Tag: Islamisation

Malaysia Attorney-General: Non-Muslims Rattled By Increasing Islamisation

NON-MUSLIMS are against Islamic criminal law amendments as they perceive them as another step towards the Islamisation of Malaysia, Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali candidly told The Malaysian Insight yesterday.

It does not help either that the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (or better known by its Bahasa Malaysia acronym, RUU 355) Bill was mooted by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, the propagator of hudud laws in Kelantan in the 1990s, with Terengganu following suit later.

Wading into the issue after Barisan Nasional decided not to table Hadi’s private member’s bill in line with the principle of consensus, Apandi said this issue was always going to be a problem.

“When Hadi introduced this bill and tried to incorporate the 100 lashes and other severe punishment, the perception of non-Muslims was that hudud is coming, in the guise of the private member’s bill.”

In fact, Apandi said, RUU 355 was simply to amend the existing Syariah Criminal Law Act to enhance punishments.

It was also to give Muslims a sense of “feeling good”, as the shariah court currently is even lower than the powers of the magistrate’s court. RUU 355 was to have increased the power of the shariah court to the position of a Sessions Court.

“They (non-Muslims), however, read it as the beginning of an Islamic state government like the ones in Iran, Iraq and Syria, despite being told it was not applicable to non-Muslims. That is why the strong resistance.”

On a personal note, Apandi is relieved that the ruling federal coalition had made a U-turn on RUU 355, as that meant he would not have to draft the amendments to Hadi’s bill, which he felt would have been opposed anyway.

“When we draft, we have to show that it is a government bill, so in the first place, my office will have to make sure that it is different from Hadi’s draft.

“So maybe, just maybe, we may exclude Sabah (and Sarawak), to make it different, and even reduce the sentences.

“On the number of strokes, and even the sentences, I would have probably reduced them.

“The difference from the current laws which the Syariah Court Criminal Jurisdiction covers, imprisonment is only up to three years. They want to change it to 30 years, such a big disparity.

“As for fines, currently it is RM1,000, they want to increase it to RM100,000. The disparity is so big. People are going to start questioning the logic behind this.

“So that is why the perception by the people outside will be ‘Oh, this is definitely going to be hudud’.”

Apandi also said he had mentioned the matter to BN politicians and they have indicated their concerns to him.

Many had said it would be difficult for them to explain to their supporters if the government had adopted Hadi’s bill.

They had also warned that BN could lose seats, especially in Sarawak and Sabah, if the government did not make that RUU 355 U-turn.

Apandi also feels RUU 355 was more political than legal.

“The purpose and intention of this is to reap political mileage. Have you heard anybody from the public clamouring for increase of powers of the shariah court? No, nobody asking is asking for it, isn’t it?

“To my reading, it is mainly political. He (Hadi) has to satisfy the states that have already established hudud laws.

“People in those states are beginning to question him: ‘Hey, we have the law, why can’t we enforce them? What’s happened?’ He needs to say something to these states. And that is why he is trying to get federal support.

“So, yes… it’s political!”

Source: www.themalaysianinsight.com

April 1, 2017
Malaysia, Truly Arab?

While I had hoped for my first article of the New Year to be filled with positivity and written with a light heart, I made the mistake of turning on the television on New Year’s Eve. The scene televised from Dataran Merdeka made my heart skip a beat.

There, instead of our usual cultural dance shows and performances by local artistes while we await the countdown to the New Year, were many people dressed in Arab gear chanting and swaying their bodies to recitations exulting the Prophet Muhammad and Allah.

I only realised that the televised scene was in Kuala Lumpur when I saw the iconic Sultan Abdul Samad building in the background.

I waited for a few minutes in disbelief, urging the television set to change the scene to one I was more familiar with. I was waiting for the usual jingle of “Malaysia, truly Asia”, for that crowd of dancers in exuberant costumes representing the stereotypical image of a culturally diverse Malaysia that I know to be over-exaggerated, but I have to admit, I now miss.

That image never came.

I was secretly glad that I spent New Year’s Eve at a running event in Malacca. As I finished the run before midnight and away from the revelry of the celebrants, I could see Malaysian families coming together at the field either for the run or to usher in the New Year amid fireworks.

