Zamihan in charge of ‘deradicalisation’, but Sapno denied PR

We recently learned two things.

First, that controversial preacher Zamihan Mat Zin will have his services retained by the federal government, ostensibly as an expert in rehabilitating terrorists.

Second, that a surau bilal in Penang, Sapno Tukijo has been applying for permanent residency in Malaysia for some 23 years without success.

I suppose this contrast is quite a microcosm of the Malaysia we seem to find ourselves in today.

Zamihan shot to fame for vociferously defending the owner of a launderette in Johor who wanted to open his facilities to Muslims only.

The Sultan of Johor took strong exception to Zamihan’s views, as did the Sultan of Selangor, who barred him from preaching in Selangor.

As it happens, Zamihan also commented directly on Sapno’s famous decision as bilal of the Taman Free School surau to grant refuge to victims of the recent Penang floods in said surau.

Zamihan stated that the floods could not be categorised as an emergency situation, that other avenues existed for the victims, and that the surau authorities should have reminded those taking refuge in the surau to observe proper courtesies and guidelines.

Compassion before dogmatism

One could be forgiven for thinking that the deaths of seven people and the displacement of thousands more would indeed qualify the use of the term “emergency”.

Sapno testified that the victims did indeed seek refuge in other places, a nearby temple in particular, but were unable to reach it due to strong currents.

As for courtesies, is it our belief that the shirtless man was purposely without a shirt to offend the surau? 

Given the flash flood situation, could he not also have been forced to take off a drenched shirt, rather than suffer cold water on his skin for an extended period of time, and risk falling sick?

Could he not also perhaps have fled his house without a shirt to begin with?

One might hope that in any house of worship in the country, compassion might exceed rigid dogmatism.

There is some irony in Zamihan’s (photo) credentials as a “de-terroriser”, which are now being touted by our very own deputy prime minister.

Historically, we have seen many terrorists profess the same type of views and attitudes as Zamihan himself.

Surely the many parallels in terms of xenophobia and intolerance are not hard to see.

Terrorism is in essence born out of hate, and how can a radical man so full of hate and “us versus them” thinking possibly deradicalise others?

A man, no less, who has been publicly denounced by not one, but two heads of religion, who have made known in no uncertain terms that Zamihan is not welcome in their states.

We might not be surprised to find terrorists becoming more, and not less, radicalised after spending time with Zamihan, who the government seems dead set on protecting.

A model for Malaysians

Perhaps we should be sending the terrorists to Sapno instead, or even to surau chairperson Zakaria Mydin, who deserves equal credit.

If all our fellow citizens were like them, I feel we would live in a very different Malaysia.

Here is a man who put basic human decency far above colour or creed - a man who encapsulates what is best not only in Islam, but in humanity.

We can only hope that the rest of us will think of him, the next time we feel tempted to forward yet another anti-Muslim post in our various Whatsapp groups (most of which tend to have zero grounding or basis in actual fact, and are often complete fabrications).

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak was right to single him out as a hero, and we hope that he will continue to do the right thing and expedite Sapno’s application for permanent residency.

Indeed, after 29 years of living here, I daresay he is as Malaysian (if not more) than the rest of us, and should he desire it, I’m sure many of us would welcome granting him citizenship.

The top police officer in Terengganu recently made a rather racist comment, stating that the reason Terengganu has no gangsterism is because it is 97 percent Malay.

He could have made the rest of his points equally validly - that people in Terengganu respect their elders and have a sense of civic responsibility - without taking such a racial angle.

Perhaps such a racial lens is, in fact, a corollary of being in such a monoethnic state. Perhaps Sapno’s place of residence in a much more mixed community was a factor in the formation of his colour-blind compassion.

Just as the faithful heed Sapno the bilal’s call to prayer and victory, let us heed the call to be bridge builders, not bridge burners.

If non-Muslims continue spreading messages about Muslims that are informed more by self-righteous anger and hate than by compassion, then we are only mimicking Zamihan, and feeding his cycle of hate and division.

Let us follow Sapno’s example instead, by refusing to fight racism with racism, and by being the first to extend the hand of kindness whenever possible.

---

NATHANIEL TAN is deeply impressed that the Taman Free School surau even opened its doors to dogs in times of need. Perhaps the rest of us could learn a few pointers about treating strays well. -Mkini