Friday, 21-Nov-2003 9:57 PM

Justice, as laid down in the Koran, must also be accorded the non-Muslims

I can quite understand the anxiety of the non-Muslim communities and why they should feel threatened by the recently launched Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) Islamic State Document (ISD). Imagine if Malaysia was not yet independent and still a British Colony and the British decided to turn Malaysia into a “Christian State” (if there is such a thing) and Malaysians (or it would probably still be “Malayans”) would now have to owe allegiance to the Church of England. How would the Malays feel about this? I am sure they would be outraged.

Say, also, all working or income-earning Malayans had to pay a tithe (zakat) to the church, like in Germany where all those earning a salary in Germany are subjected to a 7.5% salary cut which goes to the church. Malays would be terribly upset.

During the Japanese occupation of Malaya, Malayans had to bow to the picture of the Japanese Emperor and were beaten up if they refused to do so. Malays had to meekly comply lest the Japanese soldiers assault them, but they did so reluctantly and with great unhappiness.

“Sembahyang”, the Malay word for “pray”, comes from two words, “sembah” (which means bow) and “yang” (which means “the One” or “the One and Only God”). To sembah to any other than God, such as another human (like the Japanese Emperor), is strictly forbidden by Islam. You may tilt your head forward slightly, such as in front of a monarch, but you may not bow your head lower than your shoulders as this is only reserved for God. That is why many Malays now refuse to sembah the Sultans and, in fact, many Sultans too, of late, do not require their subjects to sembah any more -- though palace tradition stipulates that it be done as a mark of respect to the Sultans. Even the Sultans now acknowledge that this is an act you perform only for God.

If Malays refuse to be subjected to acts, rituals and rules that are considered against Islamic teachings, why should the non-Muslims also not resent having to be subjected to Islamic teachings, rituals or rules? So the Malays must understand the non-Muslims’ reservations with the ISD.

The fact that the PAS blueprint is called an ISD must be very disconcerting to the non-Muslims. They envisage that the non-Muslims would now have to be “associate Muslims”, for want of a better word, and they are as upset as Malays being made to bow to the Emperor of Japan. I have said this before and I am saying it again, labelling is dangerous and we should refrain from labelling anything with an Islamic label, especially in light of the bad publicity Islam has been receiving since the 9-11 incident.

Malaysian Muslims have always been subjected to Islamic rules. Muslims have to pray five times a day, though many do not. They have to go to the mosque for the Friday congregation prayers though, again, many do not. Muslims must fast during the month of Ramadan and would be arrested if they eat, drink or smoke in public during the daylight hours of Ramadan (though they can do so in the privacy of their homes or away from public view -- like those who are pregnant, sick, etc. and cannot fast).

Muslims cannot have adulterous relationships and would be arrested if found in a secluded spot or a hotel room with a member of the opposite sex who is not the spouse or immediate member of the family like the grandparent, parent or child.

Muslims may not consume liquor or pork, or gamble. No one has yet been arrested for eating pork because Malays, somehow, do not eat pork though many do drink and have been arrested for it (and the known arrests have occurred not in the PAS-controlled states but in the Barisan Nasional-controlled states such as Selangor and Kuala Lumpur). Malaysian Muslims are barred from entering the casino at Genting Highlands though foreign Muslims from the Middle East may and are not arrested if they gamble. These restrictions, therefore, apply to Malaysian Muslims only and, further to that, no foreign Muslims have been arrested for having a strange woman in their hotel room.

A Malaysian-Muslim marriage is not recognised unless the marriage vows are taken in front of a Malaysian kadi. Thai weddings are not recognised and one could be arrested for getting married in Thailand though it may have been before a legitimate Thai kadi. When a Malaysian Muslim man dies, his property must be divided according to Shariah law where five-eights go to the sons, two-eights to the daughters, and the remaining one-eight to the widow. This cannot be challenged and the Malays accept this.

Malaysian Muslims, in this case the Malays, have always subjected themselves to Shariah laws and Islamic rules and regulations. They have never protested because they regard this as God’s rules as laid down in the Koran. But there is still one last aspect of the Koran concerning crimes that are yet to be implemented out of so many that are already in place, and this is the punishment for breaking these rules and for violating these laws. And these are the seven serious crimes under Hudud.

What the Muslims want is to go that one last step in making the Koran complete. They are already bound by more than 90% of the Koran’s teachings. They want now to make it 100%. But this proposed ISD, which in the first place should not have even been called that, is for the Muslims only. The Muslims already must do and cannot do so many things. They have no arguments with that. But what if they break these rules? While they are bound by what the Koran stipulates, they are however not bound by the punishment the Koran lays down.

It is like saying that murder, robbery, rape, etc., is forbidden, but if one goes and does it anyway one will not be punished for it. This is what is contradictory about Malaysia’s Shariah. It tells you what you can and cannot do. It punishes you in the event you break these rules. But it punishes you when you commit some of these crimes and exempts you from others. And you get punished for the “minor” crimes and get exemption from the serious ones.

One could argue that you will get punished for SOME of the Hudud crimes such as murder, rape and robbery. But the punishment is not according to the Koran. Why is one punished according to the Koran for eating, drinking and smoking during Ramadan? This is not a crime according to common law. One should be free not to fast if one so desires. Not according to the Shariah as this is what the Koran stipulates. And so goes for other “crimes” such as gambling, drinking, liquor, sex with one who is not your spouse, etc. The Shariah and not common law determines it a crime and your punishment will be according to the Shariah though common law does not say these are crimes.

Then we stop there. Then, when it comes to the serious crimes, we sidestep the Shariah and use common law. This is where the contradictions come in.

What the Muslims want is to be allowed for the Koran to be fully implemented. As to how the implementation should be done is certainly something that needs further research and further explanation so that the people will know what it is all about -- and there is certainly much confusion here.

The non-Muslims do not care whether Muslims get punished for eating, drinking and smoking during the daylight hours of Ramadan. They just want to make sure they too will not be forced to fast. The non-Muslims do not care whether Muslims are forbidden from, and punished for, drinking liquor, gambling, illicit sex, and so on. They just want to make sure they too will not be forbidden from all this nor punished if they do so. In this same spirit, the non-Muslims do not care if the Muslims are subjected to Hudud and punished for breaching these Hudud laws as long as non-Muslims too are not subjected to the same.

PAS must now make sure the non-Muslims understand all this. More importantly, PAS must satisfy the non-Muslims that these assurance are not mere empty promises and, once Hudud is implemented, the rules will suddenly change and Muslims will now have live the life of a Muslim. How will PAS do this? I do not know but the PAS political strategists will have to address this, and do so fast.

The non-Muslims must not deny the Muslims their right to live the life of a Muslim just as the Muslims cannot prevent the non-Muslims from adhering to their own religions. The Muslims, just like the non-Muslims, have rights too. However, while ensuring the rights of one community, the other must not be robbed of their rights either. And this is what the non-Muslims are concerned with.

The ball is now at the feet of PAS. By all means make Malaysian Muslims better Muslims (and we all know how bad a Muslim Malays are). By all means implement the Koran to the fullest. But by no means make non-Muslims “associate Muslims”. The non-Muslims too have the right not to abide to the Koran as the verse in the Korans says, “To you your religion, and I to mine.”

The fundamental teaching of the Koran is justice. Hudud is all about justice. Justice too must be accorded the non-Muslims.