When the truth takes precedence over the law

By MT Webmaster Last updated Jul 31, 2015

Yes, truth. That is what all Malaysians seek, even if we have to violate the law to get to the truth. And that is what Al Qaeda, the Taliban, Boko Haram, ISIS, ISIL, Islamic State, the Muslim Brotherhood, etc., also seek, the truth. And they kill to seek the truth even if that is against the law. No doubt this is the truth the way they see it and not the way we see it. But it is still the truth nevertheless, in their perspective.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Over the last week or so we have been hearing many people say that the truth is more important than the law. I suppose when the law is an ass then we could say that: the truth is more important than the law. The only question here would be who gets to decide which law or laws is/are an ass and who gets to decide what the truth is?

In short, invariably, these issues are very subjective and different people may have a different opinion as to what constitutes truth and which of those laws can be placed in the category of ‘ass’. There would not be a one-size-fits-all situation and at best we will have to agree to disagree on the matter.

Okay, let’s say we adopt ‘the truth takes precedence over the law’ principle and whatever we do is based on this principle. We would still need some parameters or boundaries to apply this principle. Hence the law of precedence would then apply: which is how English law evolved over 1,000 years anyway.

Let us look at one example. The Federal Constitution of Malaysia says that Islam is the religion of the Federation. It does not mention the other religions other than they can be practiced in Malaysia but subject to certain conditions such as they cannot be preached to Muslims.

That is in the Constitution. So the truth here would be what favours Islam must prevail while that which is offensive to Islam must be avoided. And the truth that must apply would be the truth as Islam views it.

Islam believes that Allah does not have children, parents, wives, siblings or whatever. Allah is only one and is not created (born) nor can He be uncreated (die). To say, therefore, that Allah has a Son and that this Son is named Jesus would be a lie according to Islam.

Christians may argue that the law allows them to publish Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia and since the Bible is in Bahasa Malaysia it would then use Allah as the name for God. However, by using Allah as the name for God you would then say that Jesus is the Son of Allah.

If you say Jesus is the Son of God, Muslims would not be able to say anything about that. But to say that Jesus is the Son of Allah tantamount to a lie and Muslims can oppose that since, to the Muslims, that is not the truth.

In the use of the term Allah in the Bahasa Malaysia Bible, if we apply the truth over the law, then the Christians would not have a leg to stand on. So do you still think that the truth must prevail and must take precedence over the law?

We cannot ding-dong and say that in one situation the truth takes precedence over the law while in another situation the law must take precedence over the truth.

And we cannot argue that that may be the truth as far as Islam is concerned but not as far as Christianity is concerned because the Constitution says that Islam is the religion of the Federation. It does not say that Christianity is the religion of the Federation. So truth here must be in the Islamic context.

In the old days, the Malay Archipelago used to be called Tanah Melayu. That is how the old maps named Malaya (see below). Then in 1948 it was called Persekutuan Tanah Melayu once the Federation was formed to replace the Malayan Union of 1946.

Hence for more than 600 years, long before the Chinese and Indians migrated to Malaysia in large numbers from 1850 to 1920, Malaysia was known as the land of the Malays. The maps of the 1400s said so. And the Merdeka stamps (see below) also referred to Malaya as Federation of Malaya or Persekutuan Tanah Melayu.

To the Malays this is the truth even though the non-Malays may find that offensive and resent being called pendatang. And the truth must be based on precedence, which is Malaysia was Malay land long before the non-Malays came to the country.

Some argue that the Malays are pendatang as well and that the Malays, too, migrated to Malaysia. That is not what the historical records show. What it does show is that there were laut Malays and darat Malays. The laut Malays moved from island to island within the Archipelago while the darat Malays stayed put and lived in mostly the interior or in the hills. And the many interior or hill Malay tribes have been grouped into what they are now called ‘orang asli’.

They are asli (not asal) not because they first came to the Malay Archipelago but because they live the asli or original life of the natives – basically live off the land. It is like saying tarian asli as opposed to tarian modern. Tarian asli is old style (traditional dancing) while tarian modern is new style (modern dancing). It is not about which dance first came to the country.

So there you are. When we apply the principle of truth and use precedence as the parameter, then much of your arguments regarding the law and so on fall to pieces. The truth is Malaysia is the land of the Malays and Islam is the religion of the land. And everything you do must take into consideration these factors, never mind what the law might say.

Raja Petra Kamarudin RPK