Rather than focusing merely on the LGBT issue, Muslims need to realize the bigger issue at hand; the liberal leanings & ideology that is currently reshaping our religion.
The Liberal Islam movement in this region is not new. It is inevitable that the rise of Muslim radicalism and the subsequent founding of the Liberal Islam Network (JIL) in Indonesia in 2001 has emboldened those in Singapore with similar liberal leanings & ideology.
In the past, a few Muslims have publicly or privately aired their concerns about the spread of liberal Islam. And certainly our religious scholars (asatizah) would have done so many times in their various social circles & organizations.
One example is this open letter written in 2009 which has been available in the public domain for many years alerting key Muslim leaders about a group of well-educated Muslims from thereadinggroup.sg advocating liberal Islam. (*Some names have been hidden to protect their privacy)
Now that we have understood from the 1st open letter why it is important Muslims do not get over-obsessive about the LGBT issue but see the bigger picture of Liberal Islam and we have also realized the existence of a group of well-educated Muslims in “The Reading Group” who are spreading & advocating liberal leanings & ideologies, here is the follow-up letter containing more revelations.
Mohamed Imran Mohamed Taib is a social activist with The Reading Group, Singapore.
Similarly, the follow-up letter has also been available in the public domain for many years. This time it attempts to demand clarification from key Muslim leaders about an active member of the liberal “The Reading Group“, Mohamed Imran Mohamed Taib, who was an executive in MUIS’ Policy Development Strategic Unit and how MUIS policies have shown liberal leanings with the visitations of liberal scholars and with post-graduate scholarships to universities with known liberal ideologies. (*The sender’s name have been hidden to protect his privacy)
Having studied at a local university, I have observed that students and even professors faced intimidation and retaliation when they attempted to discuss issues such as homosexuality.
Those holding and expressing conservative views were often ridiculed as ignorant or homophobic and subject to religiously offensive comments, while those who made such comments received no sanction.
I am thus disappointed with the National University of Singapore’s stance towards Associate Professor Syed Muhd Khairudin Aljunied. (“NUS professor acknowledges ‘poor judgment’ in posts on sexuality”; March 6)
Homosexuality is a contentious issue and it is important that we respect academic freedom when debating this matter. NUS’ restriction on academic freedom by censuring Assoc Prof Khairudin is antithetical to our development as a society, which depends on robust debate and critical inquiry.
NUS should rethink its policies if it sees itself as a respectable university in Asia and the world.
I watched with dismay as a Malay Studies Professor was insulted and intimidated by two alumni and a student for posting his personal views regarding “alternative modes of sexual orientation” on Facebook.
This action constitutes an attack on free conscience and free speech. It aims to terminate debate on a highly controversial issue. It hampers the expression of diverse viewpoints. If left unchallenged, it will harm academic freedom and democracy in the long run.
This is not the first time an academic is being maligned by LGBT activists. In 2007 when our leaders were debating whether to repeal or retain Section 377A of the Penal Code, two NUS law academics were subjected to abusive, lewd emails from LGBT activists for their cogent arguments supporting 377A. Be warned: the chief danger of the LGBT movement is its political agenda to take away freedom from anyone who disapproves their alternative lifestyle.
Academics have the right to express their religious and professional convictions on public morality. What Dr Khairudin Aljunied said on Facebook is the very essence of academic freedom, not beyond academic freedom. It is intolerant and offensive for the alumni and student to demand that he undergo counselling.
At National Day Rally 2009, Prime Minister said: “We are not against religion… religious groups are free to propagate their teachings on social and moral issues and they have done so on the IRs, on organ transplants, on 377A, homosexuality… And when people who have a religion approach a national issue, they will often have views which are informed by their religious beliefs. It is natural because it is part of you, it is part of your individual, your personality. But you must accept that other groups may have different views, informed by different beliefs and you have to accept that and respect that. And the public debate cannot be on whose religion is right and whose religion is wrong. It has to be on secular rational considerations, public interests—what makes sense for Singapore.”
The petition against Dr Aljunied makes no sense in Singapore—a secular society with conservative roots where all citizens are free to address public issues based on their moral convictions secular or sacred or both.
We hope Dr Aljunied will not lose his job over this incident. It will be a very sad day for Singapore if he does. It will derail the future of a moral man with a brain and a spine. It forebodes the end of freedom and our decline as a nation.
