Raja Petra Kamarudin

Celebrating birthdays is certainly a Western tradition, as is celebrating Christmas Day, Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Day, wedding anniversaries, and so on. But this does not prevent us Easterners, the Malay Muslims included, from adhering religiously to these western traditions, sometimes the Easterners showing more gusto than the Orang Puteh (White People) in letting their hair down and painting the town red.

Just as Ang Pows (red packets) have crept into Malay culture in the form of green packets, the accepted ‘Islamic’ colour, while red is the colour for ‘good luck’ to the Chinese, many other western traditions and cultures too have been bastardised by the Easterners, the Malay Muslims being no less guilty of this ‘crime’.

I suppose there is nothing wrong in adopting good Western values, especially when it comes to work ethics, innovation, pioneering spirit, comradeship, reading habits, thirst for knowledge, and much more. But not all that is west translates to good. And if you adopt Western values in addition to our own, then that is good. But if Western values merely replace our own, and sometimes better, traditions, then it is misguided.

Malays have a penchant for celebrating the Prophet’s birthday, meaning Prophet Muhammad of course. While remembering the birthday of the one you love -- and Malays certainly give an appearance they love their Prophet -- is undoubtedly commendable, one must nevertheless question the objective of such a remembrance and whether it is driven by love or maybe some other ulterior motive.

For example, if you love someone so much that after more than 1,400 years you can still remember his birthday, what about remembering the day he died? Muslims should be more concerned with the day the one you love died so that you can either visit his or her grave or offer prayers to the dear deceased. And when, may I ask, did the Prophet die and do we ever remember this day?

Then there is the manner in which we celebrate the Prophet’s birthday. In Malaysia -- I am not sure where else in the world the Prophet’s birthday is celebrated and in what manner it is celebrated -- it is done by marching on the streets and congregating in the stadium to sing songs and recite poetry. It is also a time when the political masters show their faces on TV and make speeches asking the Malays to unite (meaning under Umno of course) and not fall into the trap laid by the enemies of Islam (meaning PAS of course) by becoming divided.

And that is all. Then everyone goes home and life goes on as usual. It is so superficial and quite artificial. There is not an iota of honesty in the entire event. It is nothing short of a political rally, and without a police permit at that too.

Okay, let us celebrate the Prophet’s birthday. Nothing wrong with that! Never mind we cannot even remember when he died though this should be even more important than his birthday. But in remembering the Prophet, or his birthday, what exactly about it are we trying to remember? We remember and celebrate his birthday, which is a Western tradition or value, but in doing so we forget the very values that the Prophet taught us.

The Prophet introduced Islam to us. The Prophet taught us the Koran. The Prophet left us as our legacy certain Islamic values and a way of life. While we love the Prophet and remember when he was born, do we at the same time remember what he taught and left us?

The Prophet taught us justice, compassion, equality, fairness, honesty, and much more. Do we today still practice all this? Let us take but just one example, the case of Anwar Ibrahim.

Anwar was arrested and beaten up while blindfolded and handcuffed, in short, while in a totally defenceless situation. Was this a demonstration of justice, compassion and fairness?

Anwar was then dragged through the courts and embarrassed to a great degree with full details of his alleged sexual misconduct laid out for public consumption. Was this a demonstration of justice, compassion and fairness?

Anwar was then found guilty of the alleged crimes and sent to jail for 15 years and seven months though there was no evidence against him and the prosecution’s star witness not only contradicted his testimony many times but also retracted the allegation. Was this a demonstration of justice, compassion and fairness?

Today, we have a new Prime Minister; a man who admits Anwar is a victim of a political conspiracy and who claims he was never part of this conspiracy from day one. But Anwar still rots in jail, denied bail, his appeal turned down, and denied the medical treatment prescribed by the specialists and surgeons. Is this a demonstration of justice, compassion and fairness?

Yes, celebrate the Prophet’s birthday by all means. March, sing, dance and recite poetry in remembrance of the Prophet if you so wish. But remembering the Prophet is not just about ceremonies and rituals. It is also about remembering what the Prophet taught us. You cannot claim to honour, respect and remember a person -- enough to celebrate his birthday -- yet in the same breath reject everything that he taught us.

What they did to Anwar is downright unIslamic. Anwar’s treatment goes against the very grain of Islam. It violates everything the Prophet taught us. As long as Anwar is not accorded justice and restitution, the Prophet’s wishes have not been complied with. And you cannot claim to love the Prophet, remember and celebrate his birthday, yet go against everything he taught us and violate the Islam he left us.

Standing on stage delivering speeches about justice, compassion, equality, fairness, honesty, and all those Islamic values is fine. Marching, singing, dancing and reciting poetry is not unIslamic if it is for a noble cause and as long as it is done with no vices attached. But to say you are doing this in remembrance of the Prophet and in celebration of his birthday is hypocritical when you reject what he has taught us and violate the very foundation of his religion.

To demonstrate that we truly love the Prophet and remember him to this very day means we must comply with his wishes. And continuing with Anwar’s incarceration would cause the Prophet to turn in his grave. The Prophet would denounce all those who perpetuate this injustice, never mind how long we sing and dance on his birthday. If we really love and remember the Prophet, we must comply with his teachings. This would mean more than all those birthday parties we throw in his memory. And unless we can show we are truly Islamic in the manner we treat Anwar, the Prophet would not be in the least impressed with his birthday party.

Mind you, what has happened and is continuing to happen to Anwar is but one example, and a relatively minor one at that too. There are certainly many other examples we can use which demonstrates the disrespect we accord the Prophet.

The Prophet forbids detention without trial yet we have the Internal Security Act. The Prophet forbids securing a conviction without the benefit of tangible evidence and credible witnesses yet people still get sent to jail nevertheless, Anwar included. The Prophet expounds governance based on Islamic values and principles yet we label those who propagate this as ‘extremists’ and counter with ‘moderate’ Islam, whatever that is. And so on and so forth, the list is endless.

Yes, we say we love the Prophet. We take pains to celebrate his birthday. Then we reject everything he taught us. We might as well celebrate Jesus’ birthday. At least we can have more fun. After all, isn’t celebrating Prophet Muhammad’s birthday also about just having fun?

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