Don’t fall for narrow interpretation of Islam, Anwar tells Muslim youths

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim today urged Muslim youths in the country not to be influenced by the way some individuals or parties interpret Islam.

In a special lecture at Universiti Selangor, Anwar reminded attendees that Islam always places the value of peace, justice and humanity above any racial and partisan sentiment.

"In one of the books written by (Malaysian Islamic scholar) Naquib Al-Attas, he reminded us that if we discuss about the Malays with thick racial sentiment and do not base our sentiment on Islamic values and 'akhlak' (morality), then it will drag us towards chauvinism. It has happened many times.

"That is why in the guiding ideas espoused by the late Siddiq Fadzil, he wanted the understanding of Islam among our youths to not be influenced by personal, group or parties interpretation that contradicts the 'rahmatan lil-alamin' concept - the principles of humanity and universality as taught by Islam.

"According to Siddiq, Islam created a new civilisation due to its messages about belief, humanity and justice," he said.

Anwar was invited to speak by the university under a programme called “Syarahan Ulung Kursi Siddiq Fadzil”, which is named after a prominent Islamic leader who used to lead the Islamic Youth Movement (Abim) and was also a close friend of Anwar.

It is to note that Siddiq was the father of Education Minister, Fadhlina Sidek.

Elaborating further, the prime minister said while it was normal for youth to harbour strong sentiments about their race and religion, he stressed that it must be guided by Islamic principles.

"It is okay for youths to have strong feelings because if they don’t have that, they would be just like the old people.

"But the spirit must be established on these principles. We must know what we want to achieve, what is our belief and if our understanding (of the matter) is based on principles that lead to harmony, peace, justice and humanity.

"This is very important, especially when we are living in a multiracial country like Malaysia," Anwar said.

Stop judging people

In his speech, Anwar reminisced about a time when there was a particular Islamic movement that gained traction in Egypt.

Those in the movement, he added, believed they were the only ones on the right path.

This group, according to Anwar, had gone to the extent of branding others not aligned with their ideology as “kafir”, or infidels.

"We should not take the role of a qadi (judge) to punish others.

"And we should not make harsh accusations just because some people do not share our ideology, or belong to another group or party, like what we have seen in social media recently," he said. - Mkini