The Indian Muslim conundrum

Do we Muslims have no shame? We do not know how to treat people the same way we demand that people treat us. We do not know how to respect the rights of others the way we demand that people respect our rights. And when Muslims offer Ambiga a beef burger, the rest of the Muslims keep quiet. They are not in the least outraged. Try offering Ibrahim Ali a hamburger and see what will happen. We will see May 13 Version 2 erupt in Malaysia.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Samy – who is also works minister – said that Anwar had even threatened the Hindus to accept the government’s stand in the 1998 Kg Rawa temple issue in Penang.

“He (Anwar) threatened the Hindus there to accept whatever he said, otherwise he said no temple bells will be sounded in Penang. This is what he is,” Samy asserted.

In March 27, 1998, there was a tense stand-off when Muslims emerged from Friday prayers in an adjacent mosque and marched in numbers to the Sri Raja Raja Madurai Veeran temple in Kampung Rawa.

Muslims in the area had complained that the temple – which was planned for expansion – rang their prayer bells too loudly and the antagonism resulted in a clash between hundreds of Hindus and Muslims.

Following this, four people were injured, other Hindu temples and Muslim mosques were attacked and nearly 200 rioters were arrested.

The dispute was later settled when the state government provided an alternative site for the temple in Jalan SP Chelliah. -- (Malaysiakini)

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When this matter first exploded back in 1998, I went to Pusat Islam to meet the Pengarah. I wanted to find out what the problem was and what I could do about it -- meaning, write something about the matter in the English section of Harakah, the PAS party organ.

I initially thought that this was a Malay-versus-Indian matter, meaning more racial than religious. The Pengarah told me that in the beginning the Malays were not involved. It was a conflict between the Indian Hindus and the Indian Muslims. After that, because the impression given was that the Hindus were cabaring (challenging) Islam, the Malays got dragged in.

The Pengarah then lamented that this is the trouble with the Indians. In India, the Muslims and Hindus fight, explained the Pengarah. Hence they have ‘imported’ their hatred into Malaysia and now they are dragging the Malays into this whereas the Malays for hundreds of years have never had any problems with those from the other religions, sighed the Pengarah.

I did not know whether the Pengarah was making a statement of fact or whether this was his prejudiced view about the Indians (although the partition of India and the 1 million deaths plus the many incidences since then can lie testimony to his statement). Nevertheless, I wrote my article and Harakah published it. A few Indian Muslims, however, were quite upset and felt that my article painted a most unfavourable picture of the Indian Muslims.

Then we had the anti-Guan Eng demonstration in front of the Komtar building soon after the 2008 general election, and the recent anti-anti-Lynas demonstration in Penang, and the beef burger incident in front of Ambiga’s home, and the funeral rites in front of Guan Eng’s house, and the many Perkasa incidences, and so on. And whom do we see there causing havoc? Yes, again, the Indian Muslims.

I have been the one person who gets very upset when readers post comments whacking Mamaks. Some of you are very unhappy that I have been deleting your comments for this ‘crime’. Whack the person if you want to, I always said, but don’t whack his race. I have many Indian Muslim friends and they are very nice people.

But it is becoming harder and harder for me to defend the Indian Muslims. The problem is, the act of a few is seen as the act of the entire race. Malaysia Today readers seem to have this view and they express this in their comments in a most racial manner.

I personally have had many unpleasant experiences with Indian Muslims. One chap in a mosque shouted at me when he asked me whether it was time to pray and I replied, “I think so.”

“You must be sure!” he shouted at me, with both his arms flinging in the air, and he continued to grumble until I walked away.

In another incident in the Grand Mosque in Mekah where the Ka’bah is, an Indian sitting behind me kicked me. When I turned to look at him he told me that he wanted to stretch his legs and he asked me to move. I got up and walked away.

While circumambulating the Ka’bah, the Indians appear to be the most misbehaved. They lock arms and shove aside those people in front of them. And if you were to tell them not to push they would scream at you at the top of their voices. I have seen this happen so many times (the Africans are equally guilty of this).

They are so quarrelsome and antagonistic. And whether it is in the Grand Mosque or in front of the Ka’bah they still act like this. Why in heaven’s name do they act like this?

Muslims do not seem to realise how selfish, inconsiderate and unreasonable they sometimes can be, whether Indians, Arabs, Malaysians or whatever. For example, there are only about 2.8 million Muslims in the UK. At only about 4% of the population that makes the Muslims a minority by far.

However, in spite of this, they demand that the rights of Muslims be ‘respected’. They buy over old churches and turn them into mosques or Islamic cultural centres. They have religious schools for Muslim children. During the month of Ramadhan, Quran recitals would be blasting away from the giant speakers they place outside their shops. They demand and are given Shariah courts. They demand that their women be allowed to wear purdahsand are given permission.

Muslims are free to preach Islam to all and sundry, Jews and Christians included. They can even stand on a soapbox in Hyde Park Corner to scream about Islam. They can publish the Quran in the English language and stand on the street corner to hand them out free to passers-by if they wish to do so.

Muslims are so proud when famous people like Cassius Clay or Cat Stevens converts to Islam. They will shout about it from the highest mountain. They will also use this as ‘evidence’ that Islam is the true religion and will preach Islam to the non-Muslims to try to get more non-Muslims, especially famous Christians, to become Muslims.

However, if Christians preach Christianity to the Muslims they will scream and threaten to kill those Christian ‘enemies’. They will also arrest any Muslim who converts to Christianity and send them for rehabilitation (meaning brainwashing) so that they ‘return’ to Islam.

Furthermore, if Christians print the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia the Muslims will protest like hell. If Christians build a church the Muslims will protest like hell. And so on. Only Muslims have rights and they will demand these rights even if they are only 4% of the population. Others do not have rights and Muslims will never allow the other religions the same rights that they demand.

Muslims think that only they have rights and all others do not have rights. When the Muslims are the majority they will deny the non-Muslims their rights. This is banned. That is banned. This cannot. That cannot. If you talk I will attack you. If you cabar I will kill you. Then, when the Muslims live in a non-Muslim country where the Muslims are a mere 4% or less of the population, they will demand all sorts of rights and the non-Muslims would, of course, give in to the demands of the Muslims.

Do we Muslims have no shame? We do not know how to treat people the same way we demand that people treat us. We do not know how to respect the rights of others the way we demand that people respect our rights. And when Muslims offer Ambiga a beef burger, the rest of the Muslims keep quiet. They are not in the least outraged. Try offering Ibrahim Ali a hamburger and see what will happen. We will see May 13 Version 2 erupt in Malaysia.