Can a true patron of Islam do what Mahathir did? Can someone come out to clarify? Please?
The Third Force
In the wee hours of the morning last Sunday, I met up with a friend of mine, a source, who relayed how those high up in the corridors of power were mixed about the kind of exposes I have been making. The riding theory within a certain group of politicians, I am told, is that “the guy may or may not have the straight dope, but has yet to publish any evidence. We simply can’t investigate.”
Well, that is true. In fact, I’ve heard of this a couple of times from a few other sources. But just so that you know, and to clear the air, the evidence to some of the stuff I’ve been talking about will be posted at a later date, if at all. Currently, I am bound by constraints that, among others, relate to pacts I was forced to make to get this stuff out into the open.
My aim has always been to trigger the right kind of alarm whenever I perceive a threat of any sort to be imminent. It is not fame I seek. If I were seeking fame, not only would I start my own website or blog, however small or unpopular it may be, I would not write as The Third Force.
I need Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) to keep me in check. I subscribe to the principle that my articles must be vetted by an aristocrat. Furthermore, I do not betray those who ‘showed me the way’, so to speak, by working behind their backs or striving in competition against them. So to whoever this may concern, what who does with the information I present is neither within my jurisdiction nor power, as to me, it is best left to the discretion of the relevant authority.
Having said that, let us move on to some other stuff. Today, I intend to discuss a matter I think has totally been ignored by the blogging community, one that may interest Malaysians in general, regardless if you’re a Muslim or otherwise. But it does have to do with Islam. Specifically, what I want to relate here is the misconception among certain Muslim groups that the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, is a true patron of Islam.
But before that, I’ll have you know that this article does stretch a little, so please, bear with me. What I have to say relates to my personal experience and indulgence in matters of Islam and the question of God’s existence. I ask that you have patience and go through what is written to the end. It is important.
If you remember correctly, in the not too distant past, I told you of a Muslim group in Perlis that I met some time back. The group was one among many I communicated with in the span of months to research on the extent of misconception that existed among Muslim groups against Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak. The leader of the Perlis group told me how he and his followers throughout Malaysia were convinced that whatever Mahathir did, he did in the name of Islam and the best interest of the nation.
So today, I am going to contest the premise to that conviction by presenting you evidence to prove that whatever it is Mahathir is doing today, it has nothing to do with Islam, be it to uphold its tenets or to champion its cause. And I state here, with firm conviction, that all Mahathir wants is to protect the billions he ‘stole’ from UMNO and to pave the way for his son to become Prime Minister. Nothing more, and most certainly, nothing less.
But first, there is something I think all of you must know. And that is, I am not a practicing Muslim. At least, that’s what it says on paper. Still, for me to write this article or to touch on the tenets of Islam is not something that is forbidden. As I understand it, the word of Allah descended upon the world through His Prophets and lives among all of mankind, His creation.
This insight led me to embark on a mission to discover Islam in the deepest sense that may be humanly possible. I took it upon myself that if Islam claims the Quran to be the complete and absolute truth, it would be irresponsible for me to ponder or reason on the existence of a God without first discovering or attempting to understand recitals contained within Islamic scriptures.
I still have a lot to learn. You know, there was a time when I spent hours a night discussing various aspects of the religion with RPK, who gave me valuable insights into some principles that God is said to have laid down for mankind to follow. In that span, I took my place as a disciple to someone I now regard with the highest of distinctions, one I refer to as my Tok Guru. We regularly engage in chats to this day, although in the past, we used to organise group sessions. That is how serious I am in discovering Islam.
Whenever time permits me and my Tok Guru, we discuss Islam in the least constrained of senses, in that we question anything and everything while referring to the Quran and the Hadith for answers. We profess the idea that while the Quran is complete and takes precedence over the Hadith, neither one completes Islam without the other.
At this juncture, you might be thinking that I’m about to convert. All I can say is please, do not assume. My personal convictions, intellectual or emotional, are nothing I am able to advance in writing. They’re complex. Besides, I’ll have you know that I indulge in similar chat sessions with a group of Christian evangelists in Ipoh whenever I’m down there, as well as a group of Buddhists in Penang who are on about the truth. So please guys, no assumptions.
