
Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said progressives who are opposed to conservative values by ulamas (religious scholars) must counter them with religious arguments and not with western arguments.
The problem, he said, is that in Malaysia is the non-conservatives who are educated in other fields tend to argue with conservative Muslim scholars in terms of their areas of learning, rather than based on religion.

This, he said, was necessary to convince the general public, especially Muslims in the villages who would not accept arguments based on Western values.
"For example, in our country, we have a Muslim party (PAS) who says if you vote for them, you go to heaven.
“You laugh, but it is said by in the name of Islam from an Islamic party - to the less educated Muslims in the village, they are the ones with the turbans, not me.

Without religious learning, he said, non-conservatives or professionals would not have the credentials to counter the ulama.
"It is important for all of us to know our religion if we want to handle people bringing conservative ideas into a society (to the point) that it cannot progress, (such people being) the so called ulamas," he said.
'Focus less on punishments'
Mahathir also warned against subscribing an extreme interpretation of Islam and being obsessed with punishment.
He said over-emphasis by some Muslims on the sunnah and hadith - that he said was “optional” - over the Quran has caused the Muslim community to fall behind.

Instead, Mahathir said, we should espouse the principles of justice as upheld in the Quran rather than be obsessed with punishments.
"For example, how can there be justice if a Muslim steals and has to have his hand chopped off, but a non-Muslims steals he only gets two months prison?" he said in reference to opposition party PAS' plan to implement hudud law, that applies to Muslims only.
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