My friends and I even shared a table with strangers at a famous chicken rice ball restaurant — a crowd that consisted of foreigners, locals and out-of-town Malaysians alike — enjoying what we Malaysians are most famous for: the food.

That is the Malaysia I know, people from different ethnic groups just sitting together at a street-side stall or dingy restaurant, placing our orders in simple Bahasa or Hokkien or Tamil, even. Nearly everyone would be eating similar fare.

Perhaps this is a grittier, more realist image of the country I love than the usual annual fanfare we put on stage.

What I experienced on New Year’s Eve was not what was shown on television that night.

WHAT IT MEANS TO BE MALAYSIAN

I am sure that every Malaysian has the same wishes as those at Dataran Merdeka — a fresh new start to the year, leaving behind all the heartaches of the past year, hopes for a better Malaysia that we will continue to build together.

What really bothered me about the televised image was the assumption that Malaysia only belongs to those of a particular religion and, it goes without saying, of a particular race.

Yes, it was the image of a peace-loving Islam, led by none other than Indonesia-born preacher Habib Syech Abdul Qadir as-Seggaf, who professes to be a direct descendant of Prophet Muhammad himself.

Under the country’s secular Federal Constitution, every Malaysian is allowed freedom of religion and freedom of expression — thus, the crowd in Dataran Merdeka has every right to chant their love for the Prophet and raise their voices to the high heavens in hope of a better, less arduous year.

Believe me, I hope and pray for better, too. Yet, I saw an Arab country in that televised scene, not Malaysia.

I did not see any of the VVIPs in baju Melayu, sampin (accompanying sarong-like cloth worn by men around the waist) and songkok — most, if not all of them, were in flowy, white jubahs (a long garb commonly worn by Muslims) complete with kopiah (traditional cap), sitting on cushions that reminded me of nomads living in the desert, rather than the usual sofas reserved for VVIPs at government-organised events.

I did not see women during the brief televised set, though from news reports I was informed that the crowd consisted of families. It would have been wonderful if the women were in kebayas and batik sarongs, with their hair in elegant sangguls (bun hairstyle), but I do not think this was the case.

I understand that the clothes worn there are meant for prayers, as the VVIPs led the crowd for Isya’ prayers beforehand — however, have we not seen our leaders leading prayers in baju Melayu every Raya? Are we now so immersed in Arabic culture that we have completely forgotten our own?

We surely forgot that Malaysia consists of non-Muslims, too. Would it not have been more meaningful to hold an interfaith session, where every Malaysian can come together, pray for a better nation and a better year, and at the same time learn the nuances of the different faiths, interact with each other side by side and essentially be Malaysians?

Surely that would have been the best way to organise such an event if it is the spiritual aspect we are aiming for.

It is sad to think that I am reduced to feeling Malaysian only when I go for overseas conferences, at running events and at roadside stalls.

In this new year, I urge that we all reassess our own Malaysian identities before adopting another.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Lyana Khairuddin, a columnist at The Malaysian Insider, does research on the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Human papillomavirus (HPV) viruses and teaches at a Malaysian public university.o

Source: www.todayonline.com

January 7, 2016
Why “Creeping Islamisation” Is No Joke

If you were not bingeing on a TV show imagining a world where the Nazis had won, like I did, how did you spend your New Year’s Eve?

Did you spend it indoors with your loved ones? Or perhaps you were one of the revellers who danced the night away, pausing only to admire the fireworks?

Or maybe, seeking respite from the drizzle, you were planning to witness the countdown at the historic Dataran Merdeka? Only to bafflingly discover that the place was filled with thousands of men clad in robes and skullcaps chanting in Arabic?

It would be too easy to dismiss and mock critics who highlight the so-called “creeping Islamisation” in Malaysia. Especially those who cite the event — the recurring Malam Cinta Rasul, or Love the Prophet Night — as a pointed example.

After all, the notion of “creeping Islamisation” plays right into the narrative of anti-liberal reactionaries, who often speak of concerted attacks to undermine the position of Islam and the Malay race in this country.

