Open letter to the mufti of Perlis

Assalamu’alaikum Ustaz.

I think you know me very well, Ustaz. We have known each other well before you became a mufti. This must be some 15-18 years ago. We have had some very interesting exchanges prior to your talks the following days, during your many visits to KL.

More recently, I have been reading your many statements praising the actions of Muhyiddin Yassin pulling out Bersatu from Pakatan Harapan and partnering with Umno and PAS to form a new back door government.

Ustaz, you know very well that I am not a politician. I am merely a humble supporter of the Sunnah ways taught to me by knowledgeable teachers including your kind self. I was taught to always prioritise the teaching of the Al-Qur’an and the authentic traditions of the Prophet (PBUH) in all our spiritual and worldly endeavours.

It is premised on this understanding, that I felt it incumbent to write this piece to balance the political nuances of Ustaz which are utterly confusing the ummah and do not seem to honour the Islamic principles which I have learnt and which you have advocated from the traditions of the Prophet (PBUH).

Let our readers decide which points of view best reflects the teachings of our religion.

To do justice, allow me to first quote your many public pronouncements from your Facebook, your videos and your interview with Astro Awani on March 10, 2020, at about 2.30 pm. You said:

1. The Harapan government allowed sensitive issues related to race and religion to proliferate causing the rakyat to be angry and upset. The Harapan government was not assertive in controlling the situation. They should have addressed the situation firmly and promptly to allay the hostilities and concerns of the rakyat. It should not have been allowed to drag on and pose a danger to the rakyat and nation

2. Because of the failure of the Harapan government to handle the situation with tact, it was only appropriate for Muhyiddin and his team to undertake the “Sheraton Move” to grab power through the "back door" to overcome this imagined catastrophe by forming an “all-Malay government” which entails kicking out the DAP from office. With the success of this takeover, you are now appealing to the rakyat (namely the Malays) to give Muhyiddin and his back door government the opportunity to carry out the task of governing.

3, You always reminded us to listen and obey our leaders, whether we like them or not until it is proven that they have sinned or are treacherous. And you quoted the hadith:

“To listen and to obey the leaders is mandatory upon a Muslim in all affairs, whether he likes or not, as long as he is not commanded to do evil. When this happens, he must no longer obey nor listen” (al-Bukhari and Muslim)

4 On Feb 17, 2010, you were quoted as having said: “The actions of the rakyat representatives to hop parties is a sin in religion because it is treacherous and totally disrespectful of the rakyats’ mandate.

My response to your viewpoints has no political innuendos. My only intent is to seek the truth, an authentic religious perspective of these happenings. I always picture in my mind, how the prophet (PBUH) and his companions would have acted when faced with a similar political crisis.

Our religion has always exhorted us to be just because that is closest to taqwa which is our passport to heaven. If we act otherwise, we are doomed.

Permit me to share two pertinent passages from the Quran which you and our scholars have always quoted in this aspect:

O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm for Allah, witnesses in justice, and do not let the hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Be just; that is nearer to righteousness. And fear Allah, indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what you do. (5:8)

O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm in justice, witnesses for Allah, even if it be against yourselves or parents and relatives. Whether one is rich or poor, Allah is more worthy of both. So follow not [personal] inclination, lest you not be just. And if you distort [your testimony] or refuse [to give it], then indeed Allah is ever, with what you do. (4:135)

A paramount issue besetting the nation’s politics today is the trail of treachery and broken promises by Muhyiddin and his back door government. They were together in the Harapan coalition to face GE-14, defeated the kleptocratic Umno-BN government and were trusted with the rakyat's mandate to start a new beginning, "Malaysia Baru".

In our religious vocabulary, this act of treachery and broken promise is described as despotic (zalim) which is the anti-thesis of justice (adil). Despotic leaders are cursed by Allah (SWT) in this world and the hereafter.

Muhyiddin was not only treacherous to Harapan but also to the rakyat who chose Harapan, and booted out Umno-BN which virtually bankrupted our national coffers during its 61-year rule.

My question is, are the treasonous actions of Muhyiddin exempted from the basic Islamic principles which I alluded to earlier?

I would welcome your wisdom of any verses from the Quran or the history of the prophet (PBUH) whereby he (PBUH) or his companions deliberately broke any contracts they made with the non-Muslims or the "People of the Book".

I have no doubt in my mind that the treacherous conduct of the (unbelievers) Mushrikin would be far worse than those of our non-Muslim citizens (if any) in Malaysia. Despite that, the prophet was just to them.

The enemies of Islam (Mushrikin) during the prophet’s (PBUH) time despised Islam even though he delivered the message of Islam in the best possible manner.

There is a world of difference between Mushirikin during the time of the prophet (PBUH) and the non-Muslims in Malaysia. The latter are neither hostile nor obstruct the Muslims from practising their religion.

The few non-Muslims who are ill-mannered towards the Malays are so due to their lack of understanding of Islam consequent upon our (Muslim Malays) failure to disseminate the message of Islam with tact and wisdom.

Let us be upfront about our failures. We are more obsessed with our Malay race than our religion. And it is not farfetched for me to equate our actions like the Jews (Yahudi) who lived many years in Madinah before the coming of the prophet (PBUH).

The Jews never saw the need to invite the Arabs, worshippers of idols (Mushrikin) to instead worship Allah, because they felt it was their exclusive right to Allah. To the Jews, the Arabs had no “class” and in the sight of Allah, they are doomed to the hellfire. Only the Jews had the exclusive right to heaven.

