The NATO syndrome

If we really want to show the compassionate side of Islam then the proper thing to do would have been to investigate the reason why that soldier stole. If it is true that he stole because he is too poor to feed his daughter, then instead of jailing him he should have been put on welfare and every month the religious authorities give him money to feed his daughter.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Ex-soldier jailed 3 months for stealing RM22 milk

(Bernama) - A former soldier was sentenced to three months’ jail by the magistrate’s court here today for stealing a packet of milk worth RM21.99 from a supermarket last Tuesday.

Senior Assistant Registrar Jesseca Damis handed down the sentence on Mohd Sobir Kashim after he pleaded guilty to the charge.

She ordered Mohd Sobir to serve the sentence from today.

Mohd Sobir, 32, was charged with stealing a packet of Anlene Gold milk at the Jaya Gading Supermarket in Semambu near here at 2.15pm last November 13.

In her judgment, Jesseca said the offence committed by Mohd Sobir was serious although the amount involved was small.

“You are a former soldier and should not have committed an offence like this,” she added.

Earlier in mitigation, Mohd Sobir, from Padang Serai, Kedah, said he stole the packet of milk so that he could sell it to get money to buy food for his daughter.

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Two days ago, His Highness the Sultan of Selangor spoke up regarding Islam. Yesterday it was the turn of His Highness the Sultan of Pahang. Today, Their Highnesses the Sultan of Terengganu and the Raja of Perlis spoke up.

That makes four with five more to go.

Their Highnesses want only those ‘qualified’ to do so to speak on Islam. Those non-qualified should not do so,titah (decree of a royal nature) Their Highnesses. And ‘qualified’ here means you must possess a piece of paper with your name on it.

I have never been one to follow royal decrees. When my uncle and aunty were summoned for an audience before His Highness and were ordered to instruct me to apologise regarding what I said about His Highness the Sultan of Perak, I did the opposite. I whacked even harder.

Then I was told to comply with this royal decree or else get disowned by my family. And my family would inset notices in the mainstream newspapers to announce to the world about my ‘eviction’ from the family.

My response to that was to 'disown' my family by going into self-imposed exile. Hence before my family can sack me, I sack my family first. And I swore I would never ever step foot in Selangor again.

So I will have no choice but to live and die by that oath.

Will I ever go back to Malaysia? many people ask me. I doubt it. Like it or not, I have already burned my bridges and I do not want to become another Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, Rais Yatim, Kadir Sheikh Fadzir, Ibrahim Ali, etc. who also burned their bridges and swore that if they died and got reborn they would still never rejoin Umno -- and then went and rejoined Umno.

I would like to be like Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Hussein Onn who held on to their principles. They never rejoined Umno and died outside Umno even though both were once Prime Ministers of Malaysia.

So, the more Their Highnesses say don’t talk about Islam, the more I want to talk about it -- because I never listen to royal decrees. But I am not going to talk about the Qur’an or whether Muslims should or should not be allowed to leave Islam. Instead, I want to talk about the story (above) regarding the soldier who was jailed three months for stealing a packet of milk.

Theft is theft (or shoplifting is shoplifting) and under the law you are punished for that crime even if the amount you stole is a mere ten cents (that is if anything in Malaysia can still be found priced at ten cents). That is how the law works.

But that is not how it works in Islam and I do remember people saying that Malaysia is an Islamic country (according to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to be exact) and that Islam is the religion of the Federation (according to the Federal Constitution of Malaysia) and so on.

Okay, so we have some ambiguity here. Malaysia is not an Islamic State. Malaysia is not a Secular State either. Malaysia is a Westminster Parliamentary Democracy with Islam as the religion of the nation where the laws are passed by Parliament but certain laws passed by God will affect only the Muslims while non-Muslims are spared God’s commands.

Does that sound confusing? I hope so because that was the intention!

Anyway, that Malay soldier, who I assume is also Muslim, stole a packet of milk, and what appears to be a non-Muslim judge punished him with three months jail.

Now, in Islam, the soldier should have been asked why he stole that packet of milk. And this is what the news report said: Mohd Sobir, from Padang Serai, Kedah, said he stole the packet of milk so that he could sell it to get money to buy food for his daughter.

Once that soldier makes this declaration, the judge should have summoned the Kedah Religious Department, which comes under the PAS-led Kedah State Government, to go to court to explain why a soldier who has served his country at a great risk to his life should be in a situation where he has to steal something worth RM22 to feed his daughter.

The religious authorities collect millions of Ringgit every year from Malaysians. And some of that money is supposed to be used to help the poor, weak, old, sick, crippled, homeless, destitute, orphans, widows, unfortunate, etc. So what happened to all that money, which by now must come to billions?

If the Kedah Religious Department did not help this soldier who is too poor to feed his daughter, and hence had to steal to feed his daughter, then the Kedah Religious Department should be chided and the judge should order them to look after the financial welfare of the soldier.

If the Kedah Religious Department still fails to look after the welfare of the soldier and he has to continue to steal to feed his daughter, then the Director of the Kedah Religious Department should be sent to jail instead.

If you steal out of greed then you pay for that crime. But if you steal out of necessity then the authorities must be punished instead. That is how Hudud works, although Malaysia does not implement Hudud.

Okay, Malaysia does not implement Hudud. But Malaysia does implement the tithe collection system (zakat and fitrah), which is compulsory for Muslims and they can be arrested if they do not pay this tithe.

It is nice to see Their Highnesses making statements upholding Islam. But Malaysia seems to be suffering from the NATO syndrome, a.k.a. no action, talk only.

If we really want to show the compassionate side of Islam then the proper thing to do would have been to investigate the reason why that soldier stole. If it is true that he stole because he is too poor to feed his daughter, then instead of jailing him he should have been put on welfare and every month the religious authorities give him money to feed his daughter.

That is what they would do in a ‘kafir’ country like Britain, which is not an Islamic country but more Islamic than Malaysia.

Yes, every year we celebrate ‘heroes day’ to remember all those so many soldiers who died for their country. Then we send the not yet dead soldier to jail because he had to steal to feed his daughter. We honour the dead and jail the living. Only dead people are heroes. Living people are a burden to the country.

And then we scream that this is Islam and that we should uphold Islam and that those who speak against Islam should be punished and all that crap. Islam is not about talking. Islam is about acting. And we expect soldiers to die for us so that we can have a good life and when they can’t feed their children we send them to jail.

How can I not cry when I write this article? Am I getting too emotional in my old age or am I the only Muslim who has a heart? Maybe I am getting too old and that’s why I cry a lot.

Oh, by the way, the nine Rulers are Colonels-in-Chief of the various branches of the Armed Forces while His Majesty the Agong is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

I hope Their Highnesses are ashamed with themselves. And that is all I want to say about that particular matter.

And don’t you wankers ever try to suggest that the Malays get all sorts of benefits while the non-Malays are oppressed -- not while we still have Malays who cannot even feed their children, especially Malays who risk their lives so that the non-Malays can have a peaceful and prosperous county to live in.