The mould determines the shape (UPDATED with Chinese Translation)

It is time for reforms. So should we once again open the doors of debate, which were closed so long ago? Some would say yes. Many would say no. What Islam needs is a Muslim version of Martin Luther who can hammer his message onto the door of the Kaabah in Mekah.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

When we were kids we believed that if we killed lizards (chichak or cicak) on Thursday night we would receive pahala (credits). And if we killed enough lizards and accumulated enough pahala, we would go to heaven. So imagine the lot of us going round the house with rubber bands (lastic) shooting dead every lizard we set our eyes on.

This was what the old folks told us. But what the old folks did not tell us was that lizards helped eradicate mosquitoes and that by getting rid of the lizards we were actually helping mosquitoes breed and that this would in turn expose us to mosquito-borne diseases.

Fireflies, the old folks told us, are restless souls of Chinese floating around. Imagine our fear when we saw a firefly circling our bed at night. We would make a quick exit of our ‘haunted room’ and seek the safety of our parents’ room and would never return until someone chased the firefly away.

Howling dogs meant that a ghost was nearby. Dogs could see ghosts and that was why they howled. If you don’t believe this, we were challenged, then take the tears from the eyes of a dog and smear your eyes with it. Then we too would be able to see the ghost.

We of course never did do that. Dogs are considered najis (filthy) and if we touched a dog we would have to wash ourselves three times with sand. Anyway, who wants to see a ghost? As it is there are already so many ghosts lurking around the house. There is a ghost in the bathroom (hantu jamban), a ghost in the kitchen (hantu dapur), and many, many more.

We made sure we visited the toilet before we went to bed and even if our bladder were bursting we would hold it until daylight the following morning. We also made sure we never went to the kitchen alone at night. We always asked someone to accompany us to the kitchen.

We were discouraged from playing hide-and-seek at night because if we do then the hantu kopek (boobs ghost) would hide us under her huge boobs and no one would be able to see us even if they were just six inches from our face. And until the hantu kopek released us we would never be able to cross back into the human world.

If we suddenly smell something for no reason whatsoever, ether a foul smell or a fragrant smell, we must never say aloud that we can smell something. That smell would be a ghost and if we opened our mouth and mentioned it then the ghost would reveal itself to us.

There are so many species and types of ghosts that I have now forgotten them all. And we lived our lives constantly surrounded by these ghosts. For example, if we lost some money, then it was a hantu toyol who stole it. If we saw a bright light outside our window at night then it must be a pontianak.

The pontianak would fly through the air, only its head with its intestines trailing behind, and it would let a out a shill laugh (mengilai) as it flew through the air — in search of women about to give birth so that it can drink the blood and eat the umbilical cord.

We were brought up with all sorts of beliefs that on hindsight were a load of hogwash. Some of us grew out of it of course. But many others continued believing these old folks tales until their dying days. And they passed these beliefs on to the next generation just like how the older generation passed it on to them.

We were also taught many things about Islam, which we later learned was not religious at all. In fact, you could say these beliefs actually went against Islamic teachings. And it became very difficult to separate true Islamic teachings from old ‘pagan’ beliefs that were adopted as Islamic teachings.

If you study the history of Prophet Muhammad in greater depth, and of course with a more open mind, you can see the problems the Prophet too faced in trying to change the mindset of the extremely superstitious and tribal Arabs.

Tribalism is an extremely difficult Arabic culture to break. Many of the Islamic traditions are steeped in Arabic culture and tribalism. Until today the Arabs consider themselves a superior race and you get that feeling when you travel to Saudi Arabia. The Arabs too practice a form of Ketuanan Arab like the Malays believe in Ketuanan Melayu. Now you know why it is so difficult to eradicate the Ketuanan Melayu attitude of the Malays.

The Persians too believe that they are a superior race, more superior even to the Arabs. And if you call a Persian an Arab, he or she would get very upset and would correct you by telling you that they are Persians and not Arabs. The Jordanians would also say the same thing. They consider themselves the ancestors of the Hashim family of Mekah, the most superior tribe of all the Arabs. And that is why Jordan calls itself the Hashimite Kingdom of Jordan and, invariably, they look down on the other ‘pretender’ Arabs of the Saud kingdom or the Persians of Iran.

Imagine the problem the Prophet faced in trying to unite the Arabs under Islam. How could the more superior tribe merge with the lower caste tribes? And every tribe considered itself the superior tribe and all the others as more inferior. And the day the Prophet died revealed this failure to seek Muslim unity.

For three days the various tribes debated and argued as to who should be the successor to the Prophet (the word for successor in Arabic is Caliph). At first they insisted that a Medina man must be the new successor. They refused to accept a Mekah man because the people from Mekah were all pendatang (immigrants). Finally, they compromised on Abu Bakar because he was from a prominent family and someone from the more superior tribe.

