Global Movement Of Moderates

(I hope someone will forward this Blog to the attention of HRH the Raja Muda of Perak Duli Yang Teramat Mulia Raja Nazrin Shah ibni Sultan Azlan Shah Muhibbuddin - because there are some points that may be of relevance to HRH the Raja Muda).

Yesterday I attended a Press Conference announcing the International Conference on Global Movement of Moderates which is going to be held in Kuala Lumpur on 17th - 19th January 2012.

Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak, in his capacity as Prime Minister, is the Patron for the Conference and will also deliver the keynote address to be titled "Global Movement of Moderates : The Way Forward". At the same time the Prime Minister will also launch the Global Movement of Moderates Foundation which shall determine the direction of this movement and its future activities.

The Press Conference yesterday was hosted by Tan Sri Razali Ismail (our former Ambasador to the UN as well as former President of the United Nations General Assembly). Tan Sri Razali Ismail is also the Advisor to this Conference. I hope Tan Sri Razali Ismail will continue to be involved with the new Foundation that is going to be set up. You will need a diplomat to handle this well. Do read on.

The Conference is going to be quite a grand affair. There will be 200 local participants, 450 international participants, 55 speakers and 12 moderators.

Among the eminent speakers who will be speaking at the conference will be

1. His Royal Highness the Raja Muda of Perak, Duli Yang Teramat Mulia Raja Nazrin Shah Ibni Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin

2. Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad

3. Prof Tan Sri Dr Muhammad Kamal Hassan (President of the Int'l Islamic University)

4. the President of the Maldives

5. Dr Surin Pitsuwan (the Sec Gen of Asean)

6. Prof Kishore Mahbubani of Singapore

7. Dr Jusuf Kalla (former Vice President of Indonesia)

8. Prof S Jayakumar (former Deputy PM, Senior Minister and Foreign Minister of Singapore)

(Well among the list of international speakers is a "shaiky" guy from the UK representing some foundation named after the bulan puasa. The foundation is actually a one man show. Some of these folks do slip through - its an all expenses paid trip.)

The impetus behind this Conference was the Prime Minister's speech at the 65th session of the United Nations General Asembly in 2010 where the Prime Minister addressed the major religions in the world.

To quote yesterday's Press handout : "Y. Bhg Dato Sri Mohd Najib called for members and leaders of the world's major faiths to censure and reject their own extremists and jointly support a "movement of moderates".

(For further details you can visit the GMM2012 official website at www.gmm2012.org).

The major thrust of the PM's speech at the UN which has sparked this Global Movement of Moderates was his concern over religious extremism. In the preamble yesterday Tan Sri Razali Ismail and the other speakers spoke about :

i. going beyond just organising one conference

ii. we should develop a "program for the future"

iii. Malaysia must take the lead in this Global Movement of Moderates

iv. and 'Malaysia must explain' what it is to be moderate

So at question time I got up and as usual asked a controversial question, which did put Tan Sri Razali Ismail the Advisor to the Global Moderates Conference in a bit of a spot.

I raised the point that in Malaysia we still have Islamic religious laws enacted and implemented by the Federal Government in the Federal Territories (Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya) as well as by the various State Governments which can arrest, prosecute and then fine or jail people for having differing Islamic beliefs. I was referring to intra-religious intolerance among Muslims in Malaysia which is acquitted through legislation and State sponsored use of force (arresting people, jailing people and so on).

I mentioned the fatwas that are preiodically passed which have condemned various groups or people as 'deviating' from Islam. (For example against the Arqam, Tabligh, Tarekat, Shia, Ayah Pin and many others). People have been arrested under these religious laws and then jailed, fined or both. I mentioned the latest case where a group of Shiahs were arrested in Gombak recently by the Selangor Religious Authorities.

Religious extremism - which was the focus of the PM's speech at the UN and which also forms a large part of the raisson d'etre behind this Global Movement of Moderates - definitely does not pop up suddenly overnite, full blown and ready to explode, all by itself. Religious extremism is a long process.