The Malay mindset is much similar to the Jews. Our psyche is like, “Don’t bother with these unbelievers, they don’t believe in Allah, so their rightful abode is the hellfire. We Malay-Muslims good, bad or ugly will eventually enter the heavens. But, whatever, the (non-Muslims) must respect us. Malaysia is our land. These guys are aliens (pendatang). We give them an inch now they demand a mile.”

There were a few drastic actions of the prophet (PBUH) against his enemies, but unlike the allegations of the Western Orientalists, they were all fully justified in response to the treasonous actions of his enemies. These incidents were namely:

1. The killing of Ka'ab bin Ashraff, a Jewish traitor from Madinah who came to Makkah to instigate the Qurasyh pagans to attack the Muslims in avenging their earlier defeat in the Battle of Badr. This led to the Battle of Uhud not too long after that.

2. The beheading of all the men from the Jewish tribe of Bani Qurayza and the enslavement of their women and children, for plotting to kill the Prophet (PBUH) who was the head of the state of Madinah and for violating and betraying the state's constitution which they had pledged loyalty to earlier.

3. The attack on the Jewish tribe of Bani Nadhir and then exiling them from Madinah for their covert support to the large confederation of enemies of the new state during the battle of Al-Ahzaab.

4. The violation of the treaty of Hudaibiyyah by the Arab pagans of Quraysh which resulted in the Prophet leading 10,000 Muslim soldiers to march to Makkah and liberate the city from the pagans.

On Ustaz’s allegations that the Harapan government failed to address the rakyat’s grievances on issues of race and religion, I would politely ask, “Who was the minister of home affairs during this 22-month period"? Was not the nation’s peace and harmony under his jurisdiction? Why was he not held accountable for the failures to address the rakyat's concerns?

When the attorney-general released the 12 Tamils for their alleged involvement in the terror organisation LTTE, I read his answer to the minister of home affairs. I was waiting for the minister’s rebuttal to the AG’s statement which unfortunately never appeared. This lack of transparency from the minister with respect to upholding the rule of law is very disappointing.

With regards to the hadith about obeying our leaders, might I ask Ustaz, which bit of the Harapan governance was entrenched in evil (maksiat) which we must not obey? It might have escaped my attention.

There is no benefit to me to suck up to the non-Muslims especially the very few who misbehave towards us. Whether I like them or not is irrelevant. As Muslims, on the path of the prophet (PBUH), our endeavour is to search and to establish the truth.

Fighting has been enjoined upon you while it is hateful to you. But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah Knows, while you know not. (2:216)

It is simply not fair for me to hate the non-Muslims just because of the fault of a few among them who have misbehaved towards us on account of their lack of understanding of Islam. And especially if the minister of home affairs who was tasked to preserve the national harmony did not carry out his job responsibly.

And the minister has the audacity to blame them and use this as an excuse to overthrow the government of which he was part of. Did he not promise to save this nation from the thieves in Umno which he lambasted during GE14? And now he jumps into bed with them and invites them to be part of his back door government. This is totally insane, let alone Islamic!

None of the Umno ministers has apologised for supporting Najib Abdul Razak, the global kleptocrat. If they are truly sincere and have repented, they ought to publicly say sorry to the rakyat.

Ustaz, you are more knowledgeable in this aspect, and you ought to counsel them to apologise to the nation. If they are unrepentant, how can you or the Malays ever trust them to govern and save us? I am very perplexed by your irrational course of action. This is not what I was mentored by you and our other scholars.

And it does not make sense for me to accept PAS because they were complicit in supporting Najib and Umnos’ evil doings. They have abused religion to further their political ambitions. Their president seems infallible issuing various nonsensical decrees and none in his party dare to correct him. Suffice for me to summarise as such or it will take another article to enumerate their misdeeds. These are the very people who are doing a disservice to Islam and portray a wrong image of our religion

If I may reiterate, exactly which Islamic principle will Ustaz use to rationalise your support of Muhyiddin’s treacherous actions.

What values are we preaching and upholding in these difficult times? Does the end justify the means?

If your judgment is permissible (harus) in order to preserve a bigger good, then my preceding questions remain to be answered. The Minister of KDN himself failed in his duties to preserve good relations and cohesiveness between the different races and religions of our nation

He should be brought to task; instead his efforts to overthrow the Harapan government elected by the people with his bunch of thieves and traitors was lauded by you and received your utmost respect. Is this a strategy taught by the prophet (PBUH) of which I am not aware of or is it beyond the reach of my limited Islamic knowledge?

It’s no use crying over spilt milk. There is not much more I can do now. Notwithstanding, as a Muslim, it is important for me on behalf of many of my confused brethren to establish the truth in this religious imbroglio.

Were the treacherous acts of Muhyiddin permissible according to our religious teachings? Based on my grasp of the religious texts, I have rationalised that Muhyiddin’s acts are indefensible. I would truly appreciate Ustaz’s sharing of your understanding of the religious texts, the jurisprudence of priorities or politics (fiqh awaliyat, fiqh siyasah) which endeared Ustaz to Muhyiddin’s “Sheraton Move” to oust the Harapan government.

This is extremely crucial because Ustaz is seen as a defender of authentic Islamic values. However, your recent actions have bewildered both Muslim and non-Muslims, who now see you more as a racist defending Malay rights rather than a Muslim defending the universal norms of justice, equity and fairplay.

Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded. (16:90) - Mkini