Secondly, even if I did have a fair understanding of the Christian view, not being a Christian means I would not share the Christian view. So, a debate would be futile when from the very beginning we do not share the same view.

But what this person who sent me that e-mail probably failed to comprehend is I said that this is the Muslim view. Whenever I start a sentence with ‘according to the Muslim belief’, this means this is what Muslims believe or are supposed to believe. I did not say this is according to what I believe.

Therefore, before you jump all over me, read properly what I write first — then argue. When I say things like ‘the Malays believe’ or ‘the Muslims believe’, this is exactly what I mean. And just because I too am Malay or Muslim, don’t jump to conclusions and assume that this, therefore, must also be what I believe.

Malays believe Malaysia needs a New Economic Policy and Ketuanan Melayu (Malay Supremacy). Now, when I say that, did I say I believe Malaysia needs a New Economic Policy and Ketuanan Melayu? I said Malays believe Malaysia needs a New Economic Policy and Ketuanan Melayu.

Okay, maybe not all Malays believe this. Maybe just some Malays or probably even half the Malays believe this. But when I say Malays believe Malaysia needs a New Economic Policy and Ketuanan Melayu, do not read that as all Malays believe Malaysia needs a New Economic Policy and Ketuanan Melayu or that I also believe Malaysia needs a New Economic Policy and Ketuanan Melayu.

Some Malays and/or Muslims have certain beliefs that may appear strange to those who are not Malay or Muslim. But that is what they believe. I am sure there are Malays and/or Muslims who also think that the Christian belief is strange, maybe even downright blasphemous. And there are Christians who disagree with certain Christian beliefs, as there are Muslims who disagree with certain Muslim beliefs.

Take, for example, the belief of some Muslims that if you kill lizards (cicak) on Thursday night you receive a lot of pahala (blessings or ‘credits’) and probably can go to heaven if you end up killing one million lizards because of the excess pahala you have accumulated. I remember, as a child, we used to go around looking for lizards so that we can shoot them dead with rubber bands. I believed that when I was a child because the old folks told us this was so and we trusted the wise and respected old folks. Today, of course, I no longer believe this and I very much leave these lizards alone to do their own thing.

There are Muslims who believe in ‘contract marriages’. If you fancy a sweet young thing you can enter into a contract with her and after you have satisfied your lust and have exhausted yourself the marriage ends. Now, note that I said there are Muslims who believe this. I did not say I too believe this. And if I ever did try such a thing my wife would chop of my little pecker and feed it to the lizards — who I am sure would gladly devour it as revenge for the suffering they have endured all those many years every Thursday night.

Now, on the issue of forgiveness and whatnot, Muslims believe that if you have wronged someone then that someone has to forgive you first before God forgives you. That is what I wrote and which was what attracted that response from the Christian who e-mailed me.

Anyway, that is what my Tok Guru said and that is the common belief of most Muslims. However, there are Muslims who do not believe this. They believe that the concept of heaven and hell and credits and debits are a Christian concept that some Muslims have borrowed from Christianity.

Now, this is where the problem lies. Not all Muslims believe everything that Islam says. But they would be very careful about openly saying so. They are worried that if they express views that differ from the mainstream Muslim view then they would suffer retaliation. Until today, Muslims are still being killed for expressing views that are classified as deviant or blasphemous.

Remember 700 years or so ago when Christians were tortured and made to confess to sins of heresy and then burned alive at the stake? Well, Islam is more or less still at this stage — minus the torture and burning alive. Maybe, at worse, you would get detained without trial under the Internal Security Act or get cut down with a bullet in the head as you leave your home. Invariably, you will suffer some form of punishment for deviating from the true path of Islam if you are bold enough in opposing the mainstream view and openly express these views.

That is why many Muslims are ‘closet deviants’, if I may be permitted to put it that way for want of a better word. A Christian can openly declare that he or she does not believe in God and can even write a book about it. A Muslim does so at his or her own peril. You would not be around to celebrate Christmas if you dare say, do or write anything that upsets or antagonise other Muslims. And this is an undisputable fact.

Do you know there are Muslims who believe that the Quran was not written in Arabic? Yes, that’s right, they believe that the Quran was written in Syriac-Aramaic, not Arabic. These Muslims believe that written Arabic did not exist yet at the time of Prophet Muhammad. And they support this theory with the argument that this is why even Arabs who are proficient in their mother tongue have great difficulty in understanding the language of the Quran.

Those who disagree with this view argue that there is nothing strange in that. The Quran, they argue, is written in Classical Arabic, the way Shakespeare’s plays are written. Even if you speak English extremely well this does not mean you can understand Shakespeare, which is Classical or Olde English.

Now, I said there are those who believe this. How many Muslims believe this? I really don’t know because these people who do will never dare openly say they believe so. But those who do believe so will argue that ‘virgins’, if in Syriac-Aramaic, will translate to ‘raisins’. And suicide bombers get rewarded with raisins and not virgins when they go to heaven — if, in the first place, they get to go to heaven.

So there you have it. You really don’t know what Muslims believe because they will never dare tell you what they really believe. At best, they will say: according to the Muslim belief. And, therefore, in that same spirit, you really don’t know what I believe.

So save your breath. No need to send me long e-mails disputing my beliefs. No need to even counter what you think is my belief with the Christian belief. You really don’t know what my beliefs are.

Okay, while still on the same subject but on another point. Muslims, for example like the IGP, AG, CJ, and so on, believe they will go to heaven even if they do bad things in this world. They can even beat up my son and force him to admit to crimes he never committed and they are still destined for heaven although my son may be sent to jail for crimes he never committed. And this is because they are Muslims and all Muslims eventually go to heaven — never mind how bad they have been. At worse they will spend a short stint in hell. But after they serve their sentence they will get transferred to heaven.

Muslims like the IGP, AG, CJ, and so on, believe that non-Muslims, for example like Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Mandela, and so on, will all end up in hell. They will go straight to hell and will remain there for eternity. And this is because Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Mandela, and so on, are not Muslims. So it does not matter how much good they do in this world. It is all a wasted effort. They will still end up in hell in the end.

So Muslims do bad and they are not scared. They believe they will end up in heaven whatever they do. And they are not impressed by non-Muslims who do good. They believe that however good these non-Muslims are they will still end up in hell. And that is why we find Muslims like the IGP, AG, CJ, and so on, are terrible people. They have special protection and an exemption from hell. Because they are Muslims they will end up in heaven whatever they do. So why do they need to be good? It’s more fun being bad. And just before you die you repent and go to Mekah and all your sins will be cleansed and you come home as clean as a newly-born baby.

That is the Muslim belief. How many Muslims believe this? I don’t know because those who do not believe this do not dare say so. So they will just say this is the Muslim belief and will leave it at that.