NUS must not allow an undemocratic minority to vandalise our consciences, defy our shared values, degrade our virtues, and terrorise our collective well-being by forcing homosexual credo on a conservative society. NUS must draw the line between truth and error, right and wrong, good and bad. Or we might end up as a mere footnote in history instead of the shining red dot our Prime Minister hopes for.
There has been coverage in the press about my postings about the LGBT movement in Singapore.
While the media has provided coverage for the LGBT supporters, so far, little coverage has been provided to those that are not for LGBT.
Hence, I would like to take this opportunity to make clear my views on the matter:
1. My initial posting entitled “Liberal Islam, Lesbianism and the likes of it” is still on my Facebook page. It has not been removed because it reflects my personal conviction on the issue.
2. I edited the post and removed certain words such as “cancer” and “social diseases” prior to the issue being made public. This change was done in view of the sensitivities on the ground which I am fully aware of.
3. My position as a Muslim about LGBT remains clear and is in line with the view of Muslims scholars such as the one made by PERGAS that “According to the higher objectives of Islamic Law, the family unit serves to bring in new generation and preserve the existence of humankind. For that reason, Islam gives attention in establishing a family only through the legal marriage of a man and woman. Any form of extra-marital or same-sex relations are hence prohibited in Islam (MEDIA STATEMENT, 11 February 2014,https://www.facebook.com/Pergas.Singapore)
4. There is no disagreement in Islam on the prohibition of homosexuality. As a Muslim, I fully subscribe to Islam’s guidance and stand firm that homosexuality is a challenge that needs to be addressed through reasoned dialogue and education.
This view is my personal view and I stand by it as a member of a religious community in Singapore.
Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia/Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (ABIM)
Atas semangat persaudaraan Islam dan muhibbah komuniti ASEAN, Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM) merasa terpanggil untuk menyatakan keprihatinan terhadap usaha-usaha komuniti Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) di Singapura menyebarkan dakyah negatif terhadap Dr. Syed Muhd Khairuddin , seorang Pensyarah Jabatan Pengajian Melayu di National University Singapore (NUS), Singapura.
Dalam perkembangan tersebut, sekumpulan pendukung LGBT telah mempertikaikan kenyataan di laman peribadi Facebook beliau yang berupa peringatan kepada umat Islam di Singapura agar menjauhi dan menolak amalan LGBT.
Pertikaian tersebut telah berlanjutan apabila kelompok tersebut mendesak beliau agar memohon maaf secara terbuka atas kenyataan tersebut, yang dirasakan menyinggung pengamal dan pendukung LGBT. Tidak cukup dengan itu, mereka telah mengutus surat bantahan kepada pentadbiran universiti dan melancarkan petisyen atas talian bagi mendesak tindakan tataterbib dikenakan ke atas beliau.
Rentetan itu, timbul tindak balas daripada komuniti Muslim dan pertubuhan Islam di Singapura yang memberikan respon mempertahankan kenyataan dan pendirian Dr Syed Muhd Khairuddin. Komuniti masyarakat Islam mempertahankan beliau yang bertindak sebagai penyampai mesej yang benar; bahawa Islam melarang amalan LGBT.
Dalam konteks ini, ABIM ingin menegaskan bahawa pandangan Islam terhadap LGBT adalah jelas dan muktamad dalam Islam, baik dari segi moral ataupun perundangan Islam.
Prinsip dan pendirian agama Islam berasaskan kepada sumber Al-Qur’an, Hadis, Ijma’ dan sumber-sumber lain yang jelas tanpa ragu menolak sama sekali amalan LGBT di kalangan umat Islam. Hakikat ini diketahui serta diperakui bukan sahaja di kalangan umat Islam, bahkan di kalangan masyarakat umum.
Sesungguhnya pendirian yang dikemukakan oleh Dr. Syed Muhd Khairudin selari dengan pandangan sarjana yang berotoriti dalam Islam, antara lain seperti yang diungkapkan dengan tepat oleh mantan Presiden Islamic Society of North America, Muzammil Siddiqi (2003):-
“Homosexuality is sinful and shameful. … But nowadays this act has become a phenomenon. There are agencies and lobby groups that are working hard to propagate it and to make it an acceptable and legitimate lifestyle. For this reason it is important that we should speak against it. We should warn our youth and children from this devilish lifestyle. We should make it very clear that it is Haram, absolutely forbidden and that it kindles the wrath and anger of Allah…”
Percubaan mempertikaikannya oleh kelompok tertentu– termasuk dari dari kalangan Muslim sendiri – dari awal pelaksanaan Islam hingga ke hari ini ternyata tidak dapat diterima oleh umat Islam, di negara mana pun mereka berada. Hal ini dizahirkan dengan jelas oleh negara-negara Islam OIC menerusi persidangan-persidangan hak asasi sejagat.
