RELIGION AND CIVIL ENGAGEMENT IN SOCIETY AFTER REGIME CHANGE
The most controversial issue pertained to religion in the first six months after Malaysia’s 12th General Election was Bar Council’s forum on Islam. The event was seen as anti-Islam by then-PKR’s MP Zulkifli Noordin, who led an aggressive group of protestors to sabotage the event.
When asked later why he saw the forum as anti-Islam, Noordin remarked that,
When you talk of sensitivities of others, do so behind closed doors and only invite those in authority. Don’t invite any Tom, Dick or Harry. You can talk about Islam but you cannot talk for Islam. […] I don’t call any mamak chendol or kacang putih seller to talk about Hinduism, do I? That would only look stupid. I would call the priest, the authority and then I can get a better picture on Hinduism. […] Just because some mosquito group of Muslims start talking about Islam, they represent Islam. I don’t think that is fair.
Apparently, Noordin did not bother to check the fact that if not for the hostility showed by aggressors like him, the forum would have been attended by Mohd Naim Mokhtar (Syariah Prosecutor for Federal Territory’s Islamic Affairs Department and former Syariah High Court judge) and Wan Azhar Wan Ahmad (Director of the Syariah Law and Political Science Centre and Senior Fellow of the Institute for Islamic Understanding of Malaysia) as panelists. Neither of these jurists can be considered as “Tom, Dick and Harry” nor “mosquito group of Muslims” in the field of Islamic jurisprudence in the country.
It was due to the inability of Noordin and the like to comprehend the contributory importance of civil discourse for the development of the society, an opportunity for learning about Islam has slipped away. Just like that.
Of course to Noordin, he has always wanted to see himself as the protector of Islam,
For me Islam comes first. I am a Muslim first, a party member second. A Muslim first, a lawyer second. A Muslim first, an MP second. [...] You attack Islam, I’ll be there, even if I have to do it on my own. [...] Whatever it is, Islam comes first.
Noordin is not alone. There are others who see themselves along him as bouncers of Islam: Ibrahim Ali, who threatened holy war against Christians and chided other Muslims who disagree with him as liberals; and Hasan Ali, who saw himself as the savior of Islam.
While they continue to promote themselves as championing Islam, there are sections among the Muslim community that do not share their understanding of the Islamic cause.
For instance, Mohd Hanipa Maidin and Dr Mehrun Siraj differed from Noordin in their judgement of the Bar Council’s forum. To them, intellectual and dialogical engagement is the way forward in the building of civil society and contributing to the cause of Islam. To have operated like Noordin was to do disservice to the faith.
It is observable that issues of such intra-religious nature are frequently raised since the 12th General Election. Just to highlight some recent ones, PAS spiritual advisor Nik Aziz Nik Mat has recently condemned UMNO as un-Islamic, criticizing the latter along the line that it worships lust as its god; The former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad sarcastically congratulated PAS for its willingness to consider accepting non-Muslim as deputy president for the party; PAS’ Rani Othman stated that UMNO is ignorant of the Quran; The differing views between Perak Mufti Harussani Zakaria and former Perlis Mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin on ethnic-based jihad; And the disagreement between the Islamic Renaissance Front with the UMNO government in the extradition of Hamza Kashgari.
As long as race-based politicians such as Noordin and the two Ali seek to seal their public image as the champions for Islam, we can expect plenty of unfounded accusations to be hurled around. This is what has happened to Pakatan Rakyat since 2008. It could be as typical as racial discrimination charges to something as novel as ex-communists trying to Christianize the country.