Malaysian Muslims are not the downtrodden victims
Zurairi AR, Malay Mail Online
You might not believe it, but it was only last week that I finished listening to the seminal podcast series Serial, which chronicled journalist Sarah Koenig’s digging into the mysterious murder case of high school student Hae Min Lee in Baltimore back in 1999.
Lee’s boyfriend, Adnan Syed — of Pakistani-Muslim heritage — was convicted of the murder.
In one of the show’s latter episodes, Koenig suggested that Syed’s trial might have been coloured by racial prejudice. The prosecution had tried to paint Syed as a man whose honour was “besmirched” after Lee broke up with him, and that he had sought revenge as a way to restore his cultural pride.
If you have not listened to the show, you should. Serial will be exploring the story of US soldier Sgt Bowe Bergdahl who was held for five years by the Taliban in its second season out later this year.
It was on the same day I finished the podcast that I received several complaints from my old high school mates that some in Malaysian media might have been slightly irresponsible with their wordings when writing stories involving the Muslim community in the country.
They claim that some stories are easy to be misconstrued by less-learned readers, and only provide more fodder for those who are trying to run down Islam and the Muslims in Malaysia. They, obviously, were irked by this “misreporting” which was detrimental towards “social harmony.”
Naturally, this got me drawing comparisons. I will get back to this later, but is it not astonishing how it is all too easy for some Malaysian Muslims to slip into that victim mentality? But to what end? I have yet to figure that one out thoroughly.
Just right after Friday prayers, a group of around 500 Muslims held a rally against Israel’s alleged “desecration” of the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam. Why they chose to protest in front of the United States embassy to deliver that message, however, still boggles my mind.
But it was clear that the Muslims were angry that Israel is restricting access to the site — the Temple Mount — which is sacred to both Jews and Muslims, and the resulting clashes. Hence, the protest name: “Himpunan Kemarahan”, a Rally of Anger.
One cannot help but wonder if their anger is misdirected here. After all, at least 769 and maybe 1,000 Muslims had just died roughly a week ago, and nobody bothered to get the least bit flustered.
Is it because the deaths were during the Haj pilgrimage at the holy land of Mecca? Or is it because the culprit was almost certain to be the Saudi Arabia government?
The same Saudi regime that sentenced 21-year-old human rights activist Ali Mohammed al-Nimr to crucifixion and beheading just for participating in the Arab Spring protests? And the same one that immediately passed the buck to African Muslims and Shiites for the hell that broke loose during the stampede?
Do Muslims not feel victimised when it is their own brethren doing the oppressing? Instead of some demonic Jew straw-man that Muslims prefer to get mad at?
And is it not the least bit ironic that the same people protesting against Israel’s restricting Muslims’ act of worship in Jerusalem would probably have no qualms against Muslims doing the same against people of other faiths in Malaysia itself?
The recent decision by the Penang mufti to gazette a decree by the state fatwa committee banning the use of mosque loudspeakers for use other than for calls of prayer was greeted by outrage from some Muslims nationwide.
But sadly, their outrage only came from blind accusation that the DAP state government was to blame, as many accuse it of being anti-Islam. Even when DAP’s secular ideology meant that it will not dip its fingers in religious affairs.
For me, the furore has less to do with religion than it is about power.
The Muslims are not afraid of having their religious rituals diminished. Instead, they are afraid that the impunity they currently hold to breach public space by blaring their loudspeakers is taken away.
But when Muslims are holding that power, it is easily prone to abuse. We saw this recently when the mufti of Pahang used his authority to draft the sermon read statewide during the Aidiladha prayer to vilify, yet again, DAP.
Mufti Abdul Rahman Osman not only abused his position to deliver a political message warning Malays against joining DAP, claiming it was against Islam. But he also remained unapologetic when he was confronted about it, warning DAP instead to stay out of Islamic affairs.
The mufti has nothing to be afraid of. After all, he has the unchallenged backing of the mentri besar and his state government. And why would they not back the mufti when the mufti just declared himself a staunch ally of the ruling coalition?
Back to the matter of media portrayal. I disagree when Malaysian Muslims feel that they are under scrutiny because of a prejudicial agenda against the faith.
Muslims are not a misunderstood minority in the country. They are the visible majority whose identity is just as familiar to many people.
They are not “The Other” that gets ridiculed just because they are different, like how the British press mercilessly mocked Sabahans during the Kinabalu nude tourists episode.
If anything, the Muslims in Malaysia are not judged just because of their faith. But their conduct will be scrutinised nonetheless since the Muslim community and Islam holds so much sway over the direction the country is headed and that will inevitably affect everyone else.
If concerned Muslims wish to stop the criticism and ridicule over their actions, they only need to stop the source of such fodder: their own selves.