For them, it evokes their favourite caricature of a hysterical Malay-hating Islamophobe strawman who would rant against anything tied to the two topics.

How could Islamisation creep up on you when Islam has been here for centuries? So, the argument could go.

Or they would conflate being Islamic and Islamised, claiming that many Muslims were happily drinking the night away on New Year’s Eve, among other vices.

Fact is, institutionalised Islamisation has been around for so many decades that even those who have not been completely indoctrinated, would have normalised the situation and can see nothing wrong.

Islamisation has less to do with people becoming more pious or religious, than it is with Islam permeating into institutions and spaces that used to be secular and have no religious value.

To the clueless, let me start the year right by painting a picture of Islamisation by using Malam Cinta Rasul as an example, and another “creeping faith” that haunts the dreams of paranoid clerics: Star Wars.

Malam Cinta Rasul might be optional, it is not mandatory for all Malaysians, let alone Muslims. Nonetheless, it has now been held on a grand scale annually since 2013 — mostly on New Year’s Eve — not counting several other events sharing the same name in other states.

This is only possible with backing from the state, and so it was. The event was organised by the Cheras Education Foundation, a foundation under Cheras Umno, led by influential grassroots chief Syed Ali Alhabshee.

And the foundation can afford to do so, when it is backed by the state itself. Co-partners included the Federal Territories (FT) Ministry, Communications and Multimedia Ministry, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall, and the FT Islamic Council.

Present as guests of honour at the event, complete with comfortable lounge seats, were Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, FT minister Tengku Adnan Mansor, Perak Mentri Besar Dr Zambry Kadir, KL Mayor Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz, and Syed Ali himself.

Essentially, this means Putrajaya has no qualms holding an event that costs hundreds of thousands ringgit (last year’s cost was roughly RM200,000), for something that panders exclusively to Muslims.

Doesn’t sound too ridiculous? Imagine then, Putrajaya co-organising a massive, costly Star Wars convention, and only Star Wars, year in year out.

Not to forget, the event was held in a public space, commonly associated with New Year’s Eve celebrations which was completely accessible to people of all backgrounds. Or at least it was, before 2013.

Drawing on the same analogy, this is akin to a Malaysian coming every week to his pasar malam spot, only to discover that suddenly the lot is used for a Star Warsscreening. For the next month, there has not been any pasar malam on that day of the week. Just Star Wars, week after week.

Unconsciously, the public is made to perceive that such an Islamic-themed events — regardless of its actual religiosity — is a norm, despite its relatively late introduction to Malaysia.

Not only that, by endorsing such an event, Putrajaya is promoting it as a “preferred” way to usher in the new year. Which spells good news for conservative killjoys who cannot stand others enjoying their non-Shariah-compliant celebrations.

Once secular, the new year has now been co-opted as a day to assert Islam’s dominance, by the many Malays who came in droves, over the rest of the public.

This, insidiously, carries repercussions beyond just ringing in the new year.

This endorsement of a seemingly Islamic way of life as the only “right” way for a Malay to live will result in an ugly divide and demonisation, especially when Malays have no way of shedding the “Muslim” label in the first place.

Left unchallenged, it would solidify the position of Islamic dogma as the basis of the country’s governance.

We see it in Islamic agencies Jakim and Yapeim’s impunity, even in the face of public uproar over its lack of transparency in handling funds.

We see it in the Langkawi homes where the roofs were painted over simply for resembling a cross at a certain angle.

We see it in the clergy wing of Islamist party PAS, suggesting that marrying children off is the best way to prevent sexual crimes.

We see it in Terengganu, which like some other states have banned vaping, but only after the National Fatwa Council deemed it “haram” for Muslims.

We see it in the civil court handing over the power of child custody in cases of forced Muslim conversions, to the Shariah courts. A decision which PAS Youth has proudly claimed as a “victory” against liberals, although it is more likely a trumping win against non-Muslims.

Yes, Malaysians are yet to turn more Islamic.

But slowly and bit by bit, unnoticed by most, there is a shift on imposing Islamist views on matters where religion previously had no place. That surely qualifies as creeping, and does not sound as funny.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist, Zurairi AR.

Source: www.themalaymailonline.com

January 5, 2016