Indonesian scholar denies Jakim charge of deviance, explains view

Mun'im Sirry says he was merely challenging a prevalent view that pre-Islamic Arabian society was primitive by referring to the Quran's intellectual discourse.

Mun’im said he had merely referred to a hypothesis by a British scholar, in challenging a widespread view that the Quran was revealed to a “pagan” Arab civilisation.

PETALING JAYA: A US-based Indonesian Muslim scholar has denied a claim by the Department of Islamic Development (Jakim) accusing him of spreading deviant teachings, saying his speech at a forum in Kuala Lumpur recently had been misunderstood.

Yesterday, Jakim director-general Othman Mustapha accused the Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF) and the G25 of trying to spread “dangerous”, “liberal” and deviant” ideas among Muslims in the country, after several websites criticised Mun’im Sirry’s speech at a forum on the concept of moderation in the Quran organised by the two groups.

Othman said he was made to understand that Mun’im had said that the Quran was revealed in Mesopotamia, an ancient region in present-day Iraq.

Muslims believe that the Quran’s over 6,000 verses were revealed in stages to Prophet Muhammad in Mecca and Medina, over a period of 23 years.

“This statement is wrong and goes against the majority view of the ulama. He is trying to promote a new interpretation about the truth of the Quran,” said Othman in a statement widely reported yesterday.

Speaking to FMT, Mun’im said he had merely referred to a hypothesis by a British scholar, in challenging a widespread view that the Quran was revealed to a “pagan” Arab civilisation, by pointing out to the Quran’s deep theological discourse.

“What I was saying is that if you look at the text of the Quran, you will have the impression that it was not revealed within the pagan context as it has commonly been assumed.

“The Quran seems to assume that its audience was familiar with biblical narratives and even theological polemics between Jews and Christians,” said Mun’im.

He said because of such theological debates in the Quran, British scholar John Wansbrough had argued that the Quran might have emerged in Mesopotamia where such theological debates took place in the sixth/seventh century.

Mun’im said while Muslims may disagree with the suggestion, Wansbrough brought up an important question on whether Mecca and Medina were indeed “primitive” as widely believed.

“I myself expressed that I dont agree with Wansbrough saying that in my view Mecca and Medina was not as isolated as many people usually assume. Thus I also challenged those who attended the seminar to rethink about the pagan context of the Quran as it is presented in the Muslim sources. I argued that the Muslim sources must be scrutinised critically,” said Mun’im who teaches theology.

Mun’im was among speakers at the forum “Moderation in the Quran: Between Two Extremes” on August 19, which also featured Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, who delivered the keynote address.

Other speakers at the forum were IRF director Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa, Indonesian academic Abdul Munir Mulkhan, and International Islamic University (IIU) lecturers Shamrahayu Abdul Aziz, Ahmad El-Muhammady and Maszlee Malik.

‘Prophet too branded heretic’

Meanwhile, Farouk, when contacted by FMT, questioned the strong reaction from Jakim yesterday, saying it showed that some Muslims failed to grasp the Quran’s call on Muslims to think.

Farouk: What is wrong in listening to different narratives? Does Jakim think that Muslims in this country are so stupid that they cannot think on their own?”

He said Prophet Muhammad too was once called a heretic for bringing an “alien” idea on the oneness of God.

“So are we emulating the pagans by dismissing any new ideas that provoke our thinking?” asked Farouk.

“What is wrong in listening to different narratives? Does Jakim think that Muslims in this country are so stupid that they cannot think on their own?”

Farouk said IRF was set up to encourage intellectual discourse and critical thinking among Muslims.

“That is why our tag line is “Li qaumin yatafakkarun” – for people who think,” he said, quoting a verse from the Quran.

“The whole idea is about thinking and rethinking. Any ideas presented should be discussed intellectually, not emotionally. Just because an idea is alien to us, we quickly labelled it as deviant.” -FMT