Bahkan di kalangan umat Islam yang merupakan golongan minoriti di negara-negara lain, termasuk di Barat juga jelas menunjukkan bahawa hampir kesemuanya menolak amalan LGBT. Meskipun wujud beberapa pertubuhan dan invidividu yang mengangkat pengamalan atau perjuangan LGBT atas nama ‘Islam’ atau ‘Muslim’, ia tidak pernah sama sekali menggugat pendirian Islam yang terbina kukuh atas sumber hukumnya.
Penolakan terhadap amalam songsang LBGT bukan hanya terbatas kepada agama Islam sahaja. Waima ia turut disuarakan dengan jelas di kalangan majoriti penganu agama-agama besar yang lainnya. Adalah merupakan hal yang sedia dimaklumi bahawa agama-agama besar di dunia menjunjung tinggi institusi keluarga dan perkahwinan Justeru hanya perkahwinan diantara lelaki dan wanita dengan tujuan murni demi kelangsungan zuriat manusia yang harus dipertahankan oleh para penganut agama dari sebarang usaha meruntuhkannya melalui ‘hubungan dan perkahwinan sejenis’ melalui pintu LGBT.
Sebagai komuniti penganut agama-agama besar yang penting di dunia, keengganan masyarakat dan pemimpin rantau Asia Tenggara untuk mengiktiraf amalan LGBT sebagai ‘nilai universal’ jelas terbukti. Sebagai contoh, ketua-ketua negara ASEAN (Persatuan Negara-Negara Asia Tenggara) sepakat menolak advokasi pelobi LGBT untuk memasukkan klausa berkaitan LGBT dalam Deklarasi ASEAN Mengenai Hak Asasi Manusia yang diumumkan pada 19 November 2013.
Seperti Malaysia, Singapura sebagai sebuah negara maju dan terkehadapan dalam konteks persaingan dunia global turut mempertahankan undang-undang yang mengiktirafkan amalan liwat sebagai satu jenayah yang dihukum di bawah Kanun Keseksaan negara tersebut.
Justeru atas justifikasi dan semangat agama dan muhibbah ASEAN inilah maka ABIM menyatakan sokongannya terhadap usaha-usaha individu seperti Dr Syed Khairudin dan pertubuhan Islam Singapura yang berusaha menyampaikan pendirian Islam yang jelas terhadap isu LGBT. Atas dasar ini juga, kita menyeru agar pihak yang menyokong LGBT di Singapura wajar untuk menghormati pendirian serta pandangan yang dikemukakan oleh Dr Syed Khairuddin berdasarkan kepada kerangka intelektual yang objektif serta ilmiah.
ABIM sama sekali tidak berhasrat untuk campur tangan tentang hal ehwal masyarakat Muslim Singapura. Kenyataan ini diketengahkan sebagai satu penjelasan mengenai pendirian ABIM terhadap isu umat Islam sejagat
ABIM turut yakin bahawa sebagai penganut agama Islam yang berpendidikan tinggi dan berwawasan luas, Prof.Dr Syed Khairudin dan pemimpin agama Islam di Singapura akan mengambil yang pendekatan sederhana dan berhikmah dalam menyelesaikan isu ini.
Walaupun pendirian Islam cukup jelas dalam isu LGBT ini, Islam turut mengajar bahawa nilai akhlak dan moral yang tinggi menuntut mesej tersebut disampaikan dengan pendekatan yang terbaik. ABIM menolak sebarang pendekatan konfrontasi berunsur kekerasan di mana-mana peringkat, oleh sesiapapun terhadap komuniti tersebut.
Tanpa sebarang provokasi dan dakyah yang tidak bertanggungjawab dari pihak yang mempertikaikan beliau, ABIM yakin inilah nilai murni dan akhlak Islamiyyah yang telah dan akan terus diamalkan oleh beliau dan pemimpin msyarakat Islam di Singapura.
Atas dasar ini, ABIM turut menyeru semua pertubuhan-pertubuhan Islam di Malaysia untuk memberikan sokongan dan dukungan yang penuh terhadap Dr.Syed Khairuddin dan pertubuhan Islam di Singapura, untuk terus memperjuangan pendirian umat Islam terhadap LGBT sebagaimana yang diketengahkan oleh masyarakat Islam di Malaysia.
Mohamad Raimi Ab.Rahim, Naib Presiden
Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM)
