No country for righteous men

We have two kinds of morality side by side: one which we preach but do not practice and another which we practice but seldom preach. - Bertrand Russell

A long time ago when I attended Sekolah Staf dan Komando (Command) Angkatan Bersenjata Republik Indonesia (Bagian Laut), I used to have these lengthy discussions with one of the ‘dosens' (lecturers), a retired admiral whose quick wit complimented his piercing intellect.

The aftershocks of the Iranian Revolution were like tremors reminding the very international (Western and Asian) mix of officers training there of the precarious ground we were standing on in the reality of the rise of political Islam.

ReadingMalaysiakini'sinterview with Yazid Sufaat (left) brought back memories of those discussions which would seem prophetic if not for the fact of hindsight.

You have to remember that Indonesia had always struggled with the radical impulses of its Muslim community and beneath this was the simmering ethnic tension being stoked by the powers-that-be.

But what concerned this retired admiral was the threat of radical Islam from Malaysia, which he claimed was the more serious threat to Indonesia.

Yazid may just be a lackey, but we have had far too many lackeys causing lethal mischief in the region and specifically in Indonesia - with Jemaah Islamiah bomb-maker Nordin Mat Top being the poster boy for the mendacious nature of the Umno regime with regards to how it promulgates the practice of Islam in this country.

Two Malaysias

The tale of two Malaysias is not only about the hypocritical nature of the manner in which Islam is practiced in this country but more importantly how we as a community react to the Arabisation or Islamisation of this country.

The former is easier to identify and the blame rests at the doorstep of the ruling regime.

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has stated that Malaysia is an Islamic country in one of his numerous defences against attacks on Umno's Islamic credentials by PAS.

This is a matter of public record and whether his statement is true is something I have no interests in arguing since I suspect any such discussion would be an exercise in pedantry.

It should surprise nobody that the thinking of someone like Yazid could be shaped in this country. His search for a deeper understanding of Islam led him first to his local imam, then to the shores of a foreign land where he is charged with funding sectarian violence.

And when he is finally incarcerated under the ISA, it's done in secrecy and his wife is also threatened and imprisoned for a spell. After seven years, this wanted Islamic terrorist is released because, in his words, he capitulated to the desires of his captors.

And after being released, he mocks his captors. What kind of rehabilitation is this? What kind of message is the regime sending to others who share the same philosophy as Yazid?

Recall that Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein (right in photo) lamented the death of Nordin Mat Top and reassured Malaysians that he could have been "rehabilitated".

And recall too, that the Malaysian authorities want to reclaim the bodies of Malaysian terrorists who were killed in Philippines. I'll leave it to the readers to decide what kind of message is being sent.

We're taught to fear one another

Gaze at the two faces of Islam that is presented to Malaysians and the world. Prime ministers have talked of Islam Hadhari and the moderate Islam of 1Malaysia but yet in practice they are anything but moderate.

The two Alis (Ibrahim and Hasan) are allowed to run riot whipping up religious fervour and the notion of Islam as being under attack is perpetuated by the propaganda organs of the state. Muslims are taught to fear the ‘other' while the ‘other' is encouraged to fear Islam.

The ruling regime appears always on the side of ‘Islam' even though in the name of Islam, great wrongs have been perpetuated against non-Muslims.

Take for example the cow-head protest where the home minister sat with the protesters labeling them the aggrieved party even though they were eventually charged in court.

How about when reporters for a local Islamic magazine went ‘undercover' to a local church investigating claims of conversions and then spat out (and recorded the act) the Holy Communion? What do you think would have happened if Islam was insulted in a similar vein?

And let us not forget the recent ‘Allah' controversy where Christians were told they could not use ‘Allah' in the Malay edition of the Bible even though its usage was accepted throughout the Muslim world. Is it any wonder that this atmosphere is conducive to the creation of a certain kind of fanatic?

There is a simple axiom that history teaches us that the ruling regime has obviously not grasped. When you set yourself up as keepers of the faith (Islam in this instance), eventually you will find yourself pitted against those who think you are derelict in your obligations. In this case, it's fanatics like Yazid and his ilk.

For some readers (depending on your religious affiliation) quoting the late Christopher Hitchens would seem the height of inappropriateness, but I think it would do us well to remember one of his less acerbic but instructive quotes, which is, "The secular state is the guarantee of religious pluralism. This apparent paradox, again, is the simplest and most elegant of political truths."

Slavish interpretation of religious text

And how do we non-Muslims and ‘moderate' Muslims deal with this onslaught of Islamisation? Even though in my comment pieces I have been hard on Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Rakyat on their ‘tempered' stand, I give them credit for softly participating in the discourse.

I am very well aware how the regime they are up against would twist their words and a stint under the ISA would be the official response.

Let's us consider former Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin's (left) defence of Islam as a ‘moderate' religion in the face of anti-Semitism and violence that the likes of Umno and Yazid seem recklessly and obsessively (respectively) interested in advocating.

Asri's ‘moderate' comments has been met by scorn by certain quarters who are more interested in pointing out that Islamic holy text is rife with anti-Jewish sentiment.

Having read these texts, I could also point out the numerous justifications used by other believers of other religions to justify their prejudice and bigotry. The banning of Seksuality Merdeka for instance was met with approval from not just certain Muslims but also Christians based on their own religious dogma.

And for all this talk of Muslim anti-Semitism what is rarely addressed is the insidious Christian variety of the evangelical kind which fund settlements in the illegally occupied territory in Gaza in the belief that the rapture would lead to the conversion of Jews to Christianity.

I can understand why some ‘moderate' Muslims are unnerved of speaking up. When they do, they are reminded of the fact that although their own religious convictions are not dependent on a slavish interpretation (like most other ‘moderate' adherents of other religions) of religious text, the religion itself is blamed for everything wrong in this country and the world.

Asri's response to Hindraf

Although I don't have a problem with the defence of Islam as a ‘moderate' religion with regards to the Jewish question and terrorism, I doubt Asri's sincerity when it comes to anything to do with Islam or race relations in this country. And let's face it, in this country religion and races are intimately entwined.

I suppose Asri's response to the Hindraf demonstration and Indian community grievances was not that of a compassionate Muslim but that of a supremacist Malay.

Here's what he said, for those who can't recall: "Sangat hina kehidupan mereka di dalam negeri mereka. Kasta pariah ini telah dibawa oleh Inggeris ke dalam negara kita ... kehidupan yang mereka nikmati di sini seribu kali ganda lebih baik daripada ... negara merempat, naik bas, tak pakai baju, tak pakai seluar."

If Asri as a Malay can't see the inequality of his own multiracial society, how can he as a Muslim reflect on the moderate nature of Islam?

And therein lies the rub. For years we have been excluded from the discourse that any noise that conforms to our expectations is greeted with relief and applause. Any political party which superficially addresses these racial and religious problems is viewed as saviours.

I realise that I sound like a broken record but if we don't attempt to address these issues in an honest and open manner, we will never be a united country no matter which political alliance governs us.

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S THAYAPARAN is Commander (rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy.