Al-jihad fi sabil Allah

Yes, I agree, to some Malays, money, sex and power are important. But to say that is what motivates the Malays is showing an extremely lack of understanding of the Malay mind and would be regarded as a great insult. The Malays would profusely defend al-jihad fi sabil Allah as the duty of all Muslims. And to the Malays there is no compromise on the issue.  

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

There was a comment by a Chinese reader that I did not approve yesterday. This was one of those comments that I thought would not be well received by Malays, especially during this month of Ramadhan when Muslims are supposed to embark upon their personal jihad, the struggle against oneself.

The comment by this reader was: there are only three things that motivate a person -- money, sex and power. Hence, when someone does something, it can only be because of money, sex and/or power.

Malays would regard this type of comment as downright insulting, although the Chinese reader who posted this comment would not understand how that can be so. And that shows how little the Chinese know the Malays.

No doubt some Malays may be motivated by money, sex and power. This is undeniable. But most Malays, even if they place an importance on money, sex and power, would place al-jihad fi sabil Allah as the primary motivation factor.

Al-jihad fi sabil Allah translates to struggle in the way of Allah. This has been clearly stipulated in Surah at-Tawbah verse 60 of the Qur’an. There is no dispute or compromise on this matter. This is mandatory for all Muslims, especially during this month of Ramadhan when Muslims are supposed to embark upon a war on themselves -- not that they must not do so all year round.

Ramadhan is the month when you ‘declare war’ (jihad) on yourself, so to speak. You not only fight against thirst and hunger (from dawn to dusk), you also fight against all sorts of temptations that you are faced with. Christians would probably understand this concept very well, the fight against the Cardinal Sins -- wrath, greed, sloth (laziness or apathy), pride, lust, envy, and gluttony.

Hence, Ramadhan is not only about abstaining from food and drink. It is also about fighting against anger, lust, greed, envy, pride, jealousy, etc. And lust has a wider meaning than just sex. Lust for comfort, wealth, power, position, recognition, etc., are also included.

To say that money, sex and power are what motivates a person, especially if that comment is targeted at a Muslim (like this particular Chinese reader I am talking about), not only shows your lack of understanding about what drives many (or most) Malays but would be taken as a great insult. Furthermore, it also demonstrates the mind of the Chinese who posted that comment.

Is this reflective of Chinese values? Is this all that is important to the Chinese -- money, sex and power? Is there nothing else that motivates Chinese? I have a few Chinese and Indians who help me out withMalaysia Today and money, sex and power are not the reasons they are helping out with Malaysia Today. In fact, they sacrifice their own money (and time) in doing work for Malaysia Today.

This comment, therefore, is not only insulting to the Malays but also to the Chinese. It gives the impression that the Chinese have very low moral values and that the only things Chinese are interested in are money, sex and power, in that order of priority.

If that is all the Chinese want then can the Malays trust the Chinese? Is it safe for the Malays to have a political alliance with the Chinese when the Chinese are very selfish and all they want is money, sex and power?

Money, sex and power are very personal agendas. It is what you want for yourself. To place money, sex and power as your motivating factors would show you are only thinking about your personal needs. You have no other interest other than money, sex and power. God, the community, the country, etc., are not included in your agenda.

There are also some Chinese who say that Hudud should be opposed because it restricts what you can do. They also say that even if Hudud were to be imposed just on Muslims while non-Muslims would not be affected the Malays should reject Hudud because it is the Malays who will suffer most if Hudud were to be implemented.

I have seen comments that say pork is delicious so why should the Malays be denied their right to eat pork? The Malays do not know what they are missing by not eating pork. The Malays are stupid for allowing the government to deny them their right to eat pork.

Why must the Chinese post comments such as these? What do they hope to achieve with such comments? Are they trying to ‘wake up’ the Malays as to how stupid they are by not eating pork? Would you call the Indian Hindus stupid for not eating beef? A good steak or roast beef is extremely delicious, more delicious than pork chops I was told. But you would never call an Indian Hindu stupid because his religion forbids him from eating beef.

Most Muslims consider Hudud as mandatory. Hudud is just one part of the Sharia and the Sharia is already implemented in Malaysia. In fact, it has been implemented in Malaysia even before Malaya gained independence from Britain.

Even those who do not want Hudud implemented in Malaysia would never dare say that it is not mandatory -- just like Malays who drink, eat pork or gamble (there are certainly some who do) would never dare say it is halal (allowed). They would still agree that is it haram (forbidden) although they do it. Doing what is forbidden and declaring that it is allowed are two different issues to the Malays, as much as this may be seen as contradictory or hypocritical.

Doing what is forbidden is fasiq. Declaring what is haram as halal is kufur. And kufur is where the wordkafir or infidel comes from. Hence ‘bad’ Muslims would still agree that they are bad Muslims for doing what is forbidden but they will never say that what they are doing is right. That would change fasiq tokufur.

Umno Malays, for political reasons, may oppose the implementation of Hudud. But they oppose it for political reasons, not because they feel that the Qur’an is wrong. If they support the implementation of Hudud then they would be agreeing with PAS. And if they agree with PAS they might as well tell the Malays to vote for PAS instead of Umno. That would be the end of Umno.

Malaysia’s First Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, opposed the Islamic State. He also drank and gambled. But he opposed the Islamic State not because he opposed the Qur’an. He opposed the Islamic State because the Alliance Party of Umno, MCA and MIC was a multi-cultural party and not an Islamic party and the Malaysian government was a government of many races and religions. But he never said that Hudud was not God’s law or mandatory in Islam.

The Tunku also never said that drinking was allowed in Islam. He drank and he also prayed. And he said that, while he may drink, he also ‘balances’ it by praying as well (his famous quotation of oil and water not mixing). Hence he admits that he is sinning but he does ‘clean’ these sins by praying, fasting, and whatnot. He also founded Islamic organisations such as PERKIM to do the work of God in propagating Islam.

I have said a long time ago that the Malay mind is very complicating. And unless you can understand the mind of the Malays you will not know how to handle them. Of course, this statement was met with very vicious comments from the non-Malay readers. They hate to be told that they do not understand the Malays.

Yes, I agree, to some Malays, money, sex and power are important. But to say that is what motivates the Malays is showing an extremely lack of understanding of the Malay mind and would be regarded as a great insult. The Malays would profusely defend al-jihad fi sabil Allah as the duty of all Muslims. And to the Malays there is no compromise on the issue.