Incidentally, my Tok Guru has never once asked me to convert, let alone pressure me to do so. The two of us believe that those who embark on missions to convert non-Muslims, however noble their intent may be, are approaching things the wrong way. In a deep sense, we believe that the act of spreading the word of Allah and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad is sufficient without the need to ask anyone to convert.
An act of conversion, to us, must arise from inborn convictions that a Muslim should help a non-Muslim develop. You can spread the word of God or the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, but you can’t force a conviction. Ideally, a non-Muslim who converts to Islam must naturally develop inward convictions and a love for the religion and must voluntarily recite the Shahada with full awareness of its meaning.
There are many Muslim scholars opposed to this view. I’ve met them. They believe that because Islam is the ultimate truth, it wouldn’t matter if one were to take a leap of faith and develop a conviction for the religion later. There are others who agree that attempts to convert a non-Muslim should only be confined to acts of spreading His word and that of the Prophet Muhammad. Let us not get into that debate here.
Believe it or not, a while back, a young man of Chinese ethnicity converted to Islam on my account. Yes, I caused a Chinese man to convert to Islam by spreading the word of Allah as I understood it, by virtue of insights I derived from the many sessions I had with my Tok Guru.
Now, I did not ask the young man to convert. All I did was defend Islam when I saw him attacking the religion with senseless pretexts. You know, how “Islam is the root of evil,” Al Qaeda and all the rest of it. As I spoke of Islam as a religion of peace, I showed him how ignorant he was and how he was misguided into thinking that Hudud was aimed at “chopping off the hands of thieves.” Little did I know, he furthered on the discussion by referring to a religious group that later converted him to Islam. He came back to thank me for “showing him the path.”
Regardless if you believe me or not, let us be clear, that all I did was defend the truth. I can’t control all variables that relate to my act of upholding what I hold to be true. But I do believe in the natural evolution of the human psyche in all its forms and capacities. I subscribe to the idea that such an evolutionary process must never be tampered with. The young Chinese man made his decision, and I admire him for that.
Islam, at the heart of it is as much about peace as it is about one’s voluntary submission to Allah. The very act of attempting to discover and understand Islam is itself a journey, which in its truest sense may be physical, emotional or intellectual. And my physical, intellectual and emotional journey has convinced me that Mahathir is not a true patron of Islam.
The insight the Chinese boy may have gained from my act of spreading the word of Allah was his journey, as was mine when I journeyed to Perlis mid of last year to meet a group of Islamic scholars my Tok Guru referred me to. The trip was triggered by a question I had posed to my Tok guru, which went something like this:
“I’ve been told by someone, that Mahathir is a true patron of Islam, because, not only did he defend the dinar, he advocates the use of gold as currency to replace the western concept of paper money. I don’t agree with the use of paper money as I advocate Ethiopian ideals. Still, Mahathir seems to have done right insofar as Islam is concerned. But what he’s doing to the Prime Minister today is wrong. Am I wrong to say that?”
My tok Guru was silent. A day later, he contacted me through our usual channel and said something along these lines:
“Tomorrow, take leave from your duties, and travel north. Sometimes, and only sometimes, in a physical journey you will find answers. Go to Perlis and meet a friend of mine. You’ll get your answers after meeting him. Do not ask for the answer. Just discuss Mahathir with him.”
Yes, that’s my Tok Guru. He speaks like Master Yoda from Star Wars. Now you know why I love him.
When I got to Perlis and met this man, I was invited to a religious discussion of sorts. Apparently, this man was from Selangor and happened to be in Perlis for the day. I got the impression that my Tok Guru had spoken to him prior to my arrival. He seemed to have been expecting me.
While addressing a group of adherents, he discussed the concept of Hijrah. Midway, I cut him off and asked him what he thought of Mahathir. It came as a shock to his group, but not him. And this is what he said in return (more or less, as I remember it):
“Anyone who cares so much for the country as to defend the use of the dinar against the western dollar could only be a devout Muslim. If Mahathir says Najib is bad for the country, it can only mean that Mahathir sees Najib as morally unfit to lead Malaysia from an Islamic perspective, as he once saw Anwar unfit to replace him for his immoral deeds.”