Muslims become religiously intolerant and show hatred for one another's religious beliefs because such indoctrinations are embedded in them from very early on. And "intolerant" legislation (like the Islamic Religious Enactments that we have in Malaysia) certainly encourages this sort of religious extremism and intolerance.

We also have religious leaders who take extreme views on many matters. For example one Mufti is well known for his stand on many religious matters. One Mufti once made a claim that thousands of Muslims were being converted to Christianity. This statement from a religious leader caused much anxiety throughout the country and even endangered public order, leading the Police to interfere and handle the situation. I am not surprised that this Mufti is not a speaker at this Conference on the Global Movement of Moderates. (I hope HRH the Raja Muda of Perak will take note here).

My point yesterday was if Malaysia wanted to play a lead role in the Global Movement of Moderates our credibility would be seriously affected if we still have Islamic Religious Laws which arrest, prosecute and jail Muslims for their different religious beliefs. It would be a case of paying "lip service" only to this idea of "moderation".

If we want to show a good example (uswatan hasanah) Malaysia should lead trhe way and rescind these religious laws. We do not need these laws. Not all Muslim countries even have these type of laws, despite some of them having major sectarian differences among their Muslim populations. Then secondly we must make such laws unconstitutional - so that no one can re-enact them again anytime in the future.

The Quran demands that the Muslims should lead the way in being a moderate community (ummatan wasatan). Here is the Quran :

2:143 We thus made you a moderate community (ummatan wasatan), that you may serve as witnesses among the people, and the messenger serves as a witness among you. . . . . GOD is Compassionate towards the people, Most Merciful.

The sad thing or worrying thing is the Quran says "wakazaalika jaalnaa kum ummatan wasatan" which means 'And thus We made you a moderate community'. This community has already been made and established. But it is not the 'Islamic' community that we see around the world today. So it has to be someone else.

At yesterday's Press Conference, Tan Sri Razali Islamil also asked about the way forward. He said this Global Movement of Moderates Conference should not be a one time affair only.

My personal hope is that it will start the ball rolling for the creation of that still elusive creature : the moderate Muslim. Such a person does not yet exist (err . . I am talking about you too, dear Muslim readers).

The following two verses in the Quran do point the way forward for the Muslims:

4:136 O you who believe, you shall believe in GOD and His messenger, and the scripture He has revealed through His messenger, and the scripture He has revealed before that. Anyone who refuses to believe in GOD, and His malaikah, and His Books, and His messengers, and the Akhirat, has indeed strayed far astray.

According to this simple verse anyone who believes in

1. Allah

2. the Malaikah

3. the Scriptures

4. the Mesengers and

5. the Akhirat

is a believer. What if they do not believe? The next verse provides the answer :

4:137 Surely, those who believe, then disbelieve, then believe, then disbelieve, then plunge deeper into disbelief, GOD will not forgive them, nor will He guide them in any way.

Nothing at all is prescribed in this verse about what to do with people who believe, disbelieve, then believe, then disbelieve again and persist in disbelief. It is up to Allah to deal with them - He will not forgive them nor guide them.

So I hope this Global Movement of Moderates will pay heed to what the Quran says.

We shall endeavour to be an ummatan wassatan or moderate community. Part of being a moderate community is to learn to mind your own business. Dont go around measuring other peoples' faiths and then persecute them or prosecute them when their understanding of faith does not match your own.

What if it is you whose faith is not up to standard? Have you thought about that?

Finally I hope that the eminent local speakers at this Conference - particularly the Prime Minister or HRH the Raja Muda of Perak - will make a statement that the various religious enactments in our country which seek to arrest, prosecute and jail people over differences in understanding Islam will be rescinded and made unconstitutional. That will really get the ball rolling towards creating a moderate and non extremist society in Malaysia.