Don’t accept shallow view of Islam, says IRF

Farouk: Muslims would serve their religion better if they were to support an Islamic agenda that called for adherence to positive universal values.

PETALING JAYA: The Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF) has advised Muslims against accepting Umno’s version of Islamisation without question.

Speaking to FMT, IRF director Ahmad Farouk Musa said he was concerned that some Muslims might not realise that Islamisation a la Umno was based on a shallow view of Islam, one that ignored its universality and timelessness.

He alleged that this Islamisation programme was a result of its past rivalry against PAS.

“They were trying to out-Islamise each other, but now they seem to have merged together for political expediency,” he said.

He said Muslims would serve their religion better if they were to support an Islamic agenda that called for adherence to positive universal values.

“To weed out corruption, to have separation of powers, to instil transparency and accountability, to promote good governance – these are all part of the Islamic agenda that we have to promote,” he said.

He urged Amanah to play a role in moving Muslims away from their current understanding of Islamism towards a view of the religion as one that embraces democratic values. He referred to this as “post-Islamism”.

“We have to promote the post-Islamism agenda, for lack of a better expression. This would be an attempt to strategise the rationale and modalities of Islamism for the social, political and intellectual domains.

“The term is neither anti-Islamic nor un-Islamic nor secular. It represents our effort to fuse religion with rights, faith and freedom.”

Recently, Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Sani, who is a professor at Universiti Utara Malaysia’s School of International Studies, said Pakatan Harapan (PH) could suffer defeat in the coming general election due to its weakness in dealing with the issue of Islamisation.

He said the opposition coalition had no clear agenda when it came to policies related to Islam.

Salahuddin says Muslims should not be narrow-minded when thinking about Islam.

Responding to the criticism, Amanah deputy president Salahuddin Ayub said Muslims should not be narrow-minded when thinking about Islam.

“Islam is more than just a religion; it’s a way of life,” he said. “We must see the big picture when it comes to Islam, not piecemeal solutions and not only in terms of hudud or so-called Islamic laws.”

He said there was a need to emphasise Islam’s rejection of corruption and abuse of power as well as its call for social and economic justice.

Referring to shariah law, he said PH’s priority was to ensure that it served its purpose.

“There is no doubt that Islamic law is dear to the hearts of Muslims in this country, but we must first ensure that the Maqasid as-Shariah (fundamental objectives of the shariah) are implemented.”

Mujahid: It’s not about putting the name ‘Islam’ on policies or attaching an Islamic label.

Amanah vice-president Mujahid Yusof Rawa spoke of Islamic principles of accountability, saying these called for, among other things, institutional reforms that would ensure the independence of institutions such as the judiciary, the Election Commission and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

“It’s not about putting the name ‘Islam’ on policies or attaching an Islamic label,” he said. “It’s the substance of such policies that matter.” -FMT