When Islam becomes a political tool (UPDATED with Chinese Translation)
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng should stop saying that he sees Caliph Umar Abdul Aziz as his ideal role model, says Umno. He has so many other leaders whom he can emulate — Abraham Lincoln, Confucius or even Nelson Mandela.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Jawi preaches sinless solutions to social woes reports The Malaysian Insider (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/jawi-preaches-sinless-solutions-to-social-woes/)
The Federal Territory Religious Department’s (JAWI) Director, Datuk Che Mat Che Ali, appears to be just focusing on ‘social problems’ such as close proximity and cohabitation. He said that the family institution is to be blamed for many of the social ills faced by the current younger generation. The family institution breaks down when parents get divorced and children are left devoid of love and care.
Meanwhile, the Bil Hal dakwah will go to the ground to meet its target group, often those disowned by society — drug addicts, prostitutes, transvestites, vagrants and those involved in fornication.
That is JAWI talking, a very important outfit that upholds Islam and can decide if people like me who are perceived to have insulted Islam can spend the next few years under detention without trial.
JAWI is the so-called custodian of Islam. JAWI can decide if you walk the face of this earth a free man or if you spend the rest of your life behind bars. But it demonstrates a very superficial struggle in upholding Islam.
JAWI admits that there are a lot of social problems in Malaysia. And these social problems are because the family breaks up, says JAWI. So it is because husbands and wives get divorced that we have social problems. And JAWI would like to focus on their ‘target group’ — drug addicts, prostitutes, transvestites, vagrants and those involved in fornication.
The focus is very narrow indeed. Yes, these may be some of the social problems. But these are not the only social problems. And these are not the biggest social problems.
Why does JAWI not dare talk about the rampant corruption amongst civil servants? Read what the MACC said, as reported by The Star: MACC: Bribery of govt officers ‘rampant’.
What about abuse of power by the politicians? Is this not an even more serious problem? And is this not also the root of corruption?
Islam is doomed when the custodians of Islam like JAWI focus on superficial issues and then declare that by solving them this will lead to a ‘sinless society’. Sin, to JAWI, involves drugs, liquor and sex. The rest are not sins. So this is what JAWI would like to focus on — drugs, liquor and sex. And to solve this problem husbands and wives should not divorce, says JAWI.
There are many happily married Malaysians. They do not drink, eat pork, gamble, or sleep around. But they take bribes. They abuse their power. They rob the nation’s coffer and steal the taxpayers’ money. They bankrupt the nation. And they uphold Apartheid and discrimination. But this is not on the list of JAWI’s must eradicate.
We want the non-Muslims to respect Islam. In fact, we demand that they respect Islam or else suffer the consequences. But respect has to be earned. We can’t demand respect. But how to earn respect when the custodian of Islam talks about matters that the non-Muslims do not care two hoots about — like drinking and sleeping around? What the non-Muslims worry about is the corruption and abuse of power that even the MACC admits is a serious problem in Malaysia. And JAWI avoids taking about all this. It is not even on JAWI’s radar screen.
One person who talks like a true Muslim is the Chief Minister of Penang, Lim Guan Eng. And he is not even a Muslim at that. He talks about amar maarof, nahi munkar (espousing good while abhorring evil). He talks about the Caliph Omar as the example of a leader who practices fair, clean and good governance. Hey, he talks better than millions of Malaysian Muslims.
But Umno is not happy that Guan Eng talks this way (see The Edge news report below). Only Muslims should talk this way, says Umno. Non-Muslims have no right to talk this way.
How shallow can Muslims be? When Guan Eng talks the way all Muslims should be talking we whack him and ask him to stop talking. Then we say that if we can get Muslims to stop taking drugs, drinking liquor, or sleeping around, then Malaysia would become a sinless society. And to achieve this we need to make sure that husbands and wives stay married and do not get divorced.
Aiyah, sometimes I feel like giving up on these narrow-minded Muslims.
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Shahabudin: Guan Eng shouldn’t use caliph as role model
Written by Regina William, The Edge
GEORGE TOWN: Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng should stop saying that he sees Caliph Umar Abdul Aziz as his ideal role model in leadership because it has made Muslims restless and uneasy.
Shahabudin Yahya (BN – Permatang Berangan) said Lim should use other non-Muslim leaders as his role model.
“He (Lim) is not a Muslim and he shouldn’t say he is emulating him.”
“Don’t use it as a political mileage as Muslims are getting upset with him referring to his leadership to that of the Caliph,” Shahabudin said in his winding up speech.
He said that while Lim was free to participate in the religious festivities of other creeds, he should refrain from portraying himself on the same spiritual level of the Caliph.
“He has so many other leaders whom he can emulate, Abraham Lincoln, Confucius or even Nelson Mandela, but the Caliph is a Muslim and a very spiritual person.”
“He should never equate himself to that spirituality, as he cannot be on the same level as the Caliph. There is a vast difference between the both of them,” he added.
He said Lim also made Muslims throughout the country uneasy with his often quoted “amar maarof nahi mungkar” (espousing good while abhorring evil) for political mileage.
“He should fulfill the needs of the respective race or creed without misusing religion or acting as though he is into any religion to garner support,” Shahabudin added.
Translated into Chinese at: http://ccliew.blogspot.com/2010/05/blog-post_10.html