“And Azmin?” I interjected. “I’m sure you know that Azmin had a ‘relationship’ with Anwar. Mahathir knows that. And now Mahathir can accept Azmin?”
“Yes, I know about Anwar and Azmin,” he replied, adding, “No. Mahathir will never accept or work with Azmin.”
I got my answer.
When I relayed to my Tok Guru what had happened, he smiled and asked me, “Have you got your answers?” I said yes. “Good, keep them to you. It was your journey.”
Today, the same group of people I met in Perlis firmly believe that Mahathir is un-Islamic and had taken everyone for a ride. Not only are they pissed that the former premier forged an alliance with Azmin to ‘save’ Malaysia, I was told just two days back, they see red over Mahathir’s sudden show of affection and warmth for Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
And that’s just the problem. Today, Mahathir is telling the people that the Prime Minister is criminally perverse and unfit to lead government. But earlier this week, he told Azmin that the latter needed to quash the perception that Anwar was guilty of having sodomized his aide.
Yes, the game plan is now to get you guys to believe that Anwar is in prison owing to a ‘conspiracy’ to castrate him. But do any of you remember what Mahathir said about Anwar a little over eighteen years ago?
On the 9th of September 1998, just seven days after Anwar was sacked from government, Mahathir told reporters that the reason he sacked Anwar was because the latter was morally perverse and unfit to lead the country.
“I do not consider Anwar as fit to lead the nation, not for political reasons or differences in opinion he has with me or about the economy. He is unfit because of his low morals.”
According to Mahathir, then the premier, Anwar feigned strong devotion to Islamic ideals and misled the faithful by posing as an Imam and delivering religious sermons. Mahathir implied that the act of deceiving the ummah was repugnant to the principles of Islam and was unforgivable. He added that because Anwar had sodomised a male associate of his and had relationships with prostitutes, the latter effectively smothered all avenue of conciliation. To Mahathir, Anwar had betrayed the trust that was bestowed by the government and the people on him.
And that is not all. According to Mahathir, Anwar was complicit with Dato’ Nallakaruppan to leak top secret government information to sources he did not specify. He was sure that Anwar and Nalla had jeopardized national security and needed to be dealt the full brunt of the law. But did Mahathir ever furnish evidence to substantiate his claims?
No.
When asked why not by reporters, this is what he said:
“Sebab saya tidak mahu menyakiti orang lain kerana apa yang berlaku amat memalukan. Sepatutnya, saya memilih memecat musuh saya, bukan seorang kawan.”
Today, Mahathir claims that the people are desperate to throw Najib and UMNO under the bus on counts of corruption. He insists that Najib is criminally perverse and unfit to lead the nation. Ironically, he now seeks the help of his protégé-turned-archrival, or Anwar Ibrahim, the very same person he once claimed was criminally and morally repugnant.
Worse, there was a time he insisted that Anwar had feigned devotion to Islamic principles, an act he said was as detestable as it was unforgivable. Now how could a man you once painted out to be the ‘devil’s advocate’ so suddenly help ‘save’ the country from another you now imply is ‘less of a criminal’?
I ask you, is Mahathir a true patron of Islam? Does the fact that he once defended the use of the dinar ascribe an utmost sense of a patronage or devotion to Islam? Could it not be that the former premier was driven by anti-Semantic convictions that everyone the world over knows resides in him? Please, can a true patron of Islam – anybody – defend me here? I plead to you, whoever you may be, come out and defend me, or at the very least, answer me – is Mahathir a true patron of Islam?
I mean, what about the illicit network of communication that Mahathir built through local agencies of statute and foreign media channels? It was through this network that his associates forged top secret government documents and delivered them to Clare Rewcastle Brown. How different is that from what he accused Nalla and Anwar of doing back in 1998?
Once again, I ask you, how Islamic can a man who deceives the people for his personal gains be? Where is the man who once defended the use of dinar against the ringgit? Was that man ever concerned about defending the sanctity of Islam?
