Over-regulation of Islam won’t help resolve interfaith issues
One thing is for sure: any form of dialogue can only take place if its participants are well-equipped with knowledge to argue their case, coupled with the humility to accept varying opinions.
Alyaa Alhadjri, The Ant Daily
Any move to “over-regulate” the practice of Islam as Malaysia’s official religion is not the solution to resolve issues surrounding interfaith relations.
Jihad for Justice president Datuk Thasleem Ibrahim said the process should instead start from an early stage where children are taught religious values in the “right way”.
“Faith is between you [as a person] and Allah SWT. Let us as Muslims examine ourselves first.
“Are we doing the right things or are we going to over-regulate until the day we find our children going overseas, only to realise that this [what they were taught] is not Islam in its entirety?” he told theantdaily.
Thasleem also said that the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim), as well as state religious authorities, should reconsider its approaches towards regulating Islam in Malaysia.
The first step, he said, is to stop propagating government-sanctioned ideologies during the weekly Friday prayer sermons.
“Some of the sermons today are just ridiculous. Nowhere in the world are the sermons prepared in this way,” he said in echoing criticisms to the perceived pro-government stand adopted in the name of Islam and delivered through the pulpit.
A sense of disillusionment with the message delivered had even driven National Laureate Datuk A Samad Said to perform his Friday prayers at Masjid India where the sermon is delivered in Tamil.
“I moved to the Masjid India mosque on purpose. I do not understand Tamil, so I feel more relieved,” said the octogenarian, who is fondly known as Pak Samad, in an interview with an online portal last week.
This, Thasleem argued, is a clear sign of the extent that religion and Islam have been “politicised” in Malaysia, particularly by the ruling Barisan Nasional government led by Umno.
“They [Umno] have tried the racial, economic and religious cards but [many] people today have progressed beyond the stupidity of Jakim,” he said.
Thasleem also said that there has been no proof to back up claims of Islam and Malays in Malaysia being under threat from non-Muslims.
