Building a better world

Muslim democrats must be more proactive in pushing back prevailing narratives that don't help.

COMMENT

This is the second of a two-part article.It is extracted from the Lembah Pantai MP’s address at a recent forum organised by ABIM, the Malaysian Muslim Youth Movement.

By Nurul Izzah Anwar

How can Muslim democrats build a better world? As politicians and policymakers, we have no choice but to widen the scope of the maqasid beyond the individual to encompass the community, nation and humanity in general. (Maqasid refers to a purpose, objective, principle, intent, goal or end.)

According to Rashid Rida (1865-1935), universal maqasids would include “reform of the pillars of faith and the spreading of awareness that Islam is the religion of pure natural disposition, reason, knowledge, wisdom, proof, freedom and independence; of social, political and economic reform; and of women’s rights.”

In nearly similar fashion, contemporary scholar Yusuf al-Qardhawi included the following as universal maqasids: “Preserving true faith, maintaining human dignity and rights, calling on people to worship God, purifying the soul, restoring moral values, treating women fairly, building a strong Islamic nation and calling for a cooperative world.”

I believe contemporary conditions demand that we embrace such universal maqasids.

We must be more proactive in pushing back prevailing narratives that do not help.

We need to take heed of what Tareq Suwaidan has said, that among one of the Islamic world’s weaknesses is not empowering women’s role in society. I call for us to work hard to provide the environment that will be conducive to the empowering of women.

In the year 2012 alone, there were 2,964 rape cases in Malaysia. According to the Women’s Aid Organisation, out of 10 reported cases, nine would go unreported. This means that there are close to 81 rape cases a day. This is unacceptable. How can we let this continue to happen?

A study by Reuters has placed Kuala Lumpur as the seventh most dangerous city of 16 major cities in the world. This has to stop. We need to put in place regulations, legislation and follow-through action that protect women at work.

According to the Household Index Survey, the number of earners in one household is 1.8. This means that in the typical Malaysian household, both husband and wife go out to work. This is the reality that we as Muslim democrats have to accept and work out solutions for.

Human development and the welfare of human beings have a pivotal place in the Islamic development concept. The majority of Islamic scholars have come to the conclusion that the objective of the Shariah (Maqasid al-Shariah) is to promote the well-being of all mankind, which means their faith, their human selves, their intellect, their posterity and their wealth must be safeguarded. Human development, from the Islamic perspective, must be based on Maqasid al-Shariah.

ABIM, being the stellar organisation that is brimming with hope for the realization of a future conducive to Muslim democrats, must continue to take the lead in propagating the right maqasid shariah.

Islamicity Index

Looking at our position in the Islamicity Index of George Washington University’s Hossein Askari, we are already far ahead of the other Islamic countries, although we are at Number 33 on Askari’s list, far below so-called Christian countries. What we need to do now is to discover what the Quran teaches about the practices that countries like Ireland follow and how we should implement these to ensure that Malaysia becomes truly the model Islamic nation. (Ireland topped Askari’s list.) We cannot allow Malaysia to remain Muslim only in name, with a severely lackadaisical attitude towards justice and good governance.

And going back to the Islamicity Index, what impact has it had on Malaysia? Nothing, really, except for Malaysia’s first-ever “Syariah Index”, which the Prime Minister hopes will be adopted by other Muslim nations.

Now, shockingly, we find that Najib’s index will have special emphasis on five issues “relating to maqasid”, which includes a rather questionable reference to “ancestry” or, simply put, race. The original context is of the preservation of offspring or progeny. For example, Islam protects man’s honour and prevents lineage confusion by encouraging marriage and advocating the family institution. This is to ensure procreation within the Shariah boundaries. I have no idea which credible Islamic scholar would include “race” as a maqasid. And someone has even updated Wikipedia to reflect this newly adopted definition of maqasid.

In his final sermon, the Prophet said, “All mankind is from Adam and Eve. An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab, nor does a non-Arab have any superiority over an Arab; a white person has no superiority over a black person, nor does a black person have any superiority over a white person, except by piety and good action.”

We find, in a reputable exegesis of the Quran, that Satan’s rejection of Adam was based on a form of racism. The pertinent verse is 17: 61: “And when we said unto the angels: Fall down prostate before Adam and they fell prostrate all, save Iblis (Satan); he said: Shall I fall prostrate before that which Thou hast created of clay?”

It is ironic that the leader of a race-based party feels that he has a right to talk about Maqasid Shariah. Islam can never be used to justify a racist or a race-based agenda.

I am also confounded by the fact that Malaysia chooses to ignore suggestions for universal maqasids by such renowned scholars as Rashid Rida and Yusuf al-Qardhawi.

The gauntlet, ladies and gentlemen, must be picked up by ABIM, which has set the tone of Islamic discourse in this country. ABIM must appeal to the good sense of policymakers to bring forth maqasids that are in line with Malaysia’s multiracial needs, that include women in decision making, that address the deepening inequality in wealth and that ensure social justice, human dignity and democratic space.