"Rebellion to tyranny is obedience to God."
- Thomas Jefferson
I am not one who believes in shooting the messenger but former Umno vice-president Muhammad Muhammad Taib's solemn declaration that only PAS can lead Malaysia towards Islam is the kind of disingenuous rhetoric that characterises the religious discourse in this country.
Never mind the inconvenient truth that the former Umno man's conduct which led to public opprobrium but his religious whitewashing by joining PAS - which led to shrieks of indignation by some of my PAS comrades, who would dearly like to be the architects of such ‘enlightenment' that Muhammad envisions - not only demonstrates that politics makes strange bedfellows but religion adds a kinky twist to a relationship.
Muhammad (left) said, "Islamic values should be spreading from the cities, just like Mecca and Medina became focal point of Islam during the Prophet's time," and "By right, the cities in the Klang Valley, which is the metropolis, should become the beacons of Islam to lead the way for the hinterland."
Really? On what evidence does he base this theory on? Muhammad is like most modern religious agitators - love to go on about "development with soul" which means indulging in a capitalistic orgy but maintaining an outward appearance of piety.
An example of this would be Muhammad babbling on about Muslim women wearing headdress or some such Islamic ‘value' in tandem with whatever development that would sustain a middle-class Muslim polity.
The "hinterlands" have always been lacking in development simply because ignorant rural populations pacified by whatever handouts they can get based on race or religion, and fed on a diet of racial polarisation are more likely to ignore the malfeasances seeping out from the cities.
How this is different from what Umno has been peddling all these years is beyond me, but then again, I have never based my desire for ‘ubah' on the kool aid Pakatan peddles.
Potential conflicts
Moreover, what of the denizens of the cities? Chinese communal preoccupations seem to have been subsumed in the evangelical fervour spreading through the community (with a significant section of the Indian middle class joyously joining in the chorus) which sets up potential conflicts that could be easily exploited by unscrupulous political adversaries.
As a close PAS confidante said, ‘It is interesting to note, that what used to be an objection against hudud based on secular principles by DAP, is now tinged with religious (Christian) undertones". Protip: Perhaps someone should tell, the evangelical Christian politicians from the DAP and The Star employers who are supposed to be BN propagandists, to stop tweeting their religious platitudes to all and sundry.
I have always argued that PAS is the sole ideological coherent party in the alternative alliance and with the exception of PSM (which is on unsteady ground when it comes to a strict reading of its ideological bedrock) will probably be the last party standing together with Umno, when the non-Malays lose the racial demographic war.
This is why the rhetoric of so-called hardliner like PAS deputy spiritual leader Haron Din (left) brings into sharp focus, the fragile nature of religious alliances. On the campaign trail, Haron claimed that hudud laws would be implemented if Pakatan came into power even over the objections of the DAP.
Furthermore, he was confident "that DAP will accept hudud law because of its willingness to contest under the PAS symbol." That Islamic impulse which has always been simmering in the background is best summed up by this quote from the good doctor, "Pakatan must take over the federal government. Only then can we amend the (federal) constitution to implement hudud law."
Now of course they are those who would dismiss people like Haron Din as Umno sub rosa provocateurs (sic) but the reality is that this is a very real dialectic within PAS.
PAS has been extremely politically astute post-2008 but because they are facing rumblings from their own ranks and the political ineptitude of the DAP; they fumble around always attempting to maintain their Islamic credentials against Umno.
Umno meanwhile unfortunately for their critics, could make a credible argument for religious stability, what with all the nonsense coming out from PAS, in their wilderness years, where they were the Islamic bogeymen du jour. It was a poisonous kind of stability but then again there are few ‘Islamic' countries in the world that boast the same.
State of flux
However, the irony is that PAS has made great strides in embracing the problematic mainstream poltical discourse. Speaking of contesting under an ally's symbol, in 2008, PAS fielded an Indian candidate (and a woman at that), R Kumutha Raman, in a state seat in Johor under the PKR symbol, because their constitution did not allow for a non-Muslim candidate.
Fast forward to this election, PAS is fielding under its own banner Hu Pang Chaw (left), in Ayer Hitam. Hu, a Presbyterian and chief of PAS's non-Muslim wing - PAS Supporters Congress - is the beneficiary of PAS amending its constitution allowing non-Malays to run on its ticket. Kumutha too, is running again on a PAS ticket for the Tiram seat.
Now some may argue that all this is an example of poltical expediency and Islamic dereliction of duty on PAS. However convenient as that line may be, the reality is that PAS has always been in a state of flux, which has been submerged in the Umno bogeyman narrative.
For decades, PAS willfully chose to ignore its leftist leaning roots to the detriment of the party and its engagement with mainstream politics.
Even now with party leader Abdul Hadi Awang babbling about PSM's supposed Marxist leanings, is just one in a long line of confused thinking that characterises the hardliners reluctance to depart from the Umno script that have been blindly following for years. I mean look at the whole ‘welfare state' concept that both Umno and PAS seem so keen on propagating.
Hasn't anyone from either party pointed out the ideological underpinnings of such a concept? On the other hand, is it just easier to use the Marxist red scare to drum up support using ignorance as a platform?
Common values
Hu claimed, "Our members come from different races and religions, but we have common values and a common goal," he tells his audience. "Allah tells you to do good things, be respectful and help one another. There is no conflict between the different religions."
And really, such "common" values are what PAS should be working as long as it needs the non-Malay vote to claim the throne in Putrajaya. As long as PAS on its own cannot garner the support of sizeable majority of the Malay polity, it should use this moment to refine its brand of Islam.
PAS should not merely concentrate on ‘form' but work on the substance, which concerns issues like good governance, corruption and some form of egalitarianism that are not anathema to Islam, Christianity, Buddhism or Hinduism or at least progressive ‘secular' interpretations of said religions.
When PAS has cleaned its own house and that of its allies when it comes to these issues (which would take decades if seriously pursued) then perhaps they could pay attention those contentious issues that are of no concern to a mono-ethnic society that is eventually what Malaysia would become.
In the meantime, PAS should work to making a reality of its "For All" claim and the only way of doing this, is to stop playing the hudud game, when they think nobody is watching or when they assume partisans are too drunk on the kool aid to be concerned.
I am not one who believes in shooting the messenger but former Umno vice-president Muhammad Muhammad Taib's solemn declaration that only PAS can lead Malaysia towards Islam is the kind of disingenuous rhetoric that characterises the religious discourse in this country.
Never mind the inconvenient truth that the former Umno man's conduct which led to public opprobrium but his religious whitewashing by joining PAS - which led to shrieks of indignation by some of my PAS comrades, who would dearly like to be the architects of such ‘enlightenment' that Muhammad envisions - not only demonstrates that politics makes strange bedfellows but religion adds a kinky twist to a relationship.
Muhammad (left) said, "Islamic values should be spreading from the cities, just like Mecca and Medina became focal point of Islam during the Prophet's time," and "By right, the cities in the Klang Valley, which is the metropolis, should become the beacons of Islam to lead the way for the hinterland."Really? On what evidence does he base this theory on? Muhammad is like most modern religious agitators - love to go on about "development with soul" which means indulging in a capitalistic orgy but maintaining an outward appearance of piety.
An example of this would be Muhammad babbling on about Muslim women wearing headdress or some such Islamic ‘value' in tandem with whatever development that would sustain a middle-class Muslim polity.
The "hinterlands" have always been lacking in development simply because ignorant rural populations pacified by whatever handouts they can get based on race or religion, and fed on a diet of racial polarisation are more likely to ignore the malfeasances seeping out from the cities.
How this is different from what Umno has been peddling all these years is beyond me, but then again, I have never based my desire for ‘ubah' on the kool aid Pakatan peddles.
Potential conflicts
Moreover, what of the denizens of the cities? Chinese communal preoccupations seem to have been subsumed in the evangelical fervour spreading through the community (with a significant section of the Indian middle class joyously joining in the chorus) which sets up potential conflicts that could be easily exploited by unscrupulous political adversaries.
As a close PAS confidante said, ‘It is interesting to note, that what used to be an objection against hudud based on secular principles by DAP, is now tinged with religious (Christian) undertones". Protip: Perhaps someone should tell, the evangelical Christian politicians from the DAP and The Star employers who are supposed to be BN propagandists, to stop tweeting their religious platitudes to all and sundry.
I have always argued that PAS is the sole ideological coherent party in the alternative alliance and with the exception of PSM (which is on unsteady ground when it comes to a strict reading of its ideological bedrock) will probably be the last party standing together with Umno, when the non-Malays lose the racial demographic war.
This is why the rhetoric of so-called hardliner like PAS deputy spiritual leader Haron Din (left) brings into sharp focus, the fragile nature of religious alliances. On the campaign trail, Haron claimed that hudud laws would be implemented if Pakatan came into power even over the objections of the DAP.Furthermore, he was confident "that DAP will accept hudud law because of its willingness to contest under the PAS symbol." That Islamic impulse which has always been simmering in the background is best summed up by this quote from the good doctor, "Pakatan must take over the federal government. Only then can we amend the (federal) constitution to implement hudud law."
Now of course they are those who would dismiss people like Haron Din as Umno sub rosa provocateurs (sic) but the reality is that this is a very real dialectic within PAS.
PAS has been extremely politically astute post-2008 but because they are facing rumblings from their own ranks and the political ineptitude of the DAP; they fumble around always attempting to maintain their Islamic credentials against Umno.
Umno meanwhile unfortunately for their critics, could make a credible argument for religious stability, what with all the nonsense coming out from PAS, in their wilderness years, where they were the Islamic bogeymen du jour. It was a poisonous kind of stability but then again there are few ‘Islamic' countries in the world that boast the same.
State of flux
However, the irony is that PAS has made great strides in embracing the problematic mainstream poltical discourse. Speaking of contesting under an ally's symbol, in 2008, PAS fielded an Indian candidate (and a woman at that), R Kumutha Raman, in a state seat in Johor under the PKR symbol, because their constitution did not allow for a non-Muslim candidate.
Fast forward to this election, PAS is fielding under its own banner Hu Pang Chaw (left), in Ayer Hitam. Hu, a Presbyterian and chief of PAS's non-Muslim wing - PAS Supporters Congress - is the beneficiary of PAS amending its constitution allowing non-Malays to run on its ticket. Kumutha too, is running again on a PAS ticket for the Tiram seat.Now some may argue that all this is an example of poltical expediency and Islamic dereliction of duty on PAS. However convenient as that line may be, the reality is that PAS has always been in a state of flux, which has been submerged in the Umno bogeyman narrative.
For decades, PAS willfully chose to ignore its leftist leaning roots to the detriment of the party and its engagement with mainstream politics.
Even now with party leader Abdul Hadi Awang babbling about PSM's supposed Marxist leanings, is just one in a long line of confused thinking that characterises the hardliners reluctance to depart from the Umno script that have been blindly following for years. I mean look at the whole ‘welfare state' concept that both Umno and PAS seem so keen on propagating.
Hasn't anyone from either party pointed out the ideological underpinnings of such a concept? On the other hand, is it just easier to use the Marxist red scare to drum up support using ignorance as a platform?
Common values
Hu claimed, "Our members come from different races and religions, but we have common values and a common goal," he tells his audience. "Allah tells you to do good things, be respectful and help one another. There is no conflict between the different religions."
And really, such "common" values are what PAS should be working as long as it needs the non-Malay vote to claim the throne in Putrajaya. As long as PAS on its own cannot garner the support of sizeable majority of the Malay polity, it should use this moment to refine its brand of Islam.
PAS should not merely concentrate on ‘form' but work on the substance, which concerns issues like good governance, corruption and some form of egalitarianism that are not anathema to Islam, Christianity, Buddhism or Hinduism or at least progressive ‘secular' interpretations of said religions.When PAS has cleaned its own house and that of its allies when it comes to these issues (which would take decades if seriously pursued) then perhaps they could pay attention those contentious issues that are of no concern to a mono-ethnic society that is eventually what Malaysia would become.
In the meantime, PAS should work to making a reality of its "For All" claim and the only way of doing this, is to stop playing the hudud game, when they think nobody is watching or when they assume partisans are too drunk on the kool aid to be concerned.
S THAYAPARAN is Commander (rtd) in the Royal Malaysian Navy.
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