In redefining Islam, PAS-DAP reps take divergent paths
Joseph Sipalan, The Star
A proposal by Putrajaya to specify “Sunni” as Malaysia’s only legally recognised Islamic sect has drawn divergent views from two Muslim leaders in the multiracial Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact, with Islamist PAS backing the move and secular DAP labelling it “un-Islamic”.
DAP assistant national publicity secretary Zairil Khir Johari said there was “no need whatsoever” to legally define the sort of Islamic ideology that is practised in Malaysia, as it would only lead to discrimination against other Islamic groups, driving a stake deeper into Muslim unity here.
But his PAS comrade Salahuddin Ayub, a vice-president in the Islamist party, tacitly agreed to the plan, saying it is important in Islam to streamline the ideology, especially since the practice of the religion has long been adopted as part and parcel of Malay culture.
“In things like this, the less state interference the better. After all, who are any of us to define religion?” Zairil said when contacted by The Malay Mail Online.
“For that matter, discriminating against other Muslim groups is in itself un-Islamic. Islam is Islam. There is no need to set it in stone. Islam is the religion of the federation, and that is good enough,” the Bukit Bendera MP added.
But Salahuddin appeared to believe differently, pointing out that in Malaysia, the Sunni school of jurisprudence has long been practised and accepted as the country’s brand of Islam.
“That has been the practice all the while in this country. In general, we accept that it is Sunnah wal Jamaah… but the approach must be polished,” he said.
On Friday, Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the proposal would be brought before the government for discussion in a bid to prevent the spread of other Islamic ideologies, including the Syiah sect, in Malaysia.
National newswire Bernama quoted the minister as saying that by inserting the words “Sunnah wal Jamaah” in the definition of Islam in the Federal Constitution, it would ensure that Muslims who follow other ideologies are prohibited from spreading their teachings.
It is widely accepted that “Sunnah wal Jamaah” is the de-facto ideology adopted by the majority of Muslims in Malaysia, though religious authorities have long grappled with pockets of different sects that have taken root across the country.
But Zairil brushed aside Umno’s call to specify the denomination that can be legally practised in the country as mere fear mongering so they can remain as the country’s most powerful political party.
“Their standard modus operandi is to divide and rule. All these games by Umno are to keep the Malays fearful, to create the enemy… the other, so they can mobilise their people.
“The whole idea is to create a siege environment, because Umno is irrelevant the moment the Malays can see that Umno is not taking care of them.
“They are looking for ways to distract from the economic agenda,” he said, citing the subsidy rationalisation, the recent hike in rates for public amenities and the 2015 implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
On his end, Salahuddin reminded that ideological differences have been a long-standing issue among Muslims in Malaysia, particularly in the case of Perlis, which he said has not adopted any particular Islamic ideology for a long time now.
“It is normal for a Muslim country to review acts or enactments related to the practice of Islam from time to time.
“But the most important thing is that religion falls under the (jurisdiction of the) state and the sultans, the Council of Rulers.
“There is a need for Ahmad Zahid to have a roundtable meeting and get input and advice from the state governments, because this does not only concern the federal government. Even in the Constitution, it says that this matter runs concurrently with the states,” he said.
Prior to the creation of PR in 2008, ties between DAP and PAS were at times tenuous and even directly antagonistic as both parties disagreed on how Islam should be approached in the national context.
DAP has long maintained that Malaysia is a secular state, insisting that Islam’s position as the religion of the federation does not make the country an Islamic state.
PAS, on the other hand, continues to hold on to the aim of establishing an Islamic state — as outlined in the party’s constitution — despite easing up on the issue in recent years to accommodate their partners in the PR coalition.
The two parties, however, still lock horns every so often over issues related to Islam, with the latest tiff surfacing early last month when DAP chairman Karpal Singh suggested that all religious- and race-based professional or political bodies be de-registered to protect the unity and interests of Malaysia’s multi-racial society.
At the close of the Umno general assembly yesterday, party president and prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that his party would be taking the lead in formalising “Sunni” as Malaysia’s brand of Islam in its internal constitution.
Several Muslim lawyers, however, have voiced out that any move to gazette this in the Federal Constitution, the highest law of the country, would be “unconstitutional” as it would entirely wipe out the Malay-Muslim identities of non-Sunni Muslims in Malaysia.
Former Umno minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim recently echoed the same, arguing that hardline Islamic leaders who seek to punish Syiah Muslims here may only “destroy the country”.
He likened the crackdown to the intra-faith conflict raging among Arab nations and urged Malaysians not to go down the same road as their Muslim brethren there.
“Are they Syiah Muslim? Obviously they are; otherwise Jakim would not be interested in them.
“So if you are Muslim, but not of the variety accepted by Jakim, you get punished… If this is not stupidity, what is?”
“Just because the Arabs partake in Syiah-Sunni warfare doesn’t mean we have to follow. Do we want those killings in this great country?” he said in his tirade on Twitter in August.
