EDUCATION, NOT LEGISLATION, IS THE KEY

So legislation does not work for Muslims. Muslims need education. But when the ulama focus more on legislation and less on education, this is when we will see the most Islamic state in Malaysia also having the highest or second highest incidence of HIV in the country.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

According to the Malaysian AIDS Foundation (MAF), Kelantan has the second highest incidence of HIV cases in the country. MAF secretary-general Hisham Hussein said HIV incidence in the state is 28.8 cases for every 100,000 in the population, which was double the national rate.

I have actually written about this matter quite a number of times in the past, long before Malaysia Todaywas launched ten years ago in August 2004. At that time I said that Kelantan has the highest incidence of HIV cases in the country. Now it seems it has the second highest. So maybe I was wrong or maybe the situation in Kelantan has improved since I first wrote about the matter.

Anyway, that is not the issue. Whether Kelantan has the highest or second highest number of cases is not as crucial as the fact that Kelantan is 95% Muslim, has had an ‘Islamic’ state government for 45 of the 57 years that Malaysia has seen independence, and the state is known as Serambi Mekah (the veranda of Mekah).

Not to be forgotten is also the fact that more than 20 years ago Kelantan was the first state in Malaysia (followed by Terengganu about a decade later) to pass a Bill in the State Assembly to implement the Sharia criminal laws of Hudud — which could not finally be implemented because Parliament did not approve that Bill.

The gist of my earlier articles over the last 20 or 30 years was that it is impossible and futile to try to legislate conduct. You cannot pass laws to punish people for the way they behave. If they want to drink, gamble, cross the border to enjoy the delights that Thailand has to offer, not pray, not fast, etc., no laws can stop them from acting that way.

It is just like trying to legislate acts of racism. People might stop from openly making racist statements. But that is not going to stop them from being a racist. They will still harbour racist tendencies. It is just that they will not openly show it because they can get punished if they do. But that is not going to change their views regarding the people they hate.

I have seen people with amputated hands even in Mekah itself. I even witnessed one chap with an amputated hand being dragged away screaming and struggling right in front of the Ka’bah. This chap had been caught trying to steal. So now he was going to lose the other hand as well. Did losing a hand stop this chap from being a thief?

The question is why did he still steal after losing one hand and risk losing the other hand as well? Is he just evil and greedy or was he hungry? And if it is because he was hungry should he suffer the loss of his other hand or should he instead be given food? After all, Saudi Arabia is very rich and surely feeding a few hungry people is not going to cripple the economy of that country.

Anyway, the point is, no legislation is going to change peoples’ conduct. It just makes them more careful and less open about what they do because getting caught will attract punishment. But that seldom stops people from doing what they want to do.

In that sense I have more respect for the religions from the Indian continent compared to how Islam is practiced. And note the operative word here, practiced.

Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism believe in dharma. There is no single word translation for dharma in western languages and it has multiple meanings in Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. Nevertheless, it can be simply summarised as a way of life according to cosmic law and order or the order that makes life and the universe possible.

Dharma in Jainism refers to the body of doctrine pertaining to the purification and moral transformation of human beings. For Sikhs, the word dharm means the path of righteousness.

Muslims may find this very difficult to understand because they never study the other religions so to help Malays better understand this issue let us just say that dharma is the Islamic equivalent of adeen, or way of life.

In Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism, your dharma will decide your karma. And to help Malays understand what karma means let us just say that karma is the law of cause and effect. Good intent and good deeds contribute to good karma and future happiness, while bad intent and bad deeds contribute to bad karma and future suffering.

So, your karma is decided by your action or deeds. And good karma will mean you escape samsara. Samsara is basically the repeating cycle of birth, life and death (or reincarnation) as well as one’s actions and consequences in the past, present, and future.

Hence, unlike Christians and Muslims, you cannot commit a sin or crime and then beg God’s forgiveness (and then be forgiven). God has nothing to do with this. Your fate is in your hands, not in the hands of God. God does not punish you (or reward you). You punish yourself.

Hence Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains are in control of their own destiny. And that destiny is determined by their karma, which depends on their dharma. God does not get involved, like for Christians and Muslims. So action and doctrine have to be compatible.

For Christians and Muslims, their doctrine may say one thing but their actions may be the opposite. That is because they do not believe in dharma, karma or samsara but believe that God decides. So you can ‘negotiate’ with God to escape punishment from all your sins and crimes.

And this is why the most Islamic state in Malaysia also has the highest or second highest incidence of HIV in the country. That is because you can continue to commit violations against your doctrine and can still escape punishment if you negotiate with God.

So you continue to do the wrong thing and equally do some right things. Then, when your final account is tallied, your good deeds erase your bad deeds and you can still escape hell and go to heaven.

So you can rape a woman and feed 100 orphans. You can take bribes and donate some of that money to the mosque. You can drink and gamble but do not miss your five times a day prayers. You can continue doing 100 good deeds for every one bad deed and still enjoy heaven in the Afterlife.

So legislation does not work for Muslims. Muslims need education. But when the ulama focus more on legislation and less on education, this is when we will see the most Islamic state in Malaysia also having the highest or second highest incidence of HIV in the country.