Actress Wardina hits the right Islamic notes, puts religious authorities to shame

In a recent Facebook posting, she says it is apparent that many Malaysian Muslims who profess devotion to Islam have no real knowledge about the religion apart from the facts on rituals that they were fed with during their religious education.

“The result is that the religion is not understood, but feared,” she adds.

She poses a series of questions. “Why does religion separate us when it is supposed to encourage closeness? Why does a religion that encourages forgiveness cause us to fight? Is it because religion has not reached the heart?”

She says part of the problem could be that the government tends to sponsor weak students to take up studies in Islamic education while the brighter students are encouraged to pursue studies in worldly matters. She reasons that this results in the production of religious teachers who didn’t have enough intelligence to begin with.

She urges scholars to consider her questions and to hold discussions on the possibility of changing the education system so that it can produce better Muslims.

Wirdana is a daughter of the British-born Islamic activist Fadlullah Wilmot. - FMT