Al-Biruni, Comparative Religion and Malaysian leadership

ARCHIVES 2013

By admin-s On Jul 9, 2013

The Islamic bill has been withdrawn by the Government in tandem with protests from non-Muslim Members of Parliament (MP). However, Malaysians are in still in the dark with several religious issues in our Malaysian multi-religious society.

Natesan Visnu

Prophet Muhammad sent a message to the monks of Saint Catherine’s Monastery, Mount Sinai:

“This is a message written by Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, far and near, we are behind them. Verily, I defend them by myself, the servants, the helpers, and my followers, because Christians are my citizens; and by Allah! I hold out against anything that displeases them. No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be changed from their jobs, nor their monks from their monasteries. No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims’ houses. Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God’s covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they (Christians) are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate. No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, this is not to take place without her own wish. She is not to be prevented from going to her church to pray. Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants. No one of the nation is to disobey this covenant till the Day of Judgment and the end of the world.”

The recent crisis with the conversion bill for children has sparked an uproar among the non-Muslims in Malaysia. The Islamic bill has been withdrawn by the Government in tandem with protests from non-Muslim Members of Parliament (MP). However, Malaysians are in still in the dark with several religious issues in our Malaysian multi-religious society.

The purpose of this article to explore the understanding between religions in a multicultural society. The writer is not a religious expert and the views are based on reading various religious literature available online. Constructive criticism and views are welcome to explore the subject for mutual benefit and understanding among fellow Malaysians.

Religious tolerance has been a debate for centuries. Many scholars have researched and produced works explaining the subject with great depth. However, the thoughts and opinions of these scholars have not resolved inter-faith issues and to date, humans have not resolved the differences among them. According to Al-Biruni (a Muslim scholar on the history of religion), “there is a common human element in every culture that makes all cultures distant relatives, however foreign they might seem to one another.” (Rosenthal, 1976, p. 10). Biruni is a Muslim scholar that had studied Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, and other religions. He studied religion with an open mind and his motive was to understand all of them instead of vilifying other religions. To take it further, Biruni was responsible to study Hindu scholarly books, learned Sanskrit and translated Hindu books into the Arabic language. He wrote Tarikh al-Kinh (History of India) exploring culture, mathematics, astronomy and every aspect of Indian life.

Biruni is one of many scholars from the Muslim world that has explored in depth other religions and produced works towards religious tolerance. His main approach was to explore the common principles among the religions to promote religious harmony. Politicians with half baked knowledge on religion have been politicizing issues and misleading Malaysians in general for years. Translating the effort and approach of Biruni, a similar approach could be used in Malaysia to tackle the religious issues that have been plaguing our society for years and causing unnecessary grief for Malaysians.

The religious issues in Malaysia have been provoked by racist leaders such as Ibrahim Ali attacking Christians on the ‘Allah’ word usage, Zulkifli Nordin condemning the Hindus, and other politicians making inane comments. If we analyse closely, the religious issues are caused by politicians for their personal political gain. In Malaysia, certain groups of irresponsible politicians are the major cause for religious conflict among members of the society. The first most important move is to stop the politicians from further confusing the public on religious issues.

In line with the above argument, the bill that needs to be studied and passed in Parliament is for politicians to stop making comments on religious issues. Politicians without the expertise on religion should be stopped from discussing religious issues in public. These issues should be addressed by experts with the similar wisdom of al-Biruni and the Dewan Rakyat should act based on their analysis on religious issues. Dewan Rakyat members should appoint an interfaith council consisting of scholars on comparative religion to provide advice on issues pertaining to religious issues. The approach will assist Malaysians to have a better solution on religious issues instead of relying on politicians who lack fundamental knowledge on religion attempting to debate the subject in Dewan Rakyat.

Prophet Muhammad has set a great example in leading the non-Muslim community. The Muslim leaders in Malaysia should further study the method used by Prophet Muhammad to promote religious harmony among Muslims and non-Muslims. Echoing Islamic terminology, the term hadith refers to actions and statements by Prophet Muhammad, teaching the world on leadership for a multi-religious society. Malaysians need to urge politicians to explore further, with the help of the correct experts, the underlying concepts and reforms of religious issues that have been plaguing our society for years.

Relating to the child conversion bill tabled recently, one particular verse of the Qu’ran: “let there be no compulsion in religion”. Prophet Muhammad and his followers never practiced forced conversion on Pagan Arabs. The proposal for conversion of a child with only one parent’s consent is a subject that requires indepth study. This writer’s view is that the subject must be studied further by religious experts from all faiths and a collective recommendation be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat for debate. Politicians without indepth knowledge in comparative religion should consult the appropriate experts to explore the subject.

To encapsulate the above, a comprehensive resolution on religious issues is required for the progression of our society. The failure to address religious issues will cripple the nation and limit our ability to prosper as a multi-religious society. Politicians should set aside their differences, work along with scholars and formulate policies that will benefit the people in general; not their political mileage.