The choice of Abu Bakar triggered a serious split amongst the Muslim community, which eventually resulted in Sunni-Shia rivalry and which, until today, has not been resolved. The infamous Karbala tragedy permanently split the Muslims and never again will the Muslims be a united community.

To understand how the Muslims treat women you have to do a serious study of Islamic history and the tribal way of life and customs. For example, Arabs love their drink and Muslim scholars would admit that it was very difficult for the Prophet to outright ban liquor.

The first verse of the Quran that came down was that there is some good in liquor but more bad. So Muslims should try to abstain from liquor. An outright ban at that point of time would mean the Arabs would reject Islam.

Later, the verse that was revealed was that Muslims should not drink when they are about to pray. Do not pray while drunk. During other times you can drink and get drunk. It was only after Islam had been well established and people would not dispute any ‘hard’ rules did the third verse emerge that banned liquor totally.

Even the Prophet could not ban liquor outright but had to do so in stages. And there are many other things that were of the Arabic tradition and culture, which the Prophet could not ban in his lifetime. He could only discourage the Arabs from doing it with promises of rewards if they abstained.

Take the case of slavery. Slaves were a part of Arabic tradition and culture. The Arabs were constantly at war with one another (until today it seems). And the victors in a war would take the losers as slaves — they massacred the men but captured the women and children. That was the spoils of war. If there were no spoils of war it would be very difficult to recruit soldiers for the army.

So the Prophet never banned slavery. Renowned Islamic scholars would tell you that slavery is legal in Islam until today. But of course, if you free a slave, you would receive pahala, as what the Prophet taught us. So you are encouraged to free slaves and you will be rewarded if you do. But there is no sin if you wish to keep the slaves as your property.

Yes, that’s right — humans are also your property. And your wife too is your property. And you can do what you like with your property.

If you indulge in extramarital sex, it is haram (forbidden) and you can get whipped 100 lashes according to Islamic or Shariah law (so what the three Malaysian women were subjected to is nothing). But if you have sex with your female slave this is allowed. It is not forbidden. The only condition is, once you transfer this female slave, your property, to your son, you must inform him that you have had sex with her. Then your son can’t also have sex with her. If you have never touched her then your son can have sex with her.

This is in the Hadith and has never been disputed by any Muslim scholar. In fact, the scholars will confirm that this is true. This means I can buy a female slave from the slave market and bring her home and have sex with her. And there is nothing the government can do. This is legal and I am just exercising my right.

Maybe if the Prophet had lived longer he would have banned slavery altogether like he did liquor. I really don’t know. However, as it stands, slavery is still legal in Islam and sex with a female slave is not a crime or a sin.

And Malays, being Muslims, of course know this. And that is the reason for their attitude towards women. So, to propagate gender equality is extremely difficult. In Saudi Arabia women still can’t drive or leave home alone and unescorted. They are, after all, property, and would you allow your property out of your sight?

It is time for reforms. So should we once again open the doors of debate, which were closed so long ago? Some would say yes. Many would say no. What Islam needs is a Muslim version of Martin Luther who can hammer his message onto the door of the Kaabah in Mekah. But I doubt that will ever happen for a long time to come, if it ever comes at all.

Muslims must research and find out what compromises the Prophet probably made for the sake of attracting the stubborn Arabs to Islam. The Arabs were a stubborn lot indeed and still are until today. So they would reject any paradigm shift. You need to wean them slowly. But the Prophet managed to preach Islam for only 22 years and then he died. So Islam managed to reform some things, but not all.

The Muslim scholars need to take a very bold step in bringing the Muslims out of 600AD Saudi Arabia into the modern world that has changed over more than 1,400 years since the Prophet’s time. Sure, there are some things laid down in the Quran and no mortal may change what was divine ruling. But we must also consider the circumstances of that time and consider how the Prophet had no choice but to go along with some old Arab traditions and tribal culture or else face a revolt.

There is one thing that everyone accepts, and that is the Prophet was a superb politician. Even non-Muslims accept that quality in the Prophet. And a good politician knows how to feel the pulse of the population and strategise when to push and when to hold back. And politicians must not go against the flow too much.

Not many Muslims, however, dare acknowledge this lest they be accused of insulting the Prophet. We are not trying to insult the Prophet. We are actually saying he was very clever. You have to be clever to handle the very difficult Arabs.

So, taking all that into consideration, which part of Islam was merely the Prophet’s very clever strategy of winning converts first, and then preach about changes later? And how much more changes would the Prophet have introduced if he had lived to be 80?

Yes, something for all Muslims to ponder on. And don’t be afraid of pondering. If Islam is a progressive religion, as we say it is, then we must ask ourselves how we can progress further.

Are the Muslims ready to do this? Probably not. Or probably not yet.

 

Translated into Chinese at: http://ccliew.blogspot.com/2010/02/blog-post_5092.html