Over-regulation of Islam won’t help resolve interfaith issues

One thing is for sure: any form of dialogue can only take place if its participants are well-equipped with knowledge to argue their case, coupled with the humility to accept varying opinions. 

Alyaa Alhadjri, The Ant Daily 

PETALING JAYA: Any move to "over-regulate" the practice of Islam as Malaysia's official religion is not the solution to resolve issues surrounding interfaith relations.

Jihad for Justice president Datuk Thasleem Ibrahim said the process should instead start from an early stage where children are taught religious values in the "right way".

"Faith is between you [as a person] and Allah SWT. Let us as Muslims examine ourselves first.

"Are we doing the right things or are we going to over-regulate until the day we find our children going overseas, only to realise that this [what they were taught] is not Islam in its entirety?" he told theantdaily.

Thasleem also said that the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim), as well as state religious authorities, should reconsider its approaches towards regulating Islam in Malaysia.

The first step, he said, is to stop propagating government-sanctioned ideologies during the weekly Friday prayer sermons.

"Some of the sermons today are just ridiculous. Nowhere in the world are the sermons prepared in this way," he said in echoing criticisms to the perceived pro-government stand adopted in the name of Islam and delivered through the pulpit.

A sense of disillusionment with the message delivered had even driven National Laureate Datuk A Samad Said to perform his Friday prayers at Masjid India where the sermon is delivered in Tamil.

"I moved to the Masjid India mosque on purpose. I do not understand Tamil, so I feel more relieved," said the octogenarian, who is fondly known as Pak Samad, in an interview with an online portal last week.

This, Thasleem argued, is a clear sign of the extent that religion and Islam have been "politicised" in Malaysia, particularly by the ruling Barisan Nasional government led by Umno.

"They [Umno] have tried the racial, economic and religious cards but [many] people today have progressed beyond the stupidity of Jakim," he said.

Thasleem also said that there has been no proof to back up claims of Islam and Malays in Malaysia being under threat from non-Muslims.

"There is only a perceived threat orchestrated and engineered by Umno to stay in power," he said.

Thasleem was initially asked to comment on the message delivered by Prof Dr Sirajuddin Syamsuddin, as head of Muhammadiyah (Indonesia's largest Muslim non-governmental organisation), at the World Council of Churches 10th General Assembly in Busan, South Korea earlier this month.

Sirajuddin had reportedly called upon Muslims and Christians to focus on their similarities as believers of the Abrahamic faiths towards achieving common solutions for modern-day challenges.

Malaysia was represented at the general assembly by the Council of Churches Malaysia secretary-general Rev Dr Hermen Shastri who told theantdaily that Sirajuddin's views were well received by the Christian world leaders in attendance at the event held once every seven years.

Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world with its last official census in 2010 estimating the figure at around 88% from the total 237,424,363 citizens.

The island republic, however, remains a secular state and Hermen said this is in comparison to Malaysia where the government will find itself in a bind when the special position of Islam in the country is invoked.

"The only way to deal with interfaith issues [in Malaysia] is to always return to the Federal Constitution and interpret it in the spirit in which it was conceived," he said in an email interview.

To a question on reported cases of attacks against churches in Indonesia, as well as the long-standing strife between Muslims and Christians in Ambon, Hermen noted that the Indonesian government has taken actions against those who preach extremist views and engage in violent provocation among their followers.

"The [Malaysian] government, however, has not been consistent to act against some groups that espouse extremist religious views," he said in pointing out how ethnic and religious differences have been politicised by certain quarters.

"Interfaith dialogue is also difficult [in Malaysia] because Islam is seen as part of the state apparatus and dialogue partners are not considered equal at the table," he added.

One thing is for sure: any form of dialogue can only take place if its participants are well-equipped with knowledge to argue their case, coupled with the humility to accept varying opinions.

The government's role, in this case, should not be to "over-regulate" the practice of Islam but rather to ensure that the rights of all religious communities are protected as provided for under the Federal Constitution.