Talks, forums important, but Malaysia needs action plan, says law expert

Dr Aziz Bari speaks during the Peace Symposium 2015 at the Royale Bintang Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Seth Akmal, September 23, 2015.There have been forums aplenty on Islam, human rights, rule of law, Malaysia's identity and more, but after much talk, is there an action plan for Malaysians?

The packed Peace Symposium in Kuala Lumpur last night, organised by Ahmadiyah Muslims in Malaysia, was one such event where even one of the speakers expressed concern about the long-term impact of such forums.

Constitutional law expert Dr Aziz Bari, who recently became a DAP member, was circumspect, although he believed in the need to continue participating in dialogues.

“It’s always the same people who are keen, and such events are held in the city (Kuala Lumpur). You’re preaching to the converted.”

He still feels the need to participate and says it is important for him.

“Whatever I can do, I will do my best to contribute to the discourse.”

But he added that tangible solutions are needed as well as to get the relevant people to work on the issues.

The “Understanding Shariah from the Religious and Rights Perspectives” symposium attempted to discuss shariah principles and the Islamic state in a multicultural country such as Malaysia.

Besides Aziz, other speakers were Datuk Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa of the Islamic Renaissance Front; human rights lawyers Syahredzan Johan and Aston Paiva;  president of interfaith group the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism Sardar Jagir Singh; and international Muslim human rights activist Dr Sir Iftikhar Ahmad Ayaz.

Numerous forums have been organised in recent years, appearing to coincide with greater political awareness since the 2008 general election as well as the impact of social media, with wide ranging topics covering politics, electoral reform, Islam in Malaysia and minority rights.

Aston (pic), of law firm Bon Associates, said such forums and public education continued to be important to educate Malaysians.

“How many Malaysians understand language and how it is used for political means? What is Malaysia then? Secular? Muslim? It’s actually political. Malaysia is a democracy.”

For example, he said, there were two types of known laws before, which were Muslim and civil laws.

But today, Muslim law is known and termed as shariah law – a change in the use of language which impacts the whole dynamic of legal perception and practice.

“We need to change the language. Hence public education is very important, and must go beyond forums such as this. We need reforms, and everyone must for this," Aston said.

Symposium organiser Jariullah Ahmad said these forums were needed in a country where religious minorities are marginalised.

“Such a programme is needed so non-Muslims and Muslims such as we speak and have a dialogue with each other.

"This is a process called tarbiah and in Islam, tarbiah must continue. This is the most effective jihad to counter the negative narrative that we encounter in the media.”

The Malaysian Insider asked whether the event was a strategy for Malaysian Ahmadiyah Muslims to mainstream themselves in the public eye. They are considered a deviant group here, where only Sunni Islam is recognised.

Jariullah believes that perceptions towards the Ahmadiyah are slowly improving.

“While there is a segment of society that looks at the Ahmadiyah negatively, society is more informed these days. We have been bullied by the religious authorities, and yet when we approach them to dialogue, they refuse to meet us. We are not political and neither do we have a hidden agenda, which is why we had this event so people can gauge for themselves.

"Now people are seeing that we love the Prophet Muhammad and are practising Muslims."

Forums and public education may be the best way to introduced marginalised societies into the mainstream and de-sensitise taboo topics for now, but there is definitely the need to take these conversation beyond mere events.